We will be married in the Malankara Orthodox church. The ceremony will be about 90 minutes long. Parts of the wedding rite will be in Malayalam and in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic which is the language that Jesus spoke. If you are comfortable, guests are asked to remove their shoes before entering the sanctuary.

The Blessing of the Crowns is the central part of the marriage ceremony in all Orthodox Churches and culminates in the ceremony of coronation which symbolizes the bestowal of the crown of righteousness upon the couple. In the Indian Orthodox the crown is replaced by a chain placed around the neck of bride and groom by the Celebrant, though the premise is the same. The Minnu or Thali is traditional to south India, and is a pendant in the shape of a leaf of the sacred banyan tree. Christians modified the traditionally Hindu Thali by superimposing a cross on the leaf. The Minnu is suspended on seven threads drawn out of the Manthradoki. The seven strands represent the bride, the bridegroom, the couple’s parents and the Church. The groom ties the threads around the bride’s neck – tying the knot. Finally, the Manthrakodi is a sari presented by the bridegroom and his family, is draped over the bride’s head, symbolizing the groom’s pledge to protect, care for and cherish his wife.