Multi-Day Christian / Hindu Wedding
Celene & Shane have been planning this multi-day Christian / Hindu Wedding for a while. They both have big families. However, with most of them living internationally, they wanted to keep their local wedding event pretty small. So this is going to be a very small, and very intimate.
The event was split into 2 days. Day 1 had a traditional Hindu Wedding Ceremony at Vedic Cultural Centre. They had a full 3 hour ceremony and a mini reception in the venue’s basement. No formal speeches, but they did include some family dance performances that are common with Southasian wedding. Family photos were all sorted on-site. However the couple disappear at the end to do their couple wedding portraits at Richmond Green.
Day 2 was pretty small as well. They had a Christian ceremony at the Metropolitan United Church complete with bridesmaids and groomsmen. After the church was complete, the whole group headed to Guildwood park where we sorted out family, bridal party, and couple portraits. The reception was actually the biggest part of the entire event where the guest count nearly doubled. This was where friends and extended family were able to attend. Complete with speeches, cake cutting, first dances, dj, and one heck of a dance floor.
Day 1 Hindu Ceremony
The Hindu Ceremony was at the Vedic Cultural Centre. They have a permanent mandap decorated at this venue. The parents joined the couple inside the mandap. The ceremony begins with lighting the fire. A Hindu marriage is a sacrament, not a contract. The bride and groom exchange floral garlands similar to how they exchange wedding rings. It expresses the desire of the couple to marry each other. The groom places a necklace of black and gold beads on the bride as a gift to her.
The saptapadi is an important ritual in Indian Hindu weddings. During the saptapadi, the bride and groom have their garments tied together. While joined, the couple walks seven steps together to signify their friendship. This couple also made seven circles around a ceremonial fire, each round signifying a specific blessing they request of the gods. Finally, Sindoor, a red-orange powder, is applied to the parting of the bride’s hair. This symbolizes her new status as a married woman. Woohoo. Now the only thing left is the party. So I will see you tomorrow.
Be sure to check out the rest of this wedding…
