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Rita and Alfredo - Gamble Gardens, Palo Alto, Ca |
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I spent many years traveling and studying in India AND attending Indian weddings! I feel truly fortunate that I can bring that knowledge and experience to designing and writing wedding ceremonies that include rituals and traditions from India. Some examples of the weddings I have collaborated with the couple to design and then write include:
- Interfaith ceremonies that incorporate Indian wedding customs with Western customs.
- In a traditional Indian ceremony presided over by a Hindu priest, a friend or family member is coached to act as the host and welcome the guests, introduce the priest and the Hindu rituals to come, or narrate as they unfold, and tell the couple’s love story. All of this would be pre-written for them in a ceremony script designed with the couple.
- Weddings where neither of the couple are Hindu, but want to incorporate these traditional rituals because of their beauty, symbolic depth and universal sacred significance.
Here is a sampling of these stunning and meaningful wedding ceremonies:
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Mimi's Father blessing Mimi and Stuart
City View at Metreon, San Francisco, Ca< |
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Alyra and Ravi - exchanging garlands |
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Shyamala is a master officiant - her thoughtfulness, deep knowledge of different traditions, and attention to detail made our ceremony everything we hoped for. We have witnessed multiple ceremonies that she's led - each one unique and profound. You won't find a better or more skilled officiant."
Alyra and Ravi
Oakland, California |
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Shyamala was a truly great officiant, weaving together our personal stories and incorporating both American and Indian elements into a beautiful City Hall ceremony. She was extremely flexible with our timeline and content and we loved her ideas for how to make our ceremony special."
Sunita and Akshay
San Francisco City Hall, Ca |
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Sunita and Akshay - 7 Step Ceremony
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Dave's Hindu wedding followed Tanesha's western wedding.
Mexican Heritage Plaza, San Jose, Ca |
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We both come from different religions – Hindu and Jain - and wanted to create a ceremony that respected both. Our ceremony would not have been as special without her fantastic input (including pieces like writing our story into the ceremony, and explaining traditions to our guests in an easy-to-understand way). On the day of our wedding (as well as the rehearsal the day before), she brought a peaceful and spiritual force and we felt calm and happy."
Divya and Tej - Tyge Williams Cellars, Sonoma, Ca |
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Shyamala put together a ceremony that was so thoughtfully written, heartfelt in its delivery, and most importantly, very reflective of us and our two cultures (I'm Indian, my husband is American)--the ceremony was beautiful."
Priya and Eli
Ramekins Culinary School, Sonoma, Ca |
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Priya and Eli |
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Showered with flower petals after each of the 7 Steps
Irene and Bradley - Mexico |
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Bathed by the sacred fire
Kevin and Frank - Southhampton, NY |
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