What an experience!  I cannot wait for the next one!

So, I do not have pictures yet (but I cannot wait to post them), but I did want to post some beautiful pictures of Sofreh from around the web.

Thomas VanVeen for Sofreh Atelier

Sofreh Atelier

TJ Weddings

Project Wedding

Sofreh Atelier

Sofreh Atelier provides sofreh rentals and design.  They do a gorgeous job!

Happy planning!

The most significant items are the mirror and candelabras.  It is a tradition that the Groom’s family will purchase these two items – and often, they will come from Iran.  The large central mirror is placed directly in front of the Bride and Groom.  It should be large enough that all the witnesses behind can see everyone.  The mirror represents the bright light that shines into ones future.

2 candelabras flank the central mirror and symbolize Zoroastrian faith.

Bread represents prosperity.

Walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts represent fertility.

Bowl of crystallized sugar, bowl of honey, and Persian Sweets  symbolize the Sweetness of life.

Esphand keeps away the evil eye and is often burned on hot coal as the Bride and Groom enter the ceremony area.

Temreh – a beautiful silk (or other fine fabric) embroidered cloth – symbolizes tradition.

A small bowl of gold coins symbolizes wealth.

The Holy Book, and small bowls of Herbs and Fruit are also placed on the Sofreh.

So beautiful!

Happy planning.

Today I want to feature some of the rituals and traditions of the Bengali wedding ceremony.

Potto Bastra – After the groom is seated at the chadnatolla the wedding altar and canopy – the sanctum sanctorum where only the groom, bride and the priest takes their place, the groom is offered new clothes by the person who is to do the sampradaan – a kind of gift to the boy from the girl’s side.

Saat Paak - The bride, usually seated on a low wooden stool called pidi is lifted by her brothers and is taken round the groom in seven complete circles. The significance is they are winded up securely to each other.

Mala Badal – After the circles are completed, still sitting high on the piri, the bride and the groom exchange garlands of fragrant flowers thrice. This is the first step in which they accept each other.  It’s supposed to signify the first time the Bride and Groom have laid eyes on each other.

Subho Dristi - After garlanding one another the bride and the groom are made to look at each other in front of all the assembled invitees. This exchange of loving glance is to initiate them to be together officially by the society.

Sampradan – The bride then takes her place at the chadnatolla where an elderly male member of the bride’s family hands her over to the groom (the giving away of the Bride) and the couple’s hands are bound by the sacred thread amidst recital of Vedic chants and are placed on the mangal ghot - a brass pitcher filled with water that is covered with mango leaves attached to one twig and a green coconut placed on it.

Yagna - The bride and groom sit in front of the sacred fire and chant mantras after the priest. Agni, the fire god is made the divine witness to the marriage.

Saat Paak – Seven circular rounds are taken by the couple around the fire thereby solemnizing the occasion.

Anjali – An offering to the fire is made. The bride’s brother puts puffed rice (khoi) in the hands of the bride, and the groom standing close to her holds her hands from the back and extends their arms forward. They then pour the offering into the fire together.

Sindoor Daan and Ghomta – Once again seated at their respective places in chadnatolla the groom applies sindoor or vermilion (a symbol of marriage worn by Hindu women thereafter) on the bride’s hair-parting. The bride then covers her head with a new sari offered by the groom as ghomta or veil.

This beautiful writing was taken from A Traditional Bengali Marriage Ceremony by Subhamoy Das

The Hispanic wedding has beautiful customs and symbolism.

Padrinos have an extremely important role in the Spanish wedding.  They are the sponsors and bring very important items to the wedding ceremony.  Typically a couple, Padrinos have special seats and their main task is to present items during the wedding ceremony.  It is an honor to be asked to serve as Padrinos.

Hispanic wedding ceremonies are typically held in the Catholic Church.

The outline of the ceremony and traditions is as follows…

1.  Lighting of the Candles

2.  Padrinos who will present the Bible enter and take seat

3.  Padrinos who will present coins enter and take seat

4.  Padrinos who will present lazo (spelled as Lasso or Laso) enter and take seat

5.  Padrinos who will present pillows – a very important part of the wedding ceremony – enter and take seat.  Typically, there are two pillows – which the Bride and Groom kneels for a blessing from the priest or minister.  They are usually elaborately decorated with lace and pearls, and contain the name of the couple the wedding date and some sort of quotation or scripture reading.  Roses are placed on the pillows at the beginning of the ceremony.

6.  The Mother of the Bride enters on the Usher’s left arm – The women are always on the left arm of the gentleman, because they feel the women are closer to their hearts.  The Mother of the Bride always enters first because she is seen as more important (as compared to the Mother of the Groom).

