I remember going to a Hindu wedding when I was very small. Can’t even remember any details now but I do remember that everything going on the stage seemed pretty unfamiliar. Other than that, I haven’t attended any other wedding that doesn’t belong to any other religion even community.
What about you? Have you been invited to any other wedding? It can belong to any religion/sect/community other than yours. Been a guest to any interfaith marriages?
I Went to a gora wedding, it was not at all the typical affair. The couple were barely in their twenties, and I think they got a mutual friend of my fiance and the groom to act as the officiant (who was very young as well!)
And oh yea, it was in Vegas.
Since it was my first time attending a non desi wedding, I thought it would be more of a superficial affair because of the lack of events like mayoun and mehndi which involve families and forge many emotional memories.. but then the bride and groom read their vows and everyone including me was crying!
Their vows were not beautiful, but quirky and personal and so genuine! I really enjoyed that part..
yeah, a close family friend of ours had a son who married a Christian American who was a classmate of his. They had a very small private white wedding, mostly just family. as well as a simple nikah. But the valima was wear she sported a gorgeous red and green peshwas and they invited everyone to it. The couple seemed to be extremely happy so no one seemed to notice any "lack" of culture or traditional desi rasms. It was sweet and kind of resfreshing. :)
**I have been to a lot of Hindu and Christian weddings. Hindu weddings are obviously much like ours, but with many more traditions and haldi (:D). But my favorite are gorra weddings because, it truly is a family event for these families. As Eidy said, from the vows, to the home made cookies/desserts, and the beautiful father daughter dances. Let me go back on the home made cookies/desserts (soooooo good), to every gora wedding i have been to, I saw that all the mom’s of the family and aunts get together a week before to make these amazing family recipe desserts that have come down in generations, from like 70-80 years ago.
Yemmmmmm 
but then all the drinking starts, and thats when its time for us leave 
**
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
I have been to a Christian Wedding in Karachi. The bride is my co-worker , it was very different from ours. People who want to wish and congratulate the couple queues up and very wish the couple in a very organised way. Their nikah is held in church I didn't go there so at the hotel it's just the reception. The food was pretty much delayed because they were dancing and dancing. Over all it was good experience.
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
I've been to a couple of arab weddings. One was pretty conservative so there was barely any music (only for the entrance), a few speeches, dinner, cake cutting, and I think that was all. It was still very beautiful though. The other one was very similar except there was a lot of dancing.. everyone danced from the bride to the mother and even the grandmother.
I went to a Malaysian wedding when I was younger, but I really don't remember much about it.
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
I went to a Portuguese wedding in September 2008. It was my first ‘gora’ wedding. I had so much fun. Plus I was in my third trimester, so they served me dinner first (sit down dinner), then they let me first in line at the dessert buffet table 
. Then they had a seafood buffet at midnight … and guess who was given first priority again? 
It was a lot of fun. They had a lot of Portuguese entertainment for the guests (folk dances and music).
The highlight of the night was the speech the groom gave for my friend. It was so heartfelt, made me teary eyed.
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
I have been to an Arab wedding. The guy was a co-worker and from yemen basically. Wedding was not mixed but ladies were in diff hall and men were totally away from the hall, out in open air. I didnt see any men coming to ladies side. There was live music and these arab gals (family n friends) were dancing on the music, it was really fun. The dances n music both were A One :k:
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
I have been to a lot of posh Emirati weddings, Sikh weddings, an English wedding.
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
I have been to a bunch of Hindu weddings and they are really similar to ours … but can I dare say ??? More fun??? But I think this is because song and dance is sooooo ingrained in their religion and culture. Like literally everyone participates in everything .. the young and old …relatives..friends.. like literally everyone is partying… for all 7 days of their back to back events It seems like the emphasis is on having fun more than anything else. Their rasams are never ending and usually make no sense at all to an outsider like me… and the actual “saath paihray” ceremony is wicked long… hours and hours long (the longest one I have attended was 5 hours). This is main part of the shaadi… but probably one of the more boring parts since literally no one understands sanskrit (even the hindu guests). All the weddings I have been to, there has always been snacks passed out to the guest to pass the time with tho… that def helps!! 
I have been to a few Sikh weddings and minus the actual gudwara ceremony and hardcore drinking and dancing… I feel they are really really similar to our own weddings. This is probably because I am punjabi and literally every single rasam is exactly the same. The language and the food is the same… etc. They are a lot of fun My parents are on the conservative type … especially my dad..so he usually tends to peace out once the sharaabi dancing starts up. lol. But my mom and us kids always stay back to observe and snack on desserts
I have been to more Goray weddings than Pakistani weddings actually. Gives you an idea of the atmosphere I grew up in. lol. I have been to some real low budget cheap ones … to some really amazing beautiful weddings. And I have to agree Gaia completely… despite how much is spent on the wedding, one always gets the vibe that its a true family event. Its emphasized everywhere with the dad that walks the daughter down the aisle, brides wearing “something old” which is usually something of their moms, parents give speeches, father daughter/son mother dances - its all really sweet and heart warming. Their weddings are not nearly as large as ours can be…and literally every single guest is someone they know very well. Unlike our weddings where 3/4 of the guest are people you have no idea who they are … theirs is very intimate. You get that feeling that everyone is truly there for the couple and there to celebrate their special day with them. (As opposed to our weddings where sometimes you just get a vibe people are there to eat and get dressed up to take pics 
). I always seem to cry at these weddings due to something sentimental that is said.
