Justin and Kanaka had a marathon wedding day at The Crowne Plaza. They took part in two different marriage ceremonies: one Indian and one American.
Kanaka’s brother performed the American ceremony and absolutely killed it. People were crying, people were laughing, and the whole thing went off without a hitch!
The Indian ceremony took place earlier in the day, and Kuba and I were nervous we might miss an important moment since we weren’t familiar with the flow of Indian ceremonies. But Kanaka and Justin prepared us well and explained all kinds of traditions and meaningful rituals. For instance, when the bride enters, the groom is already in the front of the room, but he’s behind a curtain (held up, in this case, by the maid of honor and best man who both got quite the arm workout). The bride walks up to the curtain, still unable to see the groom. In a traditional ceremony, when the curtain drops, the bride and groom would be seeing each other for the first time. They each have a necklace they quickly have to try to get over each other’s heads. Whoever gets the other’s necklace on first is said to be dominant or “wear the pants” in the relationship. The rest of the ceremony is not quite so action packed, but it does include some very meaningful moments, like the bride and groom getting blessings from their grandparents.
It was so great to be present for both ceremonies! Congratulations, Kanaka and Justin!
