Today we held a traditional Indian wedding in my backyard. Yesterday the couple was married in an American-style wedding. Their plan was to have a second wedding in the fall in India in the groom's hometown until they learned last week that in India there is no such thing as a vow renewal ceremony. If they were to have an Indian wedding, it must occur at the same time as the American wedding. When the groom's mother arrived from India with the news that everything must occur now, we scrambled to create a second wedding. Because we wanted some degree of privacy and the ceremony involves fire, we needed to hold it in an outdoor location and my backyard was the most private (and affordable) place available on short notice.
An officiant agreed to come from Portland and my son and granddaughter and I created a mandap (a covering under which the bride and groom sit during the ceremony) using the bride's father's pop-up tent frame for the base and red fabric used the day before to decorate for the American ceremony. Other than the Indian contingent arriving 1 1/2 hours late, it all went off without a hitch.
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| The groom |
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| The bride |
The groom's family is from northern India, where wedding attire is elaborate. The groom is "veiled" rather than the bride. The photo below is of the couple's first meeting on their wedding day. In their tradition, the groom is "presented" to the bride, rather than the more usual American custom of the bride coming to the groom. The groom's brother and mother are introducing him to his bride while her family watches. In India, where arranged marriages still occur, the couple might be meeting for the first time.
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| Seeing each other for the first time in their wedding finery |
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