Real Wedding

Four beautiful years of dating convinced Deb and Natalie to take their relationship to the next level. Deb proposed to his beloved along the shores of the Seine in Paris, slipping the ring onto her finger at one of the most romantic settings in the world.

They chose to get married in St. Petersburg near Tampa, Florida, since Natalie’s mother lived there also because of great outdoor ambiance of the place.

Sunken Gardens was chosen as the wedding venue and the wedding was organized in two parts. In the morning, Natalie and Deb got married per Hindu traditions in a mandap that was set on a small stage under a canopy of one hundred year old oak trees.

The second part of the wedding was the civil ceremony planned in Irish style in honor of Natalie’s ancestry, infused with Irish flavors in the form of Celtic hand fasting ceremony and Irish blessing.

The wedding program detailed various aspects of Hindu weddings and Irish traditions for the guests. Music was one of the highlights of the ceremony. The wedding was a beautiful union of two completely different cultures.

Although the wedding turned out to be perfect, it was not without some high stress moments.

Natalie and Deb urge couples to plan ahead and hire a coordinator for the wedding day. They ask couples to not let blur of the ceremony distract them from realizing that they are now tied together in a sacred bond, one that lasts forever.

Those not intimately familiar with Indian weddings may envision large, extravagant weddings complete with loads of money, glamour, and style all rolled into one to make one of the most important events in one’s life the most memorable. However, with all the glitz and sparkle in modern day Indian weddings, the celebration is still not devoid of age-old wedding rituals. Such is the strength and solidarity signified by Indian wedding rituals. Indian weddings are solemnized with utmost sanctity, and the married couple is believed to be bound to each other for seven birth cycles.

Significance of Rituals

extravagant Indian weddings

Indian weddings

Indian wedding rituals

Significance of Rituals

A strong belief in religion along with certain dedicated ancient practices forms the foundation of many of the customary practices still being adhered to in modern India. Indian weddings are predominant examples of many of the rituals and customs that people still follow. Age-old practices that are the foundation of Indian society have given rise to certain stringent rituals followed at Indian weddings.

Tilak

Tilak

Only the male members of the bride and groom’s family attend this pre-wedding celebration. The significance of this ceremony is to bless and welcome their upcoming son-in-law, which is why this ceremony is held at the groom’s house. As a first step of introduction between the male members of the bride and groom’s family, a hawan or pooja is performed at the groom’s house. The Tilak ceremony is said to commence the wedding alliance before the actual wedding day.

Traditions aside, the tilak when applied at the space between the eyebrows, known as Ajna chakra, has a cooling effect as it tends to nullify the heat that is generated when concentrating, meditating or praying during the ceremony.

Engagement (Sagai)

Indian Engagement

Sagai

This traditional ceremony is held with opulent celebrations and elaborate decorations. The engagement ceremony sanctifies the institution of marriage, and it signifies the bride and groom are joined together for life. It is also one of the first celebrations held between the bride and the groom’s families.

The sagai is also known as the ring ceremony since the bride and groom exchange rings with each other during this ceremony. The ring signifies a never ending circle, thus once the rings are exchanged, the couple becomes one for life. A havan is performed to bless the couple, keep evil and negativity away, and harness cosmic energy so as to achieve spiritual and material goals.

Nav Graha Aarti

Nav Graha Aarti

This is a puja ceremony done in order to worship the nine planets of our solar system that govern us. Indian mythology and ancient studies state that these celestial bodies, depending upon certain factors, affect a person’s destiny either positively or negatively. The most intense impact is said to come from the nine planets of our solar system. Thus, at the navgraha puja the Gods associated with their respective planets are asked to shower their blessings on the bridal couple.

Mehndi

Mehndi

Mehndi is considered to be one of the 16 adornments of the bride. In this pre-wedding ceremony, the bride is beautified with the colors of mehndi on her hands, arms, legs, and feet. A mehndi expert is usually invited to artfully design the bride’s mehndi. The mehndi ceremony is a merry and festive occasion, an appropriate precursor to wedding celebrations. Since the ceremony revolves primarily around the bride, it is essentially a event for women.

Mehndi is made by drying the leaves of the henna plant. Henna has a cooling effect on the body – it keeps at bay the heat generated in the body out of anxiety and excitement, thus keeping the bride at ease in the midst of all the overwhelming activities throughout the wedding. Many believe that the darker the color of the mehndi, the longer will she be loved by her husband.

