Priya's Wedding

Here are a few photos (and a video) from Priya's and James' wedding. They had a small Christian ceremony last November and celebrated Priya's heritage with a traditional Hindu ceremony at Ocean Place Resort in Long Branch, New Jersey.

While I had never attended a Hindu wedding, Priya explained the process when we watched Monsoon Wedding a few years ago. (Priya and I were roommates and also worked together in New York.) I'll try to be brief while explaining the highlights.

Priya's family and guests greet James and his family as they arrive by parade, complete with dancing and accompanied by a drum. Traditionally, the groom would arrive on a horse, but the resort doesn't exactly accommodate live animals.

James and family arrive at an archway, where Priya's parents greet him. They do some ceremonial stuff, such as James crushing a small clay pot and Priya's mom trying to "catch" his nose. If she gets it, that means he will be a loyal son-in-law. Although there's over a foot difference in height between Priya's mom and James, she was able to catch his nose!

Priya's parents welcome James to the mandap (beautifully decorated stage/altar) and a lengthy prayer (in Hindi and unintelligible to us, as was most of the ceremony) ensued.

After this welcoming ceremony was complete, a sheet was placed in front of James as he awaited Priya's arrival. Her parents are seated facing the guests (they play a very prominent role in the ceremony - much more than any Christian or Jewish ceremony I've attended) and James' friend and brother hold the sheet.


Once Priya arrived and the sheet was taken down, many other rituals are conducted including this one where Priya's parents are blessing their union (or something like that - again, I had no clue what was being said). The man seated next to James is the priest.

Once her parents gave their blessing, their chairs were moved to face the guests and her parents left the mandap. Their shawls are tied together by the orange scarf. (Note the gawker behind Priya? That's a public boardwalk so there were lots of onlookers.)

Here's a short video of Priya and James taking seven steps together around a small fire. Hindus believe that if two people walk seven steps together then they will remain together for life.

Near the end of the ceremony, the married women in Priya's and James' families came forward to whisper advice in her ear. The women in orange - Tanya (friend from work and bridesmaid) and Hinal (cousin and MOH) handed out gifts to those women.


Shortly after this, the ceremony ended, rather undramatically (no retreating up the aisle or anything like that).

The actual ceremony lasted close to 90 minutes and we were out there in the sun for over two hours (Chris got a sunburn) since it started late and there were several delays. This is typical and most of the guests freely wandered around, chatted and visited the beverage table.

It was easy to spot the Hindu wedding newbies, as we tried to sit quietly and pay attention! Eventually I joined the crowd and went for some water and to find a better vantage point for picture taking.

This has got to be my longest post ever, so I will save the post-ceremony report for tomorrow!