Groom's pre-wedding ceremony

Malneer(Holy shower)

This is the event that starts two days before the wedding. The elderly women circle the groom and his mother and prepare them for what is next in their life to represent the extension of this bond to be more welcoming as a mother in law. This is an opportunity to make for the groom to make a promise to not only the bride but also to rest of his family that he will be welcoming the balance in his life. This ends with sprinkling turmeric water on the groom to shun all the negativity and to prepare the groom to shine in his wedding as turmeric is considered the purest of the element in ceremonies.

Naandi

The blessings of the elderly, who are no more with us in the same world is represented in a form of an imitation that brings the spirits of everyone with us to kickstart the event making sure there are not any unforeseen roadblocks and everything goes as smoothly as planned.

Havan

Since fire is worshipped as the most sacred power , prayers are offered to invoke the fire god to make sure the event goes smoothly.

Lesson for Groom

The elder ladies in the family gather on this day to share some tips with the groom, pulling his leg by asking him to test his cooking skills. They make him knead dough suggesting how life as married husband may have its own challenge and the daily grind may be exhaustive. If the dough he made sticks to a the ceiling its implied that he will have a good married life and this is the challenge he takes with all his might to make sure the dough sticks while the rest of the ladies try to distract and make fun of him

Bride's pre-wedding ceremony

Haldi Ceremony

This ritual involves getting the bride ready with a holy shower a day before the wedding. Turmeric is considered one of the purest form of elements culturally and this event is an opportunity for the closest family members of the bride to have a playful event applying turmeric paste and coloring her, while the elders of the family bless her for a better future. Close family members await every opportunity to chase the bride to make sure she is covered yellow. This is then followed by the shower to cleanse the bride followed by trip to temple. Haldi ceremony is also held separately at groom's pre wedding ceremony.

Lesson for the bride

Once the bride returns from the temple she is now ready to learn the ways of married life. Elders of the house gather around her and show her a glimpse of how life could be difficult and simple tasks like grinding lentils to make a curry could be tedious task on the easiest days. They tease the bride to ask her how she would pamper her husband in the future meanwhile giving an important lesson that the daily grind of life should never take a toll on the special bond that marriage needs and it takes a constant effort to keep the relationship, fun and friendship going.

Mehendi Ceremony

Mehendi Ceremony

Just a day before the wedding the bride awaits to have her moment of fun with her group of girls. She gathers all her cousins and girl friends for a special occasion to wear the mehendi(henna tattoo). While the father of the bride helps her arrange this event also reflects on how his daughter has grown up to this moment. Its all fun and party and there in lies a secret task for the groom. In the hennna tattoo is hidden the groom's name which he needs to find on the day of his marriage to impress the bride with his ability to keenly observe her and ensure that he will for the rest of his life lay eyes on her.

Baraat

Sehera Bandi (Crowning the Groom)

The day before the wedding, the groom decides he is ready to take the first step towards his new life. To prove he is nothing lesser than a prince to her bride and to prove he would defend her honor and respect her in the same regards the groom decides to start the journey towards bride. Before the journey he visits a temple informs his family of his intentions. The groom is filled with courage and given directions of what lies ahead of him. The family members dress the groom with a pagadi(hat/crown) while covering his face with beads and necklace(sehera) and also give him a small sword to defend himself on the journey to the bride.

Ghodi(Horseback Riding)

After the sehera bandi, the sisters and young folks tease the groom for his intentions trying test his perseverance. Meanwhile the horse is fed, ready for the journey. There is music(dhol) and celebrations all around. People gather around to witness the courage groom has shown to take this journey into being a husband. With friends and family dancing to the music the groom finally mounts the horse and starts his journey. The smallest member of the family accompanies groom on the horse as a glimpse to show that this journey not only is about getting to the bride but also signifies, growing out from being a boy into a man.

Baraat Arrival

As the groom arrives at the wedding venue, the music gets louder and everyone gets to dance announcing the groom's arrival to marry the bride. Meanwhile the bride is getting ready and anxiously waiting for the groom. The dance and music gives her the pleasant indication that through all hardships the groom has made it to her door step finally bringing the moments she awaits much closer

Intezaar

Bride secretly peeps through the window and blushes admiring the glimpse of her groom. The music and dance acknowledges her eagerness to be part of the most important moment with her partner for the rest of their life. The groom after getting down the horse is welcomed by the bride's family and is now ready to put his words and intention to marry in action. The couple now exchange rings kicking off the confirmation of their wedding to the crowd. This announces the formal beginning of the wedding events. The groom and the bride now get busy attending to the guests of reception, thanking them for witnessing the promise and welcoming them to the wedding.

