South Asian Weddings

OMG there are people like me!

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to introduce myself! My fiance is Indian (born and raised in India) and I am an as-white-as-they-come American. We are rather unique among our Indian and American friends, to say the least. I was a little amazed to find this forum and discover that there are people like us, haha!

Like I read a post below about how the poster's husband cannot be trusted to make dinner because they'll have parathas and pickle... wow welcome to my life! Either that or dal - oil, onions, mustard seeds, and heaping spoonfuls of tumeric and cumin go in a pot, throw in the dal and water, cover and cook the crap out of it for an hour - PRESTO - dinner for a week ;)

Anyway, we are having an Indian wedding (my fiance is Jain) in Rajasthan and an American wedding in my hometown in California. The Indian wedding is as traditional as they can make it considering there is virtually no bride's side. Our American wedding, though, is pretty much our blank canvas - his parents know nothing about the American traditions and my parents eloped. We are hoping to have an essentially American wedding with little fusion highlights. For example, we were considering doing a garland exchange or lighting some candles on a table and walking around them 4 times (Jain style). I was also thinking of wearing Indian jewelry with my white dress and maybe a bhindi and mehendi. Did anyone do anything like this? Did it go well? 

Any other ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

Re: OMG there are people like me!

  • Hey!

    I think it's great that you guys are incorporating both elements :) Fusion weddings are super nice :)

    I posted a real wedding where the girl wore a white dress with traditional Indian jewellery - she looked amazing: http://shazasscrapbook.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/real-wedding-neev-and-chan/

    You can also use colours to create a fusion look! :)
  • Ooh, that was a beautiful bride!  Thanks for sharing!!!

    We did (are doing) 2 weddings.  Our American wedding was in Oct and we used a more Indian color palette (reds, bright pinks, yellows and oranges) and lots of flowers.  We gave bangles as favors (in baskets so everyone could pick their own).   I looked at doing a red, American-style wedding dress, but none of them were right for me, but that might be another option.  Although I prefer your idea of traditional white with mehendi.  That would be stunning!  One other thing we didn't plan, but was the most beautiful surprise was in our ceremony.  Our Episcopalian priest is from Pakistan.  We had talked about doing a ceremony in India, so he knew we wanted to do that.  In the end, we aren't going to and that came out in our discussions with him.  I said I was sad we would not get to walk around the fire 7 times together in India.  In his homily, he did the full blessing.  Even though we didn't walk, it was just beautiful! 

    As far as visually, have fun!

    And I loved your talk of eating paratha, pickle and hastily made dal!  That is totally what we would live on if my husband did the cooking!!  You are soooo not alone!

    Stick around and let us know how the plans come along!
    imageWedding Countdown Ticker
  • My guy doesn't know how to cook at all. Like at all. Since we've been together (a year and a half) he's cooked once, and was all like "Wow! I cooked!" and was extraordinaritly pleased with himself.  It'll be really interesting.

    I'm planning on wearing a white dress with simple Indian jewelry (silver and clear stone).  Not sure about anything else.  Right now we're not even sure if we're going to have two weddings or just the one in India and then a vow renewal in a few years in the US (I'm moving to India).  It's looking more and more like it'll be just the Indian one, which makes me sad. I'm totally the girl who is in love with weddings and wants every person she's ever known there if possible... and it's looking like it'll just be one person on my side (my best friend has promised to be there, no matter what). 

    Welcome to the board.
    My blog
    image
    "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." -Isaiah 61:10 NKJV
  • Other examples of mehndi with a white dress:

    http://brittanyrenephotography.com/blog/2011/09/nahal-navid-wedding-mountain-gate-la/

    and




    and Raangoli also did it.  I think it looks really nice... I love the idea of mixing and matching western with Indian styles.
  • Welcome to the boards! I am a little late the conversation, but I wanted to say that I really love the look of mehndi with a white dress.

    Like Tem said,  I wore a wedding dress for our reception and it was a great look. My dress was shorter in the front which also helped to show of the mehndi on my feet/lower legs but I know that isn't for everyone (I called it a mullet dress since it was to the floor in the back, but shorter in the front).

    I had full mehndi done on my hands and arms (up to my elbows) since I love the way it looks.  For our ceremony both MH and I wore traditional Indian attire.

    Here's a picture of my hands with my dress in the background:



    ExerciseMilestone
  • I'm SO excited to find everyone!  I'm white (mother is English, so I'm literally pale white) and marrying a Gujarati who was born and raised stateside.  We're having a fusion ceremony and I will wear a simple trumpet dress with a wide red/gold brocade belt with origami pleats and a coordinating dupatta veil with a gold backing and peach mesh/gold embroidery and beading.  I have no idea how 3lbs of fabric will stay on my head, but we'll figure it out.  Would love to hear more about what others are wearing!
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