Hindu Wedding Ceremonies

[Chris Estrella]

I'm in the process of finishing a Hindu wedding for my client. Although I am done the editing, I am looking for proper names of the rituals for use in the DVD (otherwise it might have to be one 2-hour chapter titled "Ceremony"!)

So if anyone is familiar with these weddings, I would greatly appreciate some help.

Here's the breakdown of some of the things that happened, I'm just going to scrub through the timeline and type what I see:

- bride gets ready, puts on her dress, jewelry, and things
- bride is escorted outside and is carried in a box to the limo (wish it were an elephant!)
- (now at ceremony venue) bride leaves limo and is carried again in the box to the building where the ceremony is held (not a temple, just a banquet hall) and is escorted away for the time being
- the groom comes in a limo. The parents greet each other.
- a bunch of women appear to negotiate with the best man in the limo to get the groom out. I think they are offering him money?
- the groom comes out, is being escorted towards the stage, but first is greeted with a bunch of women to take a plate of flower petals and a cup of something and wave it in front of the groom's face in a circular motion
- now at the stage, the groom uses a leaf to scoop something into the fire
- the bride comes to the stage in her box
- some things are put on the bride and groom by the bride's parents (on their feet I think?)
- a rope or fabric of sorts is tied to the bride and groom
- a liquid is poured onto the bride and groom's hands
- they do something to their feet and I saw a cup with money in it and women are putting flower petals on them
- they put something in the fire (then it started to smell like popcorn!) and walk around the fire a few times
- a veil of some sort is put on the bride and groom's head
- another band or fabric is put around the bride's head
- the groom puts a ring on the bride
- a flower necklace is put on both bride and groom
- the bride and groom now face the audience holding a metal plate with a candle and shows it to the audience

Wow that's a lot to go through...for those of Hindu culture, sorry for my lack of proper terminology!

Since there are so many things, maybe even just the main 5 or whichever things should do the trick.

Thanks in advance!

[Joel Peregrine]

Hi Chris,

I just wanted to get notifications of new posts on this thread. I have a Hindu wedding coming up in my editing schedule...

Originally Posted by Chris Estrella

I'm in the process of finishing a Hindu wedding for my client. Although I am done the editing, I am looking for proper names of the rituals for use in the DVD (otherwise it might have to be one 2-hour chapter titled "Ceremony"!)

So if anyone is familiar with these weddings, I would greatly appreciate some help.

Here's the breakdown of some of the things that happened, I'm just going to scrub through the timeline and type what I see:

- bride gets ready, puts on her dress, jewelry, and things
- bride is escorted outside and is carried in a box to the limo (wish it were an elephant!)
- (now at ceremony venue) bride leaves limo and is carried again in the box to the building where the ceremony is held (not a temple, just a banquet hall) and is escorted away for the time being
- the groom comes in a limo. The parents greet each other.
- a bunch of women appear to negotiate with the best man in the limo to get the groom out. I think they are offering him money?
- the groom comes out, is being escorted towards the stage, but first is greeted with a bunch of women to take a plate of flower petals and a cup of something and wave it in front of the groom's face in a circular motion
- now at the stage, the groom uses a leaf to scoop something into the fire
- the bride comes to the stage in her box
- some things are put on the bride and groom by the bride's parents (on their feet I think?)
- a rope or fabric of sorts is tied to the bride and groom
- a liquid is poured onto the bride and groom's hands
- they do something to their feet and I saw a cup with money in it and women are putting flower petals on them
- they put something in the fire (then it started to smell like popcorn!) and walk around the fire a few times
- a veil of some sort is put on the bride and groom's head
- another band or fabric is put around the bride's head
- the groom puts a ring on the bride
- a flower necklace is put on both bride and groom
- the bride and groom now face the audience holding a metal plate with a candle and shows it to the audience

Wow that's a lot to go through...for those of Hindu culture, sorry for my lack of proper terminology!

Since there are so many things, maybe even just the main 5 or whichever things should do the trick.

Thanks in advance!

[Peter Manojlovic]

I haven't done a Hindu wedding, but i HAVE done ethnic weddings....

My 2 cents......

Most ethnic weddings, the B&G want you to keep rolling...Just roll. Something you think is exempt and irrellevent...means all the world to them...
I've had the pleasure of listening to a colleauge get told what to keep, and what to dump on the final edit of a Hindu wedding.
Surprisingly, much of the conversation (although lacklustre to you and I) was the MOST important part of the ceremony..

Don't know the budget, or the situation, but i'd personally have a sitdown with the B&G, and get them to tell you what's absolutely a must.

I'm surprised that you didn't have a more thorough discussion of this during the early stages of signup..

[Chris Estrella]

Originally Posted by Peter Manojlovic

I haven't done a Hindu wedding, but i HAVE done ethnic weddings....

My 2 cents......

Most ethnic weddings, the B&G want you to keep rolling...Just roll. Something you think is exempt and irrellevent...means all the world to them...
I've had the pleasure of listening to a colleauge get told what to keep, and what to dump on the final edit of a Hindu wedding.
Surprisingly, much of the conversation (although lacklustre to you and I) was the MOST important part of the ceremony..

Don't know the budget, or the situation, but i'd personally have a sitdown with the B&G, and get them to tell you what's absolutely a must.

I'm surprised that you didn't have a more thorough discussion of this during the early stages of signup..

Normally I would, but this was the third wedding I've ever done! They were booked through a photography company I work with and they were the ones communicating everything to me, not the bride and groom. But it was definitely a mistake on my part to take the initiative to meet with the B&G earlier to talk about the ceremony. Also, and perhaps it's a little dishonest on my part, but I didn't want to sound like I didn't know what was going on, so they'd have more confidence and faith in me...

Luckily however, my style is that I do film everything I possibly can. Even in the final DVD, I include everything (in the ceremony, anyway) from start to finish. I only had one camera available in most of the beginning of the ceremony, so I had to cut out some very unusable footage, which I really hope wasn't anything important (I'm slightly sure it wasn't though or I probably wouldn't have cut it).