Vidai

Vidai

The vidai ceremony typically takes place after the wedding day when the bride officially leaves the house of her parents to live with her husband. In India, this ceremony is filled with much emotion, unlike some of the previously mentioned ceremonies. The bride’s family bids her farewell, and the bride promises to bring prosperity and good luck in her new home. The vidai ceremony implies the end of one phase of bride’s life, and publicly announces the start of a new phase with her husband and new family. This ceremony is a combination of happiness and sadness. Though the bride and her family are sad that she is leaving them, at the same time they are also happy that she is going to start a new life with her new family.

Salt – Datar

Salt – Datar

Once the wedding and reception are over, the couple goes to the groom’s house. Before entering her new home, the bride waits at the entrance for the datar ceremony. It starts with the groom’s mother or any elderly person rinsing the bride’s feet. The bride has to sprinkle milk in every corner of the house, while her head is covered. This act has a deep-rooted meaning – it signifies that incase there arises any misunderstandings between the family members, the bride will seek it out and maintain peace. She then takes a fistful of salt and places it on her groom’s hand, he in turn passes the salt back in her hand without spilling any, and this procedure is repeated three times. This way, every member of the groom’s family participates in this ceremony.

The significance is that just as salt blends with any food and adds taste to it, so would the bride blend with the family members and maintain love and harmony.

The Internet can be a beautiful thing. Particularly when it comes to bringing people, such as Bijal and Tarish, together. The couple married on April 7, 2012, at the Palm Beach Convention Center in Florida.

Bijal and Tarish first met through Shaadi.com, a prominent online matrimonial site. They met in person on February 18, 2011,in Palm Beach Amidst India Fest celebrations, and after this, there was no looking back. The couple began dating and traveling often to Michigan and Florida to visit each other. It finally dawned on Bijal that it was time to deepen her relationship with Tarish, so she moved to Gainesville, Florida, to be closer to him. Tarish helped Bijal drive to her new home in Gainesville, Florida, and soon after on May 24, 2011, Tarish proposed. The proposal was rather unexpected, though Tarish did propose in the most adorable fashion over breakfast in front of his mother and sister. He did not have a ring and was certainly not dressed for the occasion. He spontaneously blurted out his intention to get married to Bijal, after which he was quick on deciding the type of ceremony function and some close friends he would like to see at the wedding. Although at first it rather difficult for Bijal to absorb the idea of a wedding so spontaneously proposed by Tarish, she eventually that she was ready to share her life with Tarish and tie the knot.

Deciding on the wedding venue was not all that difficult, since the couple wanted West Palm Beach, the place where they first met, to be the setting. They decided to hire Virtues Events to take care of every detail required to organize their dream wedding.

Their events included mehndi, Sangeet, and the main wedding, followed by a reception. On April 5, 2012, the mehndi was organized at the Downtown Hyatt Palace of Palm Beach. The guests were welcomed with bags that included a wedding program, directions to the venue, and some snacks and bottles of water. The mehndi venue was well decorated with flowers and candles appropriately placed to enable dance sessions and other fun-filled moments. The sangeet and mehndi was the official start of the wedding function and signaled the fun to in a venue aptly decorated in bright colors. The mehndi artist sat on the center stage, catering to the requirements of each and every female guest at the venue for all their mehndi needs. The Bandhini theme was selected for the Sangeet function, wherein the guests danced freely to lift the occasion with perfection.

The main wedding ceremony was held at the Palm Beach Convention Center in the midst of palm trees. The environment was perfectly romantic and exuded a radiance so desired by the couple. Bijal entered the venue along with her brothers Jay, Alpesh, Kalpesh, and Rakesh. The ceremony was indeed very enticing, which enthralled every guest in attendance. The wedding ceremony was followed by vivid celebrations, in which cocktails freely flowed amongst all the guests. The caterers, Taste of India, had the most delectable Indian vegetarian snack items available in the open food bar. Apart from variety of pakoras, the food barin cluded paneer masala, chilli corn, idli masala, and samosa.

The wedding ceremony was followed by an exotic reception, which was held at the same venue. The guests were eagerly crowding the dance floor to rejoice the occasion with perfection. The immediate families, bridal party, and couple also danced their way to the floor, to tunes rendered by the DJ Ace. The dinner buffet was authentic Punjabi cuisine, also catered by Taste of India. With speeches made by the bridesmaid and the groomsmen, the reception party ended on a celebratory note with thank you speeches made by the bride and the groom.

Bijal attributes the success of all her wedding events to her vendors, namely, Virtues Events, Taste of India, Ace DJ, and Divesh Photography. Even today, Bijal cherishes every moment of the ceremony, be it her photographer Nidhi assisting her in wearing the bridal outfit or eating six ras malai all on her own without sharing with anyone – not even Tarish! Such are the memories of weddings!