INDIAN WEDDINGS IN SPAIN

An Indian wedding in Spain usually runs over more than one day. The mehndi, haldi, sangeet, wedding ceremony and reception each get their own setting and their own dress, and Vanessa Serrani plans them as one wedding weekend. She works between Barcelona and the Catalan coast, in castles, estates and coastal venues, for Hindu and other Indian families who live in India, the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe or Spain.

A Hindu wedding often starts with the mehndi, where henna is painted on the bride’s hands, and the haldi, a turmeric blessing. The sangeet is an evening of music and dance. On the wedding day the groom arrives in a baraat, a procession with drums, and the ceremony takes place under a mandap around a sacred fire. The couple walk around the fire and take seven steps together, the pheras or saptapadi, and the day may end with the bride’s farewell to her family.

The rituals, their order and the number of days differ between families and regions, so the family’s priest and customs lead and the plan follows them. For the full sequence and what each step means, read our guide to Hindu wedding traditions.

A multi-day wedding needs a venue that can hold each part: space for the mandap and the guests, room for the baraat to arrive and somewhere for the wedding party to stay. The sacred fire needs the venue’s agreement in advance, since some properties limit open flames, and a priest to conduct the ceremony has to be arranged with the family. Drums and music are checked against the venue’s noise rules, and the catering plan, often vegetarian, is settled with the families early.

Vanessa builds the weekend around the families’ wishes. Venues among her castle weddings and Costa Brava and Empordà weddings tend to offer the space a wedding like this needs, and a Western ceremony can sit alongside the Hindu one.

Yes, with the venue’s agreement. Some properties limit open flames, so the fire is discussed with the venue before the date is fixed. See castle weddings, beach weddings, Barcelona weddings and Costa Brava and Empordà weddings for the settings Vanessa works in.

Yes. The mehndi, haldi, sangeet, wedding ceremony and reception can each have their own day or part of a day, planned as one weekend. The venue then has to hold all of it, and the wedding party needs to stay nearby.

Yes. Some couples hold both, one after the other or on different days. For weddings that blend two traditions, see multicultural weddings.

Vanessa also plans Chinese weddings, Persian weddings and Jewish weddings, and celebrations that bring two traditions together, see her multicultural weddings service.