7.  The Mother of the Groom enters on the Usher’s left arm

8.  Pastor, Groom and Best Man enter from the side (sacristy).

9.  Bridesmaids enter escorted by Ushers

10.  Maid of Honor enters

11.  Bride enters on Father’s left arm

12  Traditional words from Clergy

13  Traditional giving away of Bride

14.  Padrino’s present the Bible – elaborately covered in lase and pearl-trimmed satin.  It usually has the couple’s names and wedding date stamped into the cover.

15.  The Padrinos presents coins – The Arras comes from Middle Eastern Influence, where money was presented to the Father of the Bride to reimburse him for the costs of raising his daughter.  The Arras is now symbolized in 13 coins, which may be gold, or gold dipped – American, Spanish or Mexican coins.  They are enclosed in a treasure box and are placed, one by one, presented to the Bride (by the Groom).  This action symbolizes his promise to take care of her.  The treasure box (containing the coins) are then handed to the Maid of Honor.  The treasure boxes are often handed down through the generations and can be elaborately decorated.

16.  Bride gives treasure box of coins to the Maid of Honor

17.  Exchange of Rings

18.  Presentation of Lazo – The coupe kneels on the wedding pillows.  The Padrinos place the Lazo around both the Bride and Groom with the cross hanging between them.  The Lazo is similar to a rosary, with the exception that it’s two loops with a cross.  The Lazo could be anything, really.  It could be expensive or inexpensive, made of beads, or hand painted.  After ensuring that the cross is placed between the couple, the Padrinos remain beside the Bride and Groom.  The Clergy servers the bread and wine to the Groom, who in turn serves the cup and bread to his Bride.  The Padrinos then life the Mantilla and remove the Lazo before seating themselves.  The roses are removed from the pillows.

19.  Lighting of the Unity Candle

20.  The Groom Kisses his Bride

21.  The Bride and Groom recess (Bride on Groom’s left arm)

22.  The attendants recess.

Happy planning!

The middle east contains one of the oldest civilization on earth.  A culturally rich region -  I would suppose it isn’t a surprise that beautiful cultures and wedding traditions have been passed down for centuries.  A wedding planners dream!  My dream anyway .

Because of the vastness of the culture and richness of tradition, it is difficult (and almost impossible) to group everyone together and make generalizations.  I could never do justice to the rich history of the peoples.

However, one thing that is common among most is that they love to celebrate love, life and marriage – and will do so in 5 parties spanning 7 or so days!

WOW!

The festivities are celebrated in the following 5 parties:

1. The engagement party – the Bride and Groom invite family and friends for music, food, dancing and singing.  This is the first festive party to celebrate the life and the love of the couple.  The couple party with their guests long into the evening.   The Bride will change her clothes as many as 5 times.
2. Signing of the marriage contract – like the engagement party  – there is much to celebrate.  The couple will invite friends and family for food and music.  The Bride can change her clothes as many as 5 times!
3. The Hena party – This party takes place the day before the wedding.  A special dye, Hena, is placed on the hands and feet to ward off evil spirits – very similar to the Indian wedding tradition.  The “Grinding” tradition also takes place.  Typically, the couple is seated and many girls wear white clothes on their head.  The “Grinding” girl will grind two lumps of sugar together over the couples head while asking God  to ward off evil spirits.  This party typically continues until dawn on the next day (the wedding day).
4. The wedding reception – this party is in similar feeling and style to receptions of the United States.  During this reception, the wedding guests are given 5 almond pieces which symbolize the 5 wedding wishes – health, happiness, wealth, fertility, and longevity.
5. The wedding shower – usually taking place at the Bride’s Mother’s house, this party takes place 7 days after the marriage.  In Arabic it’s called Sabaa, which means 7.  It’s only attended by women – who bring the Bride presents.  The Mother of the Bride typically showers the Bride with gold or diamonds.

It’s amazing how traditions are passed  down and other cultures have adopted different pieces of this.

Thanks to Middle Eastern Wedding Traditions for all the information that you see here!

Happy planning!

We are showing our respect and appreciation for cultures- all over the world – by presenting traditional wedding gowns from all over the world.  Many cultures have adopted the western-style wedding dress.  In some cultures, they wear up to 9 wedding dresses – all in one day!  Awesome!

Of course, there are variations of the dresses I will post.  My only intention is to share our appreciation – and the intrinsic beauty with all of you.

Enjoy!

Let’s start with the lucky “red” of China.  The traditional Kwa

The beautiful and traditional Indian Saree

All in black.  Ole!  The traditional Spanish dress

The traditional Ao Dai from Vietnam

The Moroccan Kaftan

The Japanese Kimono -Shiro Maku

Traditional Russian

Traditional Nigerian

The Korean Hambok

Lovely!

Happy planning!