The last gora wedding I went to was this past july… it was an outdoor wedding in a forest. I kid you not. They made signs to help guests reach the exact location of the ceremony. There was this random little clearing … trees and flowers completed surrounded this area. They had a harp and flutist … it was really really really lovely. 
There was mabey only 60 guests total at this wedding… it was very intimate where everyone knew everyone (except for me since I was my fiance’s date. lol). Because the wedding was so small you literally felt like a big part of. Through out the night the bride and groom will come mingle with you… their parents will take the time to come and personally chat with you. Everyone personally thanks you attending the wedding. You just get such a warm fuzzy feeling honestly.
I think the only downside to gora weddings is their music and dancing… sometimes. Things like the bunny hop and chicken dance are not really for me… but I am glad it makes them happy and they have a fun time with it. lol. I luv when the slow dances come on tho and you see all the couples… even old buday ones… dancing. The grandparents out on the dance floor…You can literally see that they are still madly in luv with each other as they slow dance. Its romantic and really sweet.
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
One of my close friends is Hindu, and her family is really close to ours. Most of her relatives don't live nearby so when her older sister got married, my siblings, my cousins and I were extremely involved in the wedding like we would be in a relative's. I hosted a dholki for her at our house with all our friends and we had such an amazing time. A week later, they had the sangeet at their house and everyone, boys and girls, got together and practiced dances for the wedding, we put on mehndi and all the fun stuff. Then the wedding itself was awesome. We skipped the ceremony part as it's really long and got there just after it ended. The reception itself was 6 hours long but so much fun. The guests invited were just sitting around and it was us who were the loudest. When food was over, a few friends did bhangra, the bride's sister did a dance with my sister, and then it was everyone dancing till the end. It was one of the most fun weddings I have ever been to.
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
Been to plenty of afghan weddings and a couple of Turkish weddings - never been to a gora wedding
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
I have been to a BORI wedding ............ it was quite cool and funny :P
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
Yup. I've been to Protestant and Catholic weddings as well as Jewish ones. There aren't HUGE differences from what we see on tv. The first one was my 1st grade teachers. She invited all of her students and their families. :D
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
I'd love to attend a wedding in church so I can wear that big beautiful hat. :D
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
I’ve been to more non-desi than desi, a few Christian ones in churches, a few in registry offices, a mixed Hindu/Christian one that had one ceremony in a church and another in a temple, a mixed Muslim/Buddhist marriage lol (no religious ceremony there).. I was watching this show the other day on gypsy weddings and they were sooooo over the top and extravagant, one lady featured was described as the ‘Vera Wang of traveller wedding gowns’ and was saying she once made one so large the bride couldn’t fit thru the church doors lol. It’s pretty common for the girls hips to bleed from wearing the huge outfits, it’s really bizarre but interesting: The 25 stone wedding dress | Mail Online More traveller wedding styles: Tacky and spectacularly OTT but steeped in traditional values… behind the scenes at three gypsy weddings | Mail Online Outer limits TACKY 150k wedding for UK 16 year old girl! Ugliest dress EVER! All things heinous, trashy, and hilarious in weddings! I’ve yet to see any other culture where the kids go to weddings dressed like that..
I'd love to attend a wedding in church so I can wear that big beautiful hat. :D
When my neigbour's daughter (goras) got married a few years ago,she told me that anyone can go to a church wedding.I mean it's open to all.You can go and sit inside.So next time there's a gora wedding in church,put on your bestest hat and gooooo :D
I have been to several Hindu weddings,Jewish,Christian,and Sikh.Some tended to go on a tad,but it was interesting taking part in different religious ceremonies..
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
i have been to a sikh wedding and a Christian wedding, the sikh wedding was long and boring as they start ceremony at 9am but the reception was super fun, Christian wedding was fun too :)
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
i've been to an italian wedding, a jewish wedding, and a catholic wedding. plus my own wedding was a desi/gora hybrid so that was pretty fun too :p
i always tear up at the vows- its such a momentous pledge to make to one another- and i think that's why i love witnessing nikkah's too and wish more of them took place in front of all the guests and not just in front of a few- it really make you realise how important a moment this is for the couple.
Re: Has anyone gone to a wedding other than a desi shaadi?
i never attend anyother wedding except Pakistani Shadi