Short Hindu ceremony with English explanation?

petcosky

Hello all!  I am American and my fiance is originally from India.  He isn't religious, but his family is Hindu and we would like to honor them by incorporating a shorter Hindu ceremony with a few of the main elements of the main wedding that are important (kanyadaan, saptapadi).  Would it be possible to do this in about an hour long ceremony?  I've seen some posts saying they have worked with priests to do an hour long ceremony in Sanskrit and English, but I've also heard that a short Hindu ceremony could easily take 3 hours. 

Any advice?  We are getting married in Burlington Vermont in October, but would happily pay for gas costs and a hotel for a priest in the Northeast who could do this for us!  We'd prefer to have the two ceremonies back to back (we are having a SUPER short exchange of rings and vows prior to the reception) but if the Hindu ceremony is over an hour, I'm thinking it would need to be done another day to keep guests from getting to overwhelmed or tired by the time of the reception.  So any suggestions on ceremony or actual recommendations would be MUCH appreciated!

Thanks,

Kate

BlueBirdMB

Who is marrying you?  Are you having a Hindu priest?  Who is doing the vow/ring exchange?

petcosky

We don't have anyone yet- we are trying to find someone!

EverAfer

I have someone who's based out of MA and I think he has traveled to NH for weddings.

We've asked him to limit the ceremony to about an hour and a half (he's super traditional), and has agreed to it.  He prefers to speak in Hindi instead of English, so language can be a challenge.  If you're interested, you can DM me.

As for the length of the ceremony, we're doing it all in one day.  We're prepping western guests for all of the tradition and timing, so people are coming prepared that it will be a longer than average ceremony. But with all of the rituals happening, I think it will keep people entertained.  Few people in my area ever gets to watch a Hindu ceremony, so everyone is looking forward to it despite the length of time.