PLANNING AN INDIAN-AMERICAN WEDDING

I remember looking back to the first few days after we got engaged and feeling so overwhelmed. I was asking myself – how would we blend our two cultures to make our two families happy?

We were the first Indian-American relationship within both of our families so we didn’t have a blueprint for what the wedding should look like.

We wanted to honor my Irish-German background & Harinder’s Indian background.

First, we sat down with one another and decided what was most important to us.

Our non-negotiables were pretty simple: dancing, eating & sunshine.

Next, we sat down with each of our parents & asked how each of them envisioned the wedding. This was very important, as we needed to know what our parent’s expectations were. This allowed us to come up with a timeline of events that made us and our families happy.

We decided on the following timeline:

First, we started out with the Mayian Ceremony. We had it under a gazebo that looked out to the ocean. We kept it simple, with little décor since the scenery and our outfits made the ceremony vibrant and beautiful. This ceremony traditionally takes place a few days prior to the wedding and family and friends rub turmeric paste on the bride and groom to cleanse the skin and make them glow for the wedding day. We sat side by side & it was a great way to say hi to everyone who was attending our wedding.

After the Mayian Ceremony, we had the Jaggo! This celebration is traditionally spent separate with the groom’s side of the family having a Jaggo and the bride’s side having a Sangeet. However, since we were blending cultures we decided to have it together. We also kept this event simple regarding the décor, as the outfits and jewelry were so colorful. It was a wonderful night of dancing and eating the most delicious Indian food. We incorporated some American rehearsal dinner traditions into the celebration by having some special friends and family give speeches.

The next event was the Sikh Ceremony! Our family was willing to have this ceremony outside of a temple. This is something you will want to discuss with your parents since many parents have strong opinions on this. We used a room at our all-inclusive resort for this ceremony, we had a mandap put up and there were pillows & chairs provided for guests to sit on. We found a Sikh Priest who does destination weddings. You will want to make sure you can find a priest, as many do not travel and ask them all the décor and standards that you must follow. Our priest did the ceremony in English and Punjabi; we felt this allowed for our guests to feel comfortable and included as we had both Punjabi-speaking and English-speaking guests. The ceremony was beautiful & very meaningful to us.

The last event was the American Ceremony/Reception. We had a gorgeous ceremony on the beach where one of our dear friends married us. We then had a cocktail hour after (as we went and took our family pictures) followed by a reception. During this reception, we served Mexican food, had a few speeches and then DANCED. My fiancé is quite the dancer, so we included a surprised performance by him and his family. I have linked the dance. It was incredible!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1-OUuWiBl8

I hope this helps anyone trying to plan an Indian/American wedding and doesn’t know where to start!

Here is the schedule we provided to our guests:

Happy Planning!! xoxo.