When it came time for her wedding ceremony in early October, business teacher Mital Kilburn [Bavabhai] said it was important to keep two different cultures in mind.

Kilburn practices Hinduism and her husband, Protestantism.

“My husband and I come from two very different backgrounds,” Kilburn said. “Our families have very distinct and strong cultures.” Kilburn said.

“Weddings in my culture are very different from the normal American culture.”

In Indian culture, a red wedding dress signifies fertility and prosperity. In traditional Western culture, a white wedding dress signifies a symbolic Christening or purity.

“Red is the traditional Indian wedding dress color, not white, and it is known to be auspicious.” Kilburn said.

Wearing a red wedding dress was important to the ceremony, but also key Indian garments such as sindoor and garlands were crucial.

“The groom puts sindoor (red vermilion powder) in his bride’s hair partition, thus symbolizing their marital status,” Kilburn said. “The garlands are a symbol of unifying two souls into one and is made out of flowers and thread.”

Kilburn said the flowers symbolize happiness, enthusiasm, excitement, aspiration, zeal and beauty, whereas thread is a medium to secure all these feelings and emotions.

“Indian weddings last a total of three days versus a 30 to 40 minute ceremony. [Indian] weddings consist of at least five to six different rituals and are elaborate and colorful. Attendees could be anywhere from 500 to 1000.” Kilburn said, “The day before the actual wedding, we had a few different rituals.”

One of the rituals performed at her wedding was a Pithi ceremony.

“The Pithi ceremony is one of the major auspicious occasions of Hindu weddings and is a celebration of love and happiness for ones getting married,” Kilburn said. “Pithi is a paste made of chick pea flour, turmeric, rose water and other ingredients. The golden concoction is applied to the face, arms and legs of the bride and groom to cleanse and purify them before the wedding ceremony.”

After the Pithi, the Grah Shanti ceremony was performed.

“The Grah Shanti ceremony was performed early Sunday morning at a temple in North Little Rock,” Kilburn said. “Grah Shanti is a brief ceremony where Lord Ganesh is invited to remove all obstacles from the couple and to bring them happiness and prosperity.”

And following that was the Henna application.

“One of the last auspicious rituals was the application of Henna for me,” Kilburn said. “The ritual entails an elaborate application of henna designs on the bride’s hands and feet. Henna took a total of six hours to complete.”

Kilburn said Henna represents the bond of matrimony and signifies the love and affection between the couple and their families.

In a traditional American wedding, it is typical for food to be catered or cooked by a family member or friend and this is no different in a Hindu wedding.

“Since our wedding was mid-morning, we had lunch at the Taj Mahal restaurant. There were various Indian dishes that consisted of vegetables, chicken and beef. All of the food had a hint of strong tasteful spices,” Kilburn said. “We had cake from Mickey’s and Indian desserts.”