The Welcome Party Continues....
Feb 27
2020
Hotel Bar TBD
Pool Party
Feb 28
2020
TBD Ocean Area
Cocktail Hour
Feb 29
2020
Pier Deck
The bride sits on a bajat or low stool, palms upturned. It is the prerogative of the kaaki (paternal uncle’s wife) to mix the pithi (a paste of sandalwood powder, herbs, rosewater and mogra / attar (a type of perfume). She then arranges the pithi on a decorated platter and has it blessed by the priest. The women of the household apply the pithi on the bride’s skin.
The wedding ceremony begins with the worship of Shri Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles and provider of good luck. All traditional Hindu ceremonies begin with invocation of Ganesha. Other pujas are also performed evoking the presence of other forms of God to preside over the wedding ceremony.
We will kickoff the weekend with a Welcome party for all our guests to get a chance to get to know each other and spend some time unwinding after your travel day!
Friday during the day, we will have no pre-arranged wedding activities. We will reserve a poolside/oceanside area where we can all meet to drink/hang out and spend time together. Breakfast and lunch will be on our own at any of the all-inclusive locations or pool bar where we are all gathered!
This is generally 1-2 days before the wedding, the bride has henna applied using intricate patterns and detail. It is believed that the deeper the colour on the bride’s hands, the stronger the love between husband and wife. There is also a custom that the bride has her groom’s initials incorporated in the design which he then must find on the wedding night. The event is a big celebration as it marks the start of the wedding festivities to which lots of singing, dancing, eating and drinking is undertaken.
The groom arrives with his family and friends (Baraat procession) and is warmly greeted by the bride’s family and friends. The bride’s mother welcomes the groom, and asks him if he is prepared to make the commitment of marriage to her daughter. The bride’s mother places kumkum (red vermilion powder), signifying good luck, on the groom’s forehead and he is then asked to break the sampat (earthen pot) filled with ghee (melted butter) and cottonseeds. The pot represents the world; the contents within symbolize the different experiences the couple will encounter in their life-journey together. The groom is then escorted to the mandap where he awaits the bride’s arrival.
Baraat
This video is a great example of a typical Baraat! The groom and his family/friends will head towards the bride (location of wedding ceremony) on an elephant, horse, or classic 66 convertible! Both groom and bride's side will meet outside of hotel lobby to start the procession down towards the beach at 9am!
Today we come together to honor two distinct traditions. The Hindu wedding ceremony encompasses a symbolic order of events stemming from the Vedas, the oldest of Hindu scriptures. The Christian wedding ceremony marks the formation of a covenant between two individuals in the same way that one forms a covenant with God. On this occasion, we pay respect to both as we celebrate our love. We will bless this marriage under a Mandap, a four pillared structure that symbolizes our first home and serves as a forum for God to witness and bless our union. We will also exchange wedding bands, a Christian tradition that signifies the unending commitment we make to one another. We will finish by reciting vows to each other in both Sanskrit and English: some of these are ancient and repeated at many weddings while others we have written ourselves.
