On the day of our wedding, we arrived separately at the venue - to a stunningly decorated wedding hall, complete with a large scroll outside with our names.

The events of the wedding were streamed, we have clips from the stream here, and will have a full video later.

The bride’s parents first welcomed Oliver with a formal entry procession (known as seemanpuja). Unlike western weddings, here the bride was brought by a maternal uncle instead of her father. Especially for Oliver, TJ’s parents arranged for an English speaking priest, who helped Oliver understand the ceremonies beforehand.

At the start of the ceremonies, Oliver and TJ were separated by a curtain while the priest chanted. After the curtain was lowered, the bride and groom exchanged garlands, and later Oliver tied the wedding necklace around TJ’s neck.

Later, TJ’s parents gave her away, by entrusting responsibility for her to Oliver in the kanyadaan. Next, the bride and groom were tied together, and walked around a fire seven times, committing to seven wedding vows in the saptapadhi.

Oliver gave a short prepared speech in Marathi, thanking all for attending, which was joyously received with a resounding applause. The newly married couple later re-entered together - to much applause and celebratory showers of flowers and rice. We had an Indian style reception, where we met the guests on stage and took photos together.

Our guests enjoyed wonderful appetizers, a buffet lunch, a selfie booth, and a fun caricature artist. Finally after photos, we enjoyed the food ourselves! A decorated car awaited the bride and groom to carry them home.

Many more photos from the wedding are in our gallery here, and we’ll add more later when they are available.