Have you ever been invited for an Indian wedding? I was lucky to act as a wedding photographer in India during several occassions. It is a great cultural spectacle. People are dressed in vibrant colors and they wear some mesmerizing jewelry. The brighter the color, the better. Obviously, that's great for shooting photos! I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every wedding ceremony I attended. They were all subtly different as well. Today I'll show you one of them, with a special focus on portraits of all the guests attending (you should know I like portraits by now? ;-)). Pay close attention to how they dress :-)
All photography in this article is original and mine
for more!If you like this article, please RESTEEM & COMMENT. I may award you with an upvote if the comment is interesting :-)
The happy couple!
Indian Wedding Traditions and Customs
A traditional Indian wedding is typically a multi-day affair and involves several ceremonies (although these vary per region and also per personal preference):
- In the first night, the priest will do a 'ganesh pooja', which is a ceremony performed at home by a priest. I understood this can take many shapes or forms.
The bride
- Before the wedding is also a good time where each side of the family can meet each other in a more intimate setting. Usually the second day begins with a mehndi ceremony, where the bride and her female friends and family will draw henna patterns on their hands and feet. These henna patterns can become pretty complex! In the evening, a sangeet will take place and both families will dance and party and enjoy each other's company. Kind of like a pre-party!
Look at those beautiful henna!
- Then, the third day involves the main ceremony, and this generally includes a cocktail hour and reception. If you are not super close to the people getting married, then you may be invited only for this ceremony. You'll hear and see people performing the bhangra, a Punjab folk dance, but people will also in many cases dance to Western music.
The Ceremony
- One of the first things you may notice is the baraat or groom's procession, where the groom will arrive to the ceremony on a decorated white horse, accompanied by the beat of the dhol (Indian drums).
- Then, the bride and her family will greet the groom and several floral garlands will be exchanged to wear around the neck. This symbolises their acceptance of each other, for eternity. Well, as they say it, it 'symbolises the bonding of the two souls for 100 years'. Beautifully said.
- Then the actual ceremony, perhaps the most important of all. Here, the priest, groom & bride and bride's parents sit beneath a mandap, some sort of canopy. The ceremony commences when the bride's parents give her away. The couple then circles around a small, enclosed fire called the 'agni' and perform some rituals. Therefater, the couple will take the 'saptapadi', basically seven steps where in each step they vow to support each other, and live happily together.
Mesmerizing jewelry
- The ceremony ends when the groom applies a red powder to the forehead of the bride, and then ties a black necklace around her neck. Now, she is a married woman according to Indian traditions.