Have you ever been invited for an Indian wedding? I was lucky to act as a wedding photographer in India during several occassions. It is a great cultural spectacle. People are dressed in vibrant colors and they wear some mesmerizing jewelry. The brighter the color, the better. Obviously, that's great for shooting photos! I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every wedding ceremony I attended. They were all subtly different as well. Today I'll show you one of them, with a special focus on portraits of all the guests attending (you should know I like portraits by now? ;-)). Pay close attention to how they dress :-)
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The happy couple!
Indian Wedding Traditions and Customs
A traditional Indian wedding is typically a multi-day affair and involves several ceremonies (although these vary per region and also per personal preference):
- In the first night, the priest will do a 'ganesh pooja', which is a ceremony performed at home by a priest. I understood this can take many shapes or forms.
The bride
- Before the wedding is also a good time where each side of the family can meet each other in a more intimate setting. Usually the second day begins with a mehndi ceremony, where the bride and her female friends and family will draw henna patterns on their hands and feet. These henna patterns can become pretty complex! In the evening, a sangeet will take place and both families will dance and party and enjoy each other's company. Kind of like a pre-party!
Look at those beautiful henna!
- Then, the third day involves the main ceremony, and this generally includes a cocktail hour and reception. If you are not super close to the people getting married, then you may be invited only for this ceremony. You'll hear and see people performing the bhangra, a Punjab folk dance, but people will also in many cases dance to Western music.
The Ceremony
- One of the first things you may notice is the baraat or groom's procession, where the groom will arrive to the ceremony on a decorated white horse, accompanied by the beat of the dhol (Indian drums).
- Then, the bride and her family will greet the groom and several floral garlands will be exchanged to wear around the neck. This symbolises their acceptance of each other, for eternity. Well, as they say it, it 'symbolises the bonding of the two souls for 100 years'. Beautifully said.
- Then the actual ceremony, perhaps the most important of all. Here, the priest, groom & bride and bride's parents sit beneath a mandap, some sort of canopy. The ceremony commences when the bride's parents give her away. The couple then circles around a small, enclosed fire called the 'agni' and perform some rituals. Therefater, the couple will take the 'saptapadi', basically seven steps where in each step they vow to support each other, and live happily together.
Mesmerizing jewelry
- The ceremony ends when the groom applies a red powder to the forehead of the bride, and then ties a black necklace around her neck. Now, she is a married woman according to Indian traditions.
do you know ? many Indians spend nearly 30-40% of their savings on weddings. not only the wedding price the bridge side give dowry to bridge groom which makes almost 40-50% of the life savings of the bride. really they are so colorful weddings in the world . I do accept with the fact.
In some countries, they even borrow money to have a wedding my friend.
Buenos días @martinphoto ...observo que eres muy detallista a la hora de enfocar tu cámara te felicito...hoy en post ...aprendí mucho sobre esta hermosa cultura...me parece genial participar en una boda, donde tiene tanta elaboración para un gran episodio de nuestra vida, como lo es el matrimonio...me encantaron los atuendos y joyerías usadas en especial el de la esposa,lleva unos aretes y collar espectacular...se siente la pasión al ver tantos colores en especial el rojo que da sensación de amor ... felicitaciones a ti y para los novios...saludos ...espero me visites pronto y poder seguir observando tus maravillosa fotos
Good morning @martinphoto ... I observe that you are very precise at the time of focusing your camera I congratulate you ... today in post ... I learned a lot about this beautiful culture ... I find it great to participate in a wedding, where you have so much elaboration for a great episode of our life, as it is marriage ... I loved the outfits and jewelery used especially the wife, wearing spectacular earrings and necklace ... you feel the passion to see so many colors in particular the red that gives a feeling of love ... congratulations to you and to the couple ... greetings ... I hope you visit me soon and can continue to watch your wonderful photos
To be honest, it's very very colorful
Wow @martinphoto,
These images are beautiful and the content is really good. I am from India and I know how beautiful an Indian wedding is.
It is just like a Christmas for two families.
Thanks a lot for sharing this.
very nice.
wow two very suitable people, congratulations on the new relationship may be a relationship to be proud of
@martinphoto greetings from children ACEH, INDONESIA
I really like these images, because they show us a bit of the millenary culture of India. In South America we are a little simpler and less colorful.
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Thanks @martinphoto for sharing this country's culture and its values because understanding a country's culture and values has good significance to it. It makes others aware about their customs, traditions, symbolism, etc. , and the reasons they do what they do and behave in such a manner that is important to them. The henna art is very artistic and beautiful. The customs for the bride and groom are so colorful and vibrant. Questions - before the ceremony, does the couple have to practice beforehand? Why the black necklace? What is its meaning? Thanks.
excellent publication, I wish you success, someday I will grow as you
First of all: Very nice , detailed pictures. You have really an eye for details.
Are these kind of weddings only for the upper class in India or is this kind of an average wedding ? With the little I Know about it' they spend a lot of money on their weddings and the celebration can be several days.
Gold gifts are very common in the whole region.
Tradition and society seem to be very sophisticated in this case and I just guess Indian people are not getting divorced very often. Do they ?
Kind regards
@seelc (Berlin, food & travel blog)
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When I look at the some tribes in Nigeria, I see some similarities.
For example, the mehndi ceremony is like the traditional weddings done by Nigerians. Some tribes spend and make so much of it than other tribes and it is usually colourful.
I like your pictures and I see them clean and clear. I am not a photographer professionally but I love to snap people
Thanks for sharing.
Colorful ceremony, Indian wedding. Thank you for the publication.
The culture and traditions of India are very rich, I think it's great that you could live that experience, as you say the wedding was very colorful and cheerful, and you could capture very well what they felt, which was happiness!
Really cool photos! I am sure you had a chance to try some delicious Indian food at the wedding as well! 😋😋@martinphoto
Beautiful pictures :)
Wonderful post and with incredible colors! Congratulations!
Well, I always admire Indian ladies, they are quite gorgeous and beautiful by the way :)
Nice post, success is always for you friend
I havn’t been to a traditional Indian wedding but I have had the honor of doing full bridal mehndi for an Indian bride! By far one of my most memorable henna experiences!! Stunning photography here of a beautiful wedding :)
Woah! This was really great, a very colorful wedding dress. I was wondering why they dressed a very colorful one, this may symbolize something because every country have diffrent traditions and culture. Here in our country (Philippines) usually the bride dressed with plain white bridal dress because it symbolizes purity, hope I can attend or see indian wedding someday. Thank you for sharing this wonderful and lovely wedding tradition @martinphoto❤️
Nice Wedding!