Simple and Unique Catholic Mangalorean Wedding Customs

The wedding is always a beautiful affair, irrespective of the location or traditions. Although Mangalorean Wedding initially looks like a European white wedding, one may later see Indian rituals like flowers to adorn the brides’ hair, and brides wearing Indian bridal sarees being followed.

Here are some of the simple and unique wedding customs of Mangaloreans.

Ros

On the eve of the wedding, where coconut milk is applied to the heads of the bride and groom at their places by their respective families. This is meant for purification and anointing, known as Ros. This Mangalorean wedding Ros ceremony is much like the traditional Hindu “Haldi” Ceremony.

Prayer before leaving the house for marriage

The bride and the groom must pray before leaving their house for the wedding. This prayer involves the “Our Father” prayer and the concluding hymn or song. The members then give blessings to the bride and the groom along with jewellery and flowers to be used for the wedding, in their respective houses.

Best man/bridesmaid opens the door for the Groom/Bride

Once the groom reaches the church, the best man should open the door for the groom. Similarly, the bridesmaid will open the door for the bride.

Wedding Cake

In a Mangalorean wedding, after the mass or the ceremony, attendees move to the reception venue. Here the first thing done is the cake cutting to celebrate the wedding. The cake is then distributed to all the other guests.

Traditional wedding toast

Toastmaster introduces both the families, followed by advice and guidance to the newlyweds. After the speech, the toastmaster clinches his glass with the couple’s and then all may drink their wine. To make this unique, the toastmaster may call someone from the family of the bride and the groom to share some hilarious stories of them and to toast to new beginnings.

First Wedding Dance

After the wedding toast, the bride and the groom come together to dance for the first time after their wedding. To make this unique, couples these days are coming up with their own songs to dance and make it more memorable.

Sado for the reception

After the first wedding dance, the bride is taken away by the groom’s mother, sister and other ladies from his side for getting her dress changed for the next function. The second half of the reception at a Mangalorean wedding sees the bride changed into the traditional red and golden saree. This just might be a unique thing as the bride wears two different clothes for the same wedding.

Kariamani

Here, the groom puts the wedding necklace or the mangalsutra on his wife’s neck and the couple exchange garlands. The bride and the groom then receive gifts from their new parents or in-laws. The parents of the bride and groom also exchange bouquets. This part of the ceremony is known as “MaaichiMudhi”

The Kiss

This is not just a simple kiss. After the ceremonies are done, the newlyweds are lifted on a chair where they are to kiss each other.