Fusion Ceremony- Hindu Traditions/Christian Ceremony

kalpi108

We are still very early in the planning stages and have not yet settled for certain on how we want to fuse my Indian wedding customs with my fiance's Christian ceremony. 
We've both grown up in America our whole lives and have dreamt of me walking towards him in the white dress and saying "I do" to each other. At the same time though, being Indian is a part of who I am also and there are some traditions from the Hindu ceremony that include parents in them and are meaningful to me. We have gone through so many different ideas but for now, we're thinking that we'd both come out in Indian dress (me in a wedding sari) with our parents and my aunt would oversee us in some of the family related customs that are part of Indian weddings. It wouldn't take more than fifteen minutes. Then our caterer has suggested that while we go inside and change into white dress and tux, they'll walk around with snacks and drinks while our guests are free to move around outside and look around the garden. They'll then seat them again and we'll come out for the more American Christian ceremony, also no more than fifteen minutes. 
Will this still be the meaningful and emotional modern-fusion ceremony I'm hoping for or could it end up feeling choppy? Just wanted to get some outside opinions as I've been in it for too long to look at it objectively anymore

mag0737

I, too, am having a Christian/Hindu fusion wedding. He was born in India and moved here at 14 so having traditional ceremonies is extremely important to him. We have decided to do the Baraat followed by the Hindu ceremony. Obviously we'll wear traditional dress here. The in-laws and he have agreed that I can wear a deep magenta, as red is not really my thing. We are then serving our guests lunch since it's an all day event (11 -Baraat, 12-Hindu ceremony, 130-lunch). Guests are then on their own until the Christian ceremony, which will be followed by the cocktail hour and reception/dinner. So we will take pictures then change during the break in time. 

We are doing some of the traditional ceremonies the weekend before (such as Haldi, Mehndi) 

It is going to be a long day, but we feel that everyone will be happy. Happy planning!

krish653

I am also looking at a fused ceremony - I'm Hindu and my fiance is Christian. There are both rites in each ceremony that are significant to us but we would prefer to have one ceremony. The thing is - how do we do that?  Our union is a fusion of two cultures/people/religions in of itself so we would like to try to fuse the two ceremonies.
I am totally open to ideas.. we've just started the planning process.

kalpi108

Mag, that is a long day! But if you're both happy with it, that's what matters. and I'm sure it will flow nicely and fly by so quickly, you won't realize how long it was until it's over. Congrats in advance!

Krish, it's hard figuring out how to do it in one ceremony! That is originally what we were going to do but like Mag, had a hard time figuring out what to cut, what to keep, and how to fuse it all together. We're just keeping it short and back to back rather than morning and night because we can't afford an all day affair with our venue and it's our wish to get married outside there. 

If you do really want to do it as one, some ways I've seen it done are having a Christian ceremony but with the bride in a sari. You could slip some of the Hindu traditions into the Christian ceremony, like having him place the mangal sutra on you, or putting the sindoor in your hair, or you could do the 7 steps around the fire after the Christian exchanging of vows is over. Hope this helps!

amstepina

I am Catholic and my fiance is Hindu.  He doesn't really know the customs of the Hindu wedding.  We were thinking of doing the 7 steps for our vows.  Any one have any ideas how include this in the wedding? Our friend is the officient so we are open.

mvyas

Wow, I can't believe so many people are in the same boat!  So we are going with two officiants - one Christian and one Hindu, and attempting to have one ceremony.  Our Hindu priest has told us that he has done several interfaith weddings and what works best is for the officiants to take turns.  In theory, I am loving this idea.  We are blending our cultures so it makes sense to have the officiants blend their messages.  BUT (and there always seems to be a "but" with wedding planning, I am also struggling with how exactly to accomplish this.  I can see if becoming a trainwreck if the officiants can't pull it off.  Has anyone does this before?  If so, I'd appreciate any thoughts on the itinerary.

Thanks!

Aleena108

I would love to hear from someone who already did just one ceremony.  I want to keep it to one ceremony as well, I know that the most important part of the hindu ceremony is the 7 steps, and I think it would be a good way for us to do our vows.  

The main concern that I have though, is that I don't know if I want a full fire sacrifice, but I also wouldn't feel comfortable having the fire without doing the ceremony properly.  Do you think that it would be okay to have the seven steps, but not do them around the fire?

His family is Catholic, but he does not consider himself to be so, just Christian.  I know that will make it easier for us to have a fusion ceremony.  but planning the ceremony has turned out to be pretty difficult still.  At least the reception will be great!  (Mexican food and Indian food... I'm drooling just thinking about it!)

(Also, a more asthetic side to the ceremony...  the men will be in suits, and the women in saris, but I will be in a gold wedding dress with a red and gold beaded veil.  I think it will be a nice way to incorporate some of the non-religious traditions of both cultures.)