Reception

Getting Ready

Walking the aisle

Varmala(exchanging garlands)

Photo Moments...

The Big Day

Getting ready for the big moment

With a bit of anxiety and lots of hope, the bride is ready for the moments that lead up to tying the knot. After a significant wait from having seen the groom she now looks forward to seeing him while taking the vows. She now visits the groom's mother to exchange gifts and make her aware of the vows she will share with the groom. Groom's mother appreciates and blesses the bride's best intentions and wishes her luck.

Meeting the to be In-laws

While the bride is busy exchanging gifts and sharing her plans of leading a successful marriage with the Groom's mother, Groom is being welcomed into the bride's family where he shares his intention of going on a enlightment journey in pursuit of knowledge.

Before The Bride meets The Groom

Kashi Yatra(The journey of enlightenment)

The bride's father reminds the groom of the rough journey ahead and gifts the groom with all the necessary food and survival needs for his journey. He also insists a tough journey alone may not be ideal and having a partner would make a wise man's journey much easier. Of course this being a ritual poised as a game to test the groom's intention of what his priorities are the groom then chooses the bride as the partner he wants to marry to make sure she is the partner for all the journeys of his life.

Kanya Aagaman/Before the big reveal

The Groom and the Bride's family return back to the stage and reveal the groom's intention of making the bride his partner for the rest of his life and for all the journeys he endeavors. The Bride walks the aisle towards the groom on the stage. Now the Groom and the bride are separated by a veil. They pray for the veil to drop and to see each other after the much longing wait for the special moment

Fun rituals

Pearl Shower

After the Veil drops the bride and the groom are told to show their love towards each other by showering the pearls on each other and the person who gets to shower the most seems to be the most giving/ loving in the relationship. This sweet competition leads to fun moments where both bride and groom take turns to one up each other in different ways.

Digbandhana(sacred bond)

After the fun shower ends the bride and groom are now made to hold each other in a pose that represents a sacred oath. Its time for them to recite the vows. This is followed by reinforncing of this vows to echo the universe. Both the bride and groom are surrounded by a sacred circle created by the family and all of them join in echoing their promises of marriage to each other.

Tying the knot

MangalSutram

This is the moment all events lead upto . The wait, the journey, the vows is all there and now is the time for the vows to be turned into actions. The groom holds the sacred thread called mangala sutra. He first asks the bride her permission to marry, then the to be in laws and the entire guests present in the ceremony. As everyone applauds acknowledging a yes to the marriage the groom proceeds to tie the three knots. The three knots representing the bond that ties the three families , the bride's family, the groom's family and the one that newly weds will start. Now the bride and groom are declared husband and wife for the rest of their life.

Sapthapadi and Saath phere

After being declared husband and wife the newly weds now have few more rituals their way. The newly weds now pray to the gods for best of luck to keep them together. This circling of the fire seven times is called saath phere. This is followed by the seven steps the newly weds promise to take. For when life is not kind when just holding hands is not enough to walk together and one of us promise to help the other walk through any issues that may keep us apart.

Post wedding games and fun

Finding the Ring

After all the vows , knots and prayers the guests are curious to test the couple's togetherness. A bucket of holy water has a ring in it and this is one a competition between the wife and husband to find the ring and they say the one who finds the ring first is going to be the best spouse to have proved themselves. Three rounds of this is enough for the newly weds to find out that it really doesn't matter because as husband and wife win or loss is all shared experience for both of them.

Auction

This time it is two teams, those who believe that Priyanka will make a better spouse and those who believe that Abhishek will make a better spouse. Team salt vs team lentils. Priyanka is asked to auction the salt at a value without guessing the price of lentils and its the vice a versa for Abhishek. Since they had already established that win or loss for them is an equally shared experience, they try not to one up each other. However there is peer pressure and the one that gives in to have a higher valuation of their team to run a profit from this transaction. The end result is the moral that stands out in spite of the best efforts for the couple to be together. Sometimes the external influences and peer pressure may lead them to a different path but the transparency and the bond they share and the value they create for each other should not be easily influenced to change by anyone else.

Welcoming newly weds

Abhishek's family Welcomes Priyanka home

Abhishek's family eagerly waits to welcome the new member to their family. Abhishek's siblings surround Priyanka to welcome her and pull her leg to call her husband in anger and with love. The mother in law asks Priyanka to put the right foot forward followed by spilling a glass of rice and jaggery. This represents a sign of prosperity for the family as they welcome the new member to the household.