Indian weddings are grand affairs which involve many traditional rituals that take place on the days before the big event itself. This means that the problems for those planning a wedding are many, and it means a lot of things have to be taken into consideration. Not all weddings will have the same rituals in the overall scheme of things, and what is going to be incorporated and what is not needs plenty of time to think about.
For example, will there be a Kanyadaan? This is a Hindu tradition in which the bride’s father presents his daughter to the groom. It can be viewed from the translation – kanya meaning maiden, and daan meaning donation. So, the father of the bride is giving his daughter away to the groom and hoping that she will get the love from him that her father has always given her. In fact, this is not just a Hindu custom, but can be seen as similar to Christian and Jewish weddings where the bride’s father takes her to the altar and “gives her away” to the groom.
The Kanyadaan is just one of several ceremonies that can take place in a Hindu wedding. There are others such as the Mangalsutra, the Seven Vows, the Solah Shringar, and so on.
Another very important ceremony is the Mehndi which is where the bride has her hands, arms, and feet painted with henna paste. This often takes place on the day before the actual wedding ceremony itself and is traditionally regarded as something of a party for the girls. During the Mehndi the bride sits on a Mehndi stage which can be very elaborate, as she has herself painted by a Mehndi artist who will decorate her with traditional Indian designs such as floral motifs, peacock designs, and other motifs that cover every inch of those body parts.
As you can imagine, this can take a considerable amount of time, and while this is going on the guests will perform singing and dancing, and there will be plenty of food and drinks all round. The Mehndi artist will often include the name of the groom somewhere within the design, and there is a lot of fun and games as the participants try to find it. As always with an Indian wedding tradition, the décor plays an important part in the proceedings. At Kenza Creations we can produce a stunning stage and décor for your Mehndi party.
Wedding Photographers
One of the things that you need to plan for early on for your wedding is the wedding photographer. Why? It’s because professional wedding photographers can easily get booked up 18 months in advance, so if you have a photographer that you wish to use it’s a good idea to see if he or she has your wedding day available. And you do need a professional photographer. Yes, your uncle George may be a bit of a photographer, but you only have one wedding day, and it is vital that you get it right.
There is another thing to consider when thinking about a wedding photographer and that is whether you should have one photographer or two. Ideally, you should always opt for two wedding photographers because at an Indian wedding there are going to be a lot of guests, so you have many people mingling around the reception. If you only have one photographer, he can only be in one place at a time, so if he or she is taking the formal photographs out on the lawn, for instance, he will miss a lot of things going on elsewhere. If you have two photographers, you will get a lot of candid shots that would otherwise have been missed.
You also need to plan your wedding décor. At Kenza Creations, the decor for your wedding is our speciality. In many instances, we will have worked at your chosen venue before, so we can come up with a lot of suggestions. However, if we have not worked there before, we will need to take a trip to look at the venue so that we can make plans that will make the best use of the space. We will work together with you to ensure that your wedding venue and décor look like an emperor’s palace!