A hindu wedding as with all weddings is a lot more than just an occasion. It is that special day when two souls in love, vow to protect and be with each other forever. In most cultures of the world, weddings are a closed family affair and just a one day celebration, at the most, however, an Hindu wedding is way beyond that.
Have you ever been to an Hindu wedding before? If you haven’t, then you for sure are missing out on something spectacular. An Hindu wedding is much more than just the bride and the groom getting married; it is a celebration of two families becoming one and is definitely not a closed family affair.
Desi Hindu weddings are gala galore
An Hindu wedding, or a Desi wedding, is a joyous and lavish celebration with exuberant crowds, participating in numerous ceremonies for almost a week. But the flip side of this Hindu wedding extravaganza is that there are months of preparation for the two families to deal with and the fact is that these glamorous and colourful hindu weddings are an expensive affair, it often turns this wedding celebration into a stressful process for them, as they will have to take care of every minute detail for it to be picture perfect.
After all, who wouldn’t wish to have a wedding that is perfect in every sense, not only for the bride and the groom, but for all the guests that put in the special efforts to join in for this larger than life celebration of yours.
When thinking of Indian weddings, the first thing that comes to most peoples mind is the traditional Hindu weddings. Hindu wedding or the so called Desi weddings have so many different ceremonies from haldi to mehndi, sangeet, shaadi, bidai and reception. Mehndi is an important ceremony especially for the bride as she celebrates applying Mehndi with her family and friends just a day before her wedding, which is considered auspicious.
All these ceremonies are beautifully planned and every occasion is decorated with the brightest of colors. There are families and friends dressed in wonderful attires, dancing and enjoying every ceremony of their loved one. These are the basic rituals of Hindu Wedding however, there are a lot of variations that can give a special flavor to your Hindu wedding.
Then comes the D day, which is added to perfection with classy décor and a gorgeous looking contemporary or traditional Hindu Wedding Mandap, which is a temporarily erected structure that has four pillars. It is in a Mandap that the main wedding ceremony for the Hindu Wedding takes place. The bride and the groom get their royal chairs and the parents mostly get side chairs. Most importantly, a Mandap houses the special pedestal, called the ‘havan kund’, for the ceremonial and sacred fire part of the Hindu Wedding. Special care is taken so as to get just the perfect lighting and seating to add to the ambience of this wonderful celebration.
Ceremony in the Mandap
The traditional Hindu wedding and marriage ceremony is primarily based on the marriage of Surya, who was the daughter of Savita (The Sun) to Ashwinikumar, as described in one of the oldest Hindu scriptures the Rig-Veda, which was written approximately 1500 BC.
The Hindu wedding ceremony can be likened to a romantic story, where the bride and the groom come to the Mandap by themselves without having met each other. Then they fall in love and request the parents’ permission to get married. It is then explained to them in the Mandap what a Hindu marriage means and they accept the responsibilities and obligations that go with it.
During the various Hindu wedding rituals in the Mandap, the couple are required to commit to one another to remain faithful and repeat this pledge in front of the Fire God, the Agni and the witnesses present. They are required to walk seven steps together which is a sign of the bride and groom committing to seven marriage vows to each other going forward. All present bless them and wish them a very happy life together and they leave the Mandap as a newly married couple!
The traditional hosts for the ceremony in the Mandap are the bride’s parents. The groom and his family are the guests arriving from outside to the Mandap. The ceremony that takes place in the Mandap depicts the for the Bride and the Groom, the transition from the first stage of their lives, Brahmacharya or the Student Stage, to the second stage of their lives, Grihastha or the Householder Stage.
So in summary in the Mandap you have the first meeting of the bride and the groom, their decision to get married, bride’s parents giving away the bride, the couple then committing to marriage in front of the sacred fire, the bride’s transition to her in-law’s home, the taking of the seven vows and the friends and families blessing the newly wedded couple after the ceremony in the Mandap.
Vegetarian or non-vegetarian, you are in for a buffet like none other
Hindu Weddings as with all Weddings are a definite no, if they do not serve you the best menu on the plate and food that is memorable. Food makes all of us happy, doesn’t it? Especially when you have guests with a variety of dietary requirements along with guests from maybe different religious backgrounds it can at times feel like a minefield that you are having to manoeuvre. Loonat Catering Services with their 20 years of Indian catering experience and expertise will take the stress away and bring in the best of different cuisines of the world according to the theme of your ceremony.
Well, yes! Themes are again fancy in today’s generation for weddings. We can offer you the best food according to your needs and with the exact setting you ask for. If a destination wedding is on your mind with the locations that we serve, then we will take care of everything that is mentioned in our services and take the burden off your shoulder.
We cater to all kinds of crowd around the globe and thus we specialise in a variety of cuisines. Often people are worried about the vegetarian counter at the weddings. Be rest assured that with our specialist vegetarian chef from Gujarat we can provide you the best and lavish menu for vegetarians as well.
We will not limit with only lavish food options, but if you are looking for fancy desserts, then we can provide you that also. We would love to hear what you expect in your wedding and we would also provide you with the best ideas that we have. We would make your wedding as special and ‘shaandaar’ as you have imagined it would be and wouldn’t give you a chance of disappointment.
We welcome your suggestions for every function set up in terms of décor and we will match your expectations by turning your dream wedding into reality. Do not worry about organizing and taking care of every minute detail starting from the invites, ceremony, guests, stay, food, photographers to the decorator and much more for your Desi wedding. This is where we at Loonat Catering Services come in to the picture, as your wedding planners and caterers, we step in to help you by organizing your wedding ceremonies in the best way.
Please contact us or use our online enquiry menu form to know all that we can offer you for the BIG DAY of your life.