After looking at these photos from Maharani Jenn's wedding ceremony, I have fallen so in love with Bliss Imagery's pictures by  of the bride and groom's hands.   As a hospice volunteer I spend a lot of time in nursing homes, and so I know just how meaningful holding a hand can be to someone.   It's one of those little things that feels so good and so comforting, no matter what is going on.  Whether its a friend, a parent, a sibling, or a volunteer. But, when it's as man and wife, joining hands is like joining souls.  And maybe that's why I can't stop awww-ing over these images!







From Maharani Jenn:
Our wedding turned out to be even more beautiful, perfect, and fun than either of us imagined. Although it took months of planning, hours of searching for inspiration and ideas (Maharani was a frequented site especially for the fusion weddings!), support from family and friends, help from our amazing vendors, and (of course!) some drama along the way. Our biggest challenge was mixing our two cultures (Indian and America) without insulting or overshadowing either culture. We've been to a number of weddings where there were two separate ceremonies, but we wanted to remove the time and stress for our guests and ourselves by combining the traditions into one ceremony. We did a ton of research, got opinions from family, and worked with our Pandit G/Priest to create a ceremony that did just this. Our Pandit G/Priest did a great job explaining things throughout the ceremony so people could follow and we provided a program with some explanation. Some Hindu traditions that were included were: the barat, milanam, jaya mala (garland exchange), granthi bandhanam (tying the knot), pradakshinam (walking around the fire 7 times), saptapadi (taking 7 steps), mangalya dharanam (mangal sutra necklace), sindura danam, and jote chore (shoe stealing). Some American traditions that we included were: having a wedding party (bridesmaids, groomsmen, ring bearers, and a flower girl), having a traditional bridal entrance with American music, unity candle, exchanging of rings, and kiss the bride. Our wedding party was decked out in Indian clothing with the bride's outfits a bit more Americanized (white lengha was worn for the ceremony and the reception outfit was a ballgown-like lengha). The groom's step-mother was so gracious and flew to India to shop and pick out all the outfits. She did an exceptional job and brought back exactly what we had envisioned. We definitely could not have done it without her and the help from one of our friends in India. We provided ceremony snacks for our guests which consisted of both Indian and America options. The reception dinner was Indian food (both the bride and groom's favorite items) and dessert was a mix (ice cream bar, mini cupcakes, and Indian sweets). We had a mix of speeches and performances (2 Indian dances and 1 band who played a mix of music) and the DJ played a good mix of Indian and American music. Our guests really enjoyed themselves and it was a learning experience for many of them (some had never been to an Indian wedding, others had never been to an American wedding, and some had never even tried Indian food). We are so thankful for all those that helped us along the way. From our unofficial wedding planner (groom's step-mom), to our wonderful vendors, to our supportive family and friends, and to Maharani... we couldn't have done it without you!
Stay tuned, Monday is not over yet! I'll be right back with more!