The Gae Holud (Ga.e ho-luTH), translated, means the turmeric ceremony. This ceremony is more a cultural artifact than a religious one, and originates from ancient Bengali tradition. There are two such ceremonies, one for the bride and one for the groom. The spice turmeric is a traditional complexion enhancer, and the whole concept of this ceremony is to help the bride and groom get all "prettied up" for the wedding. While we will be having all the elements of a traditional Gae Holud, we combined the two ceremonies into one.

The bride's Gae Holud usually occurs first, with a small party of the groom's family and close friends (sans the groom) travelling to the bride's home. (In our case, we will be having the ceremony in the Four Point Sheraton in Waltham.) They bring gifts for the bride such as saris, jewels, cosmetics and other items for the bride to wear until the wedding day. The gifts are all colorfully wrapped and are carried upon bamboo woven trays.

The bride's family and friends will greet the groom's family at the gate with morsels of sweets and flower petals. Traditionally, women wear yellow saris with red borders. Red and yellow are the traditional colors of Bengali weddings. Men usually wear punjabis, which is a long silken tunic.

Flowers are everywhere, and alpana patterns (an inricate pattern based on a paisley motif) decorate the room. The bride, who is dressed in a sari and wearing flower ornaments, sits on a decorated dias that has been specially constructed for the occasion. The groom's mother ties a rakhi (a golden fringed bracelet-type ornament) around the bride's wrist. This symbol of betrothal is not to be taken off until after the wedding. People then come to the dias one by one and place a bit of turmeric upon the bride's face, as well as a token amount of the turmeric on their own face. Each person then feeds something sweet, such as kheer (a rice porridge), to the bride. The groom's Gae Holud is analogous to the bride's.

Source: http://www.kazi.net/wedding/gae_halud_info.html

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