Indian Wedding: The Ceremony (Part 3 of 3)

Hey guys,

Whew, I know it has been a while since I have been here. Since my last post, I have gotten engaged, started a new job, moved gotten married (don’t worry, we will talk about that in more detail), and gone on a luxurious honeymoon.

Now that we are back, we are very excited to be moving full steam ahead and making sure Shaadi Outfitters is the best that it can be for all of you.

I realized I never published a third part to my series on Indian wedding events so before I post about our wedding, (which you definitely want to stick around for, it was a blast) I am here to talk about the Indian wedding ceremony itself.

There are a few types of Indian ceremonies, and some can be quite long. The long ones, which can get upwards of an hour and a half to two hours, are steeped in traditional elements, prayers, songs, and readings. The shorter ones cut out some of the extremely traditional rituals and focus on the most important ones in the eyes of the priest.

The center point of an Indian ceremony is the fire, known as a havan kund, in which oils, water, puffed rice and ghee are given as offerings throughout the ceremony.

Some of the special parts of the ceremony include the drinking of the holy water, the exchanging of flower garlands, called jaimala, and the seven rounds of the fire, called the pheras which are the vows the couple make to each other.

First thing you should know, is that every Indian wedding will take place under a mandap, or a four-pillared structure. We talk about this in one of our first few Instagram posts (@shaadioutfitters) and explain how this structure’s pillars represent each parent that has helped the couple get to their marriage. The parents guide their children, and teach them how to love, and that’s why they are honored in this way. Usually the parents will also be seated under the mandap with the bride and groom.

Sneak peek: This was the mandap at our wedding!

The seven pheras are the most important of the wedding as they symbolize the couple taking their first steps together and making the seven major vows to each other. A knot is tied between the scarves of the bride and groom (usually done by the groom’s mother) and the bride leads her groom around the fire on the first six rounds. Then the groom leads his bride around the fire for the last one.

The seven vows are:

1. Let us provide for our household, stay in good health and carry out our duties and responsibilities to each other, our families and our tradition.

2. Let us develop our mental and spiritual powers

3. Let us increase our wealth and comfort by righteous and proper means

4. Let us acquire knowledge, happiness and harmony by mutual love, respect and trust

5. Let us be blessed with contended family of strong, virtuous and heroic children

6. Let us be blessed with long lives

7. Let us remain true companions, committed only to each other

While it may seem wildly different from weddings you have attended, the principles are still the same. The bride and groom makes promises and vows to each other, and they celebrate with the people that are closest to them!

There are so many special pieces to an Indian ceremony, and we can’t wait to share photos with you of our mandap, pheras, and more soon! If you have any questions, or need help looking and feeling your best for an Indian wedding, reach out, because we are here to help you enjoy the experience!

We hope you have enjoyed a quick three part blog series on the Indian wedding.

After this, we are SO excited to share our wedding with you. We had an absolute blast at our wedding which, we feel, was a perfect blend of both of our cultures! Stay tuned, because the pictures are AMAZING and it’ll be a fun read.