Indian Wedding Photography in Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, Abbotsford, Coquitlam, Kelowna, Langley Township, Saanich, Delta BC
Indian Wedding Photography in Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, Abbotsford, Coquitlam, Kelowna, Langley Township, Saanich, Delta BC
INDIAN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEOGRAPHY
Indian wedding photography in Vancouver | South Asian weddings are known for their bright colours, unique traditions, and big celebrations. One more thing that we’ve noticed about South Asian weddings: the celebrations can last for days! Many of them start off with an engagement party way before the wedding proper, and when it’s time to tie the knot, festivities reign in the houses of both bride and groom, followed by a culture-rich ceremony, and end in a huge, lively reception full of dancing and music. There are many variations on how different cultures celebrate their union in South Asian weddings, so let’s take a look at some of them now!
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HINDU WEDDINGS
Hindu wedding ceremonies are bright, colourful affairs, with many cultural traditions involved. Amongst them are: Jaimala, the exchange of garlands between bride and groom to represent their acceptance of one another; Madhupak, offering of honey and yogurt by the bride’s father to the groom as a symbol of welcome and respect; and Kanyadan, where the bride’s father givers her away by placing her hand in the groom’s hand. Another ceremony is Havan, lighting of the Sacred Fire, meant to invoke the god of Fire to witness the couple’s commitment towards one another. The bride and groom then offer rice as sacrifice into the sacred fire. Once this is done, scarves are tied around the bride and groom to signify their eternal bond and pledge to remain faithful and love one another before God. Other cultural rituals in a Hindu wedding ceremony include Mangalphera, a walk around the fire; Saptapardi, where the couple walks seven steps together to represent seven marital vows; Jalatstnchana, blessing of the newlywed couple by their parents; Sindhoor, where the groom applies powdered red lead to the bride’s forehead; Aashirvad, blessings given to the bride and groom by their parents; Mehndi, and Mangalasutra.
SIKH WEDDINGS
A Sikh wedding ceremony is called Anand Karaj, which means ‘blissful union’. Sikhs regard marriage as a sacred bond between man and woman, united in attaining worldly and spiritual joy. During a Sikh wedding ceremony, the bride and groom together with their families assemble together, and meeting and exchanging of presents between the couple’s parents and close relatives occurs. Then, the groom is seated before Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the Holy Scripture of Sikhs, followed by his bride. The ceremony will then proceed with a prayer asking for God’s blessings and grace for this union, followed by singing of a hymn. The Laava, or Marriage Hymn, is then read and sung while the bride and groom encircles the Holy Scripture for a total of four times, once for each verse of the Laava sung. Singing of the Song of Bliss, Prayer, and reading of a verse from Guru Granth Sahib Ji concludes the marriage ceremony, and sweet pudding is then served to the congregation.
MUSLIM WEDDINGS
The most important requirement in a Muslim wedding is signing of the marriage contract. This signing occurs during the Nikah ceremony, where the groom proposes to his bride, with at least two witnesses present. During the proposal, the groom will state the details of his meher, which is a formal statement indicating the monetary amount that he will offer his bride. Meher consists of two parts in the Muslim culture: the first part a prompt which should be given prior to consummation of the marriage, and the second portion a deferred amount, which can be in the form of money, gifts, jewellery or land etc, that is presented to the bride throughout her life. After statement of the meher, the couple then demonstrates their free will by repeating “I accept” in Arabic thrice, followed by the signing of the marriage contract together with two male witnesses. Once this signing is complete, the marriage is considered legal based on their religious and civil law.
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