Essay A Desi Wedding

The wedding ceremony is a celebratory event romanticized by couples nationwide for its ability to unite creativity and tradition in a convenient package. One need only observe the plethora of wedding trends, from outlandishly alternative to stringently orthodox, to understand how important representing individuality remains among contemporary couples. In retrospect, much of the symbolisms attributed to these trends come from centuries of applied social significance; couples see the most value in a marriage celebration which allows them to flaunt their unique qualities as individuals while simultaneously modeling the long-standing customs of preceding weddings. In the 2002 film, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, director Joel Zwick illustrates the

There are various customs and traditions for marriage in United States based on varying factors such as culture, social norms, and religion. There are no unique practices because most of practices are derived from other cultures. The marriage practices and customs revolve around wedding attire, before wedding, wedding ceremony, reception, and after wedding. White bridal dresses are worn with a veil in weddings. However, those not wedding for the first time can choose any color of bridal dresses apart from white. Before a wedding, most have bridal showers where the bride receives gifts from the guests. Preparation takes considerable time to plan a wedding. In a wedding, groomsmen and bridesmaids are included (Lilian, 2013). The bride’s father walks the bride down the aisle to indicate approval of the groom. “The typical 21st century wedding can now feature a supporting cast of stepparents, half-siblings, Dad's new girlfriend and her kids, the bride's first stepfather and his new wife, and sometimes even the bride and groom's ex-spouses” Wedding cakes are used and couples kiss as a form of endearment. Cakes are seen symbols of fertility. It is a custom for the newly married woman to

A traditional ceremony consists of feeding friends and visitors attending, the wedding ceremony would take place in the hogan with the groom and his father or uncle sitting on the west side followed by the bride and her father or uncle. Sitting beside the boy on his right side they would be positioned towards the east which was facing the door. Starting with the girl she would pour water onto the boy’s hands and he would wash them, then he would do the same to her washing her hands, this symbolized purity and cleansing. A medicine man would then pray quietly while arranging a corn meal mush decorated with pollen, they would then take turns eating the mush starting with the boy followed by the girl. Usually they were instructed to eat it all, but if it was not all eaten it would be passed to each of the boys family members so they could have a bite. Once the mush was eaten the mother of the boy would keep the basket where the mush had been and preserve it at all times, this was important to a successful marriage. Traditional weddings were held at night, but modern traditions allow them to be held in the daytime, and because of this some believe it is the reason for divorce and family problems. Once the wedding ceremony was over the couple would stay in the hogan while family and friends went home. Traditional Navajo

In the film Monsoon Wedding, Indian culture is illustrated in the practices of the traditional Punjabi wedding. The wedding in the film was arranged as is the norm in Indian culture. Thought the wedding was rushed it was not forced. Aditi wanted to be married having realised the uncertainty of her previous relationship with a married man.

Jewish weddings have a few guidelines to follow. For example, the wedding ceremony takes place under the chuppah (canopy), a symbol of the home that the new couple will build together. It is open on all sides, just as Abraham and Sarah had their tent open all sides to welcome people in unconditional hospitality. The wedding should be held on the first part of a lunar month when the moon is growing in the sky rather than waning. The wedding should not be performed on the Sabbath, during Jewish holidays, festivals, or on fast days. Lastly, traditionally Tuesday is considered to be the most favorable day of the week and the most popular day for

In America we are known for throwing lavish ceremonies and expensive parties to celebrate the union between two people. I’ve attended quite a few weddings and participated in one during my lifetime thus far. Most weddings in the American culture follow the same itinerary.

Customarily, the Arab Muslim bride wears a simple white dress and veil, very similar to the Christian faith. An Asian Muslim bride however, is much more colourful and wears glittering clothes, plenty of jewellery and flower garlands around her. The hands and feet of the bride are often decorated with henna (‘Mehndi’). The

When the party ends the bride throws the bouquet of flowers to all her single friends, the tradition says that whoever catches the bouquet will be the next to marry. The couple leaves the party together heading to their honey moon.

Monsoon wedding”(2007), an award winning movie, directed by mira nair. Features widely known Indian actors, such as Vasundhara Das, Naseeruddin Shah and Vijay Raaz.

Nowadays, people don’t want to make the wedding ceremony by using their traditional practice. There are several factors that have been involved which are education, source of economic in urban areas, and the modernization. Mostly all members of society from rural areas have moved to urban areas because of factor of work. In rural area, the number of work is decrease. Besides that, the living standard of live has been changed in this new era

If they were to meet each other without the parent’s permission, it is considered as bad manner and bad upbringing. In India, the average age to marry is 24 years old for the males and 22 to 23 years old for the females. Indian weddings are usually the longest wedding, which are held in the night time in a huge wedding hall, that includes many different rituals which are performed in front of the God and the couple promise’s each other that they will be together in a sad or a happy moment, no matter what will be the results. Even though wedding has the same meaning in every culture, the way of celebration and ceremony is different. According to iloveindia.com, the ceremony in India is about the priest, groom, bride, and bride’s parents sit beneath a mandap, and a canopy. The wedding ceremony starts off with the Kanya Daan, in which the bride’s parents give away the bride’s hand to the groom with all her responsibility. Then the couple holds hands together and start circling around a small, enclosed fire in a ritual called the mangal phera for seven times by taking a seven oaths together to spend a rest of the life to live as a one soul. The seven steps around the enclosed fire, is the vow to support each other and live happily together. Finally, the groom will apply a red powder to the center of the bride’s forehead and tie a black beaded necklace around her neck, symbolizing

marriage or the celebration of a marriage. Although marriage is the main theme of this

In American culture the view on arranged marriages are not looked at very favorably. This is because we have grown up with the knowledge that when it comes time to marry we will have chosen our spouse of our own free will. The match will be a love match and one that is chosen through our own needs. Young men and women in India grow up with an opposite view on marriage. They know that when it comes time to marry their parents will find them a suitable mate and it will be considered scared and a lifelong commitment (Agence France-Presse.) A total of 74 percent of respondents from across India voted in favour of traditional "arranged" marriages, according to the poll by private television channel NDTV. In the Hindu faith, marriage is

Monsoon Wedding, a Bollywood film directed by Mira Nair and released in 2001, earned just above $30 million at the box office [1]. The film brilliantly depicts romantic entanglements during a traditional Punjabi wedding in Delhi, while delicately handling sensitive issues such as child-abuse, pre-arranged marital infidelity, growing old and striving to be different as an upper middle class Indian boy, or being a flirtatious, bored but basically settled NRI (non-resident Indian) housewife. The film won the Golden Lion award and received a Golden Globe Award nomination, achieving a total of six wins and ten nominations [2].

Marriage is a significant social event in contemporary society. It is a means of building new bonds between two individuals and their subsequent families. The foundations of memorable weddings are built on those that bring often-distant family and friends together for the occasion, while dressed in their most sophisticated attire, surrounded by elegant flowers, a night of dancing, captured through the lens of an exceptional photographer. Although Hinduism and Islam are two extremely distinctive religions, their matrimonial customs do share some comparable elements, like most other cultural wedding ceremonies. In both religions, they are devotedly obedient concerning religious and cultural practices in their marital ceremonies.