And the celebration continues! (Day 2) Haldi ceremony

Tuesday 1/16/2024

First up today is the Haldi ceremony, but I wanted to say something about the wedding celebration…..I think one word to describe Emily and Sarral’s wedding is joyous!  Throughout all the events there has been dancing, laughing and sharing of cultures.  Everyone has been welcoming and kind.  Today, we had a full day of wedding events scheduled starting at 11…ish. 

It was so helpful that there was a what’s app group for the wedding to keep people up to date on the events, or to share  pictures or ask questions. In addition, there were explanations of some of the events and their meanings.  I really appreciated that and I copied those explanations and put them in the blog.  

First we had the Haldi ceremony and lunch.   

First thought of each event - What to wear? What to wear? Did we get it right?  Then…..compare what we wore. 

The Haldi ceremony is one where people wear yellow.  The explanation of this follows later.  Here are our attempts of yellow with the bride.  

Some of Kathy’s family and their yellow!  Sarah, Cort, Kathy and Phil! 

Emily’s friends joined in with the spirit of the event! 

And we all compared ourselves to Sarral’s relatives.  I think we did ok.

Next up, we need a bride and groom….check…

Then, every celebration starts with drums and dancing, so that is what we did for quite a while - maybe 45 minutes or more! 

Father of the bride right in the center of the dancing! 

The bride and her family joining in. 

Kathy and Chris having a great time. 

Friends and relatives of all ages joining in! 

Christine and my attempts at dancing! What a great way to start an event! 

Above picture, Emily is leading the one side of the room in dancing and below, the groom Sarral is showing his moves! 

While the dancing was going on the cousins went around the room and putting this flower and string piece in the women’s hair.   I couldn’t find what it is called, but I read that it can signify wealth and I felt that is was signifying joy. 

A break in the dancing, what to do!  I know, pictures! 

As the dancing calmed down and the guests were visiting and enjoying refreshments, the ceremony started.  This explanation of the Haldi was given by Shannan Sharma- Significance of haldi rasam - It is believed that haldi rasam is done in order to prevent evil spirits from harming the to-be-wed couple.

In Indian customs, turmeric's bright yellow colour is highly auspicious. The couple, who are beginning their new life together, is blessed with prosperity thanks to the good fortune of this element and its colour. For this reason, the groom and bride wear yellow attire for their wedding haldi ceremony. When cosmetic beauty treatments and salons were not common in the past, Indians relied on their own natural beauty secrets to make sure a couple looks stunning on their wedding day. Haldi is well renowned for its ability to make skin fair and radiant.

In addition to its ability to beautify, purify, and detoxify, haldi is also thought to lessen some of the anxiety that the bride and groom experience. Turmeric contains an antioxidant called curcumin, which has been shown to have mild antidepressant and headache-relieving properties as well as antiseptic.  (I am so grateful that this explanation was shared) 

The groom and the grooms family started the ceremony. 

Then the bride’s family started applying the turmeric paste to her cheeks.  We were warned to just dab it on, just in case she had a reaction, since it is a very strong spice. 

At the end of the ceremony, there were baskets of flowers and flower petals all around the bride and groom, and everyone tossed them in the air above the lucky couple.  

Again

And again! 

All done!  One last pose for pictures.   

This first event of the second day of the wedding was complete!  We ate a yummy lunch and headed out to rest, relax and chance outfits for the next one. 

~ Mary ~