interfaith wedding - any suggestions?

halfbrit

I'm a Christian, my fiance is Hindu, and we're trying to figure out how to hold a ceremony that incorporates both traditions without putting the guests to sleep.  (The Hindu ceremony alone will take nearly three hours.) 
We're meeting with our priests at the end of the month to discuss fusion ceremony options - has anyone on the board put together a fusion wedding, or attended one in the past?  I'd love to connect with others who are going through the same thing.  Thanks!

halfbrit

Oops...forgot to add that I'm Episcopalian, so we're fusing an Anglican ceremony with a traditional Gujarati Hindu wedding. 

ochemjenn

At least Anglican ceremonies are fairly short!  We had a traditional Episcopal wedding, and it was bout 35 min (no communion).

Are you planning on the whole Hindu ceremony or just parts of it?  I've never been to a Hindu wedding, so I can't really help there, but 3 hours is a long time.

AshNoel8

I don't know of anyone who has done this, so I'm no help. Maybe your priest can give suggestions. Did they (both priests) say they are willing to perform an interfaith ceremony? 

Also, this has nothing to do with your question, but if you plan on having children someday, did you and your FI discuss how you will raise them? Feel free to tell me to shut up if you want haha, I know it's none of my business. I just know that Christianity and Hinduism are very different and I wondered if you had discussed that aspect of it. The "beyond the wedding" part. You don't have to answer this if you don't feel comfortable. 

naomikb

My friend did something similar.  She had the Hindu ceremony in the morning (11 AM I think) at the temple, then a Christian ceremony later on (4 PM?) followed immediately by the reception.  Guests could attend both or just one ceremony as they pleased.  A lot of the Christian/white guests skipped the long Indian ceremony.

I think to make a single ceremony work you'd have to get both pastors/leaders on board and have them meet a few times to work out how it would go.  They'd both have to be okay with it, figure out who would do the actual legal papers signing, what venue it would be at, etc.

Also, you can check out the Interfaith Weddings board <----- on the left under "Cultural Boards".  I'm sure there are lots of brides there going through a similar thing.

ETA: Also, RyansBelovedBride on this board has an Indian fiance, but I'm not sure if he's Hindu, I think he's Christian.  She might be someone to connect with though.

AshNoel8

Thanks for the answers! Looks like you have it all figured out! Good luck with your wedding, I'm sure it will be beautiful!