The Jewish wedding consists of 7 parts, the first of which is signing the Ketubah.  The term Ketubah, which is the Hebrew word for “to write” refers to the traditional marriage document.  The traditional Ketubah is written in Aramaic – and stipulates that a husband must provide for the basic economic resources (food, shelter and clothing) for his wife.  The Ketubah also spells out what a husband must provide in the case of divorce – depending upon her status before they got married (virgin, divorced, etc).

While the Ketubah was created for the protection of women (the husband to provide for his wife’s well being), as you can imagine, during the 60’s (when the social and economic status of women began to change) it came under attack for being unfair to women.

And so, there was born the modern Ketubah.

Couple’s today are using Ketubot (plural of Ketubah) to creatively formalize their ideas on their relationship and new marriage -together.  They are using poems and unique text to demonstrate how they will love and support one another, build a family and weather a storm together.  Modern Ketubot are written in Hebrew, and are often translated into English under the Hebrew text.

Traditionally the Ketubah was signed before the Chuppah ceremony, and was signed by the Bride and Groom and 2 non-blood related males as witnesses.

Today, in a more liberal setting – almost anything goes.  Couples have given their guests an opportunity to participate in this beautiful tradition by signing the Ketubah during the wedding ceremony.  Couples have invited women and family members to witness the signing.  Modern couples have made it a very special rite of passage – in so many creative and inclusive ways.

Happy planning!

Thanks to The Ketubah Maven and My Jewish Learning for the information.

Blessing of the Kola-nut is an important ritualistic tradition in all West African weddings.

The Kola-nut is a bitter nut that is derived from the evergreen Kola tree – which is a member of the Cocoa family.  It’s used for many ceremonial purposes, including weddings, in West and Central Africa.  It’s a caffeine stimulate is is prized among different groups as the “bread” of gatherings in that it’s blessed, broken and shared by everyone.

Often times the most significant male figure in each family will bless the Kola-nut in his own native language.  In our beautiful wedding, the Father of the Bride and Cousin of the Groom (each representing different tribes) blessed the Kola-nut.  We then broke it, and passed it down the two long tables for everyone to partake.  It is a beautiful and meaningful tradition.

Happy planning!

Thanks to Rachel Smith for the lovely picture

The most significant items are the mirror and candelabras.  It is a tradition that the Groom’s family will purchase these two items – and often, they will come from Iran.  The large central mirror is placed directly in front of the Bride and Groom.  It should be large enough that all the witnesses behind can see everyone.  The mirror represents the bright light that shines into ones future.

2 candelabras flank the central mirror and symbolize Zoroastrian faith.

Bread represents prosperity.

Walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts represent fertility.

Bowl of crystallized sugar, bowl of honey, and Persian Sweets  symbolize the Sweetness of life.

Esphand keeps away the evil eye and is often burned on hot coal as the Bride and Groom enter the ceremony area.

Temreh – a beautiful silk (or other fine fabric) embroidered cloth – symbolizes tradition.

A small bowl of gold coins symbolizes wealth.

The Holy Book, and small bowls of Herbs and Fruit are also placed on the Sofreh.

So beautiful!  Ho hum.

Happy planning.

Thanks to Sofreh Aghd and Sofreh Atelier for the information.  Thanks to Wedding Bee for the awesome picture.

Lovely traditions abound!

I have seen this tradition done in different ways.  The general rule – the women on the left and the groom on the right.

Traditionally, after the ceremony – the Bride and Groom pay respect to the Groom’s elders by serving them tea -  the National drink of China.  It’s a way of showing respect, and introducing the Bride to the Groom’s extended family.  The Groom introduces his Bride to his family using their formal titles (first uncle, great uncle, etc.), and they both present cups of tea (each holding the cup in both hands) while kneeling on the floor – always the Bride on the left and the Groom on the right.  The elders sit in chairs – with the husband to the right of his wife.  In the case of the Groom’s parents – the Bride will presenting tea to her new Father-in-Law.

Lotus Seed and 2 red Dates are placed in the tea.

“First, the words “lotus” and “year,” “seed” and “child,” and “date” and “early,” are homophones, i.e. they have the same sound but different meanings in Chinese. Secondly, the ancient Chinese believed that putting these items in the tea would help the newlyweds produce children early in their marriage and every year, which would ensure many grandchildren for their parents. Also, the sweetness of the special tea is a wish for sweet relations between the bride and her new family.”

The order in which the new couple presents tea is as follows…

• Parents
• Grandparents
• Great Uncles and Great Aunties
• Uncles and Aunts
• Elder Brothers and Sisters
• Elder Cousins

In return for the Bride and Groom’s respect, they will receive red envelopes containing money or jewelry.

Not bad!

I have written about some very lovely traditions from many different cultures.  Some could be adapted to make your ceremonies more personal and meaningful!

Happy ceremony planning!

Thanks to the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project for the tradition information

Thanks to Pink fog Photography for the lovely picture!