The Indian wedding has always been one of the most elaborate and joyful celebrations in the world. For centuries, Indian weddings have been characterised by long-running rituals and elaborate ceremonies, colors, and an almost wall-to-wall theatre-like approach to pomposity. For Indian American families, this has always presented a challenge for families living in the United States - either have the wedding in India or hold it somewhere that might not quite match the details and sensibilities of the traditional Indian wedding. That has begun to change in the last ten years, and that shift has seen an increasing trend among Indian Americans to what can best be described as a domestic destination wedding - a wedding that has the pomp and spectacle of a traditional Indian wedding without the travel. DMV Indian Wedding Planners can help make this chaotic day much more planned and easy.
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The Logistics Case
Travel is clearly a big part of the story here - it is important to appreciate how much the "travel drama" of a wedding in India weighs on families living in multiple cities across the United States. When the wedding is for people from multiple cities across the United States (common among second-generation Indian-Americans), then the costs of flying hundreds of people to India include the complexity of coordinating hundreds of international travel arrangements, navigating international visa rules, jet lag, and the expenses of hundreds of international airline tickets.
By having the wedding in a resort or large conference room in the United States, this burden is eliminated and is taken care of by DMV Indian Wedding Planners. Guests use domestic flights, it is easier for the family to manage planning (and navigate regulatory and visa requirements) within their own country, and the couple has much more control over the wedding planning process than they could get by trying to do it from overseas. For some families, the cost savings on air travel more than compensate for a more expensive wedding location.
US Venues Have Improved
For many years, in the US, one of the factors limiting the holding of local Indian weddings was the lack of venues. Indian weddings need space - not only for the wedding itself and the reception, but for the mehendi (henna night), for the sangeet (sing-song ceremony) and the baraat (procession), and for the pre-marriage rituals and for the different spaces required to accommodate different rituals during the wedding - it can be a multi-day event. A typical hotel ballroom wasn't up for the job.
But that's evolved with the growth in the number and wealth of Indian-Americans. Resort destinations around the country, in the Catskills, Texas Hill Country, Carolinas, Hudson Valley, and throughout California, have taken the necessary steps to ensure that they have the facilities, personnel, and vendors to provide full service to large Indian weddings. Specialist Indian wedding planners spread across the country ensure that a network of caterers, decorators, musicians, and priests provide all the services necessary to put together an event as spectacular as anything you'd see in India, all within the United States.
The Second-Generation Perspective
These seekers of change are primarily American-born second-generation Indian-Americans whose engagement with both cultures is unique to them rather than an offshoot of their parents'. They want meaningful weddings that celebrate their Indian roots and the practices that matter most to their families, but they also want weddings that reflect their actual lifestyles, which are American, influenced by their American friends, colleagues, and acquaintances, and familiar to their guests, even if many of those guests have scant experience with Indian weddings.
A local destination wedding lends itself to such a blend of cultures more readily than a traditional wedding in India or a wholly American wedding. The bride and groom can include rituals that are dear to family and friends, and create an entire guest experience - hotel, food, music, and scheduling - that's comfortable for all of their invitees. This often results in a unique ceremony that doesn't have to adhere to a particular cultural form.
The Rise of the Wedding Weekend
Perhaps the most quintessentially Indian-American destination wedding element of many contemporary weddings is the proliferation of weekend events. The two- or three-day format, which involves taking over the entire resort or property for a wedding weekend, allows the wedding's many component events - which may include a welcome dinner, the mehendi ceremony, sangeet, wedding ceremony, and reception - to be spread out in a way that is leisurely rather than rushed.
This also allows for the "social spectacle" that is the traditional Indian wedding. Visiting guests can get to know each other, and the families of the couple involved get to know each other at numerous dinners and milestones over a longer period of time, and the couple is able to spend time with their close friends and family instead of hurtling around on a single day.
Uncompromised Food, Music, and Decor
The level of Indian catering, entertainment, and decoration that is available in the resort towns and large metropolitan centres of the US today has advanced to such an extent that you need not compromise. Indian catering companies based in New York, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and the surrounding resort cities of Atlanta ensure we get the entire spectrum of Indian regional cuisines in wedding quantities. Musicians who play the dhol and other traditional instruments, and even Bollywood DJs, can be hired just about anywhere. Pandals and décor companies, skilled in the art of converting a space to the beauty of Indian wedding decor (the garlands of marigold flowers, the mandap design, the lighting, and drapery to transform the hall into something magical), are available throughout the country, and as expertly skilled as those found in India.
Conclusion
The localised destination Indian wedding in the United States is no watered-down affair. It is a natural evolution of the tradition, borne of the realities of an Indian-American life and the evolution and development of an industry to service it. For people looking to honour their culture fully, welcome their loved ones to their wedding without putting them to the time and trouble of a trip halfway around the world, and produce a wedding weekend as beautiful and memorable as any their families have seen, the Indian-American wedding is now the local solution by DMV Indian Wedding Planners.
Tum Hi Ho Events is a leading wedding planner company that deals with luxury South Asian and Indian weddings. The firm has been enjoying high quality and cultural authenticity and comes up with unique celebrations that are both traditional, elegant, and modern. It does not matter how large or small a destination wedding is, whether it is a big family get-together or a small one, Tum Hi Ho Events will turn any wedding into one of the memorable events that will be performed to perfection.
