There is always this couple or there's one person at an Indian wedding friend with a bride and groom that is just standing there like what is going on well in this blog I will explain the culture for you the different parts of an Indian wedding this is for those who are not very familiar with Indian culture and or have never been to an Indian wedding before at this point in my life we have shot countless Indian weddings I love my Indian culture and all the traditions are there in their wedding they very lively weddings.
At this point, I have seen many weddings many of which only side is Indian and the other one it's not we live in this beautiful cultural melting pot of a world where you know all different kinds of cultures come together and it's a beautiful just recently I have attended a wedding where the bride was Indian the groom was Chinese and they and they got married in Italy go figure but you know as long as they're in love and they want us there to document the event we're there my point is that not everyone attending is Indian and certainly not everyone attending knows what is going on.
The first thing you have to know is that is a multi-day event sometimes in the States could be as little as two days most cases three we've shot as many as four and sometimes in India could be as many as seven days for a whole wedding they are an explosion of colors and high energy and lots and lots of traditions that go back as far as 2000 years some of which you will not understand one of the first events that take is called the henna/mehndi its typically a ladies only event until later on when the groom and some of the man show up but during the ladies only portion is when the ladies get painted with mehndi those beautiful tattoos that they get in their hands and feet.
Photographers and cinematographers this is a good opportunity for you to get some very creative shots typically later on that night you'll have what's called the sang heat a sangeet is like a welcome reception but they do a few family performances or skid there's a lot of variations of performances sometimes they have singers from Bollywood coming in and doing a performance depending on where they form in India called the Garba where all the guests around a circle and and they hit some sticks it's also very fun to watch and photograph.
Then the next morning is typically started with some prayers if you're just a guest and not immediate family you might not be involved in those prayers but if you're a photographer and a cinematographer you were more than likely to be expected to cover these events it's followed by a few different traditional ceremonies that are very fun to watch and photograph and then it's time for the baraat abroad is a processional ceremony where the groom's side goes to meet the bride's side it's typically led by a guy with loud music there's a lot of dancing energy music happiness there's a lot of things happening and one of my favorite parts of an Indian wedding to photography and taking a picture and save the beautiful scene.
The groom usually is at the back of the board typically riding on a horse or an elephant or in cases where there is no animal allowed in the venue they ride on a horsepower usually they choose a very nice car and the group rides in the back of the car this is about a 45 minute to 1-hour procession this is where the groom's side meets the bright side they exchange garland's and they do another little ceremony there and then it's time for the actual Hindu ceremony.
The groom walks in first just like in any other wedding that you've seen and as soon as he walks in his shoes are stolen so if you're sitting there wondering why somebody ran away with his shoes don't worry it's part of a game where he will have to pay the money back later to get his shoes back then about 10 to 15 minutes into the bride walks in with a big entourage not just with her dad sometimes uncle and cousins and sometimes even carrying her across the aisle the ceremony is held under what's called a mandap and no shoes are allowed on hop there these Indian ceremonies could be quite lengthy with as one hour and as long as two and a half hours be expected to be there for a while.
Once the ceremony is over do not expect the kids to see the wedding Indian couples do not kiss at the end of their ceremony it's just not what they do rarely do they even walk down the aisles at processional usually they stay up there and start family portraits speaking of which Indian family portraits could be another lengthy process one of the things I love about Indian culture is how close connected they are with their families and relatives and even extend their family members so when picture time comes around every uncle and every sometimes needs to be in pictures.
Then there's a big break sometimes as many as four and five hours before the next event starts an Indian reception is very similar to any other type of Western reception with the exception that the family is probably vegetarian and there is no bring served at the wedding however some of the dishes are delicious anyway there also might not be hard liquor served at the wedding so wine is gonna have to do but that does not stop the party from being amazing Indian weddings are some of the most fun and lively they'll be dancing there until the end of the party so be prepared for some awesome action.
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