6 am Tamil weddings :0

CMC - Some people don't seem to understand the cultural aspect of some weddings

@MrsCalderon - that's a really excellent point about vendors actually. I will bring that up to him and his family. We *might* be able to find a venue that could set up the night before, but other vendors like hair and makeup would be difficult. I think it's just hard for them to understand since they are from India and it's common in their culture to have weekday weddings, 6 am weddings, and you can easily find all the vendors you need at whatever time. Neither FI nor his family have ever attended a wedding in the U.S. before.

However, please refrain from being rude to other posters. Posters like @Queseraquera have been very kind and considerate and helpful in taking some of the hits for me tonight on WW. She/he is in no way going around stirring up trouble.

1. I grew up in Tamil Nadu and seeing i

Tamilian culture mentioned here makes me incredibly happy. 2. I have attended plenty of cultural weddings and have loved the experience. I would attend a 6am ceremony if it was cultural but as you can see on this thread, that wont always be the case. I would invite everyone to both the ceremony and reception but dont be disappointed if people can only come to the reception. In some traditional Indian wedding invitations we have been asked to rsvp for each event (there's usually a check box listing each event on the rsvp card and a description of each event in the invitation suite) so that could be an option here.

As long as I knew well ahead of time, I would totally attend the ceremony. Sure it would be a little rough waking up early, but what a great way to start the day! I actually think it would be a lot of fun. But then again, several people probably don't agree with me because it is so early in the morning.

Regarding vendors who work that early: if you have an Indian community nearby, this shouldn't be hard to find. My sister had a 9am ceremony (pretty common in south Indian Christian weddings) and with 12 bridesmaids plus parents, hair/makeup started at 2:30/3ish. If this is the norm in the community, the vendors shouldn't be hard to find.

@Bee - awesome to find a Tamil poster on here! I don't know much about Tamil culture so this is great. Thanks for responding!

Wait, 3 am hair and makeup for a 9 am wedding?! Does hair and makeup really take that long? :0

Yikes, 6am?! I understand that it's for religious and culture traditions but that's when my day is winding down. I'm a night owl, I've worked 7pm-7am for 10yrs.

Then again, I'm sure if it were a close friend or family member I'd suck it up.

@akshali my sister had a large wedding party plus paid for both sets of moms (and a step mom) and other VIP to get their hair and makeup done. It's been 10 years so I don't remember the exact number but I would estimate around 20 people were getting those services done. So they had to start early.

@Bee ohh gotcha. Yeah I think I'll just have my mom figure out what to do about her own and family's hair and makeup, they can wake up that early if they want haha. For me personally, I think Indian makeup style tends to be too heavy for my preference, so I would prefer a more conventional stylist as opposed to an indian one but maybe I could find someone that caters to my taste! Or pay extra fees for coming that early, just for bridal hair/makeup? Bridesmaids could just do their own makeup (if there is time, I could cover hair), I'm not picky about how they look other than the outfit.

Agreed! My wedding was the opposite of my sisters wedding but we also didn't follow any cultural norms so weren't limited to an early start or anything like that.

'Can you imagine forcing 200 people to wake up at 4:30 am and get ready for for a 6 am ceremony for 4 hours?'

No. No I can not. Religious and cultural reasons just can't excuse this.

I'd attend for a close friend or family. I respect that other cultures and traditions operate different from my own. I would do that ceremony and a later reception for everyone. I know I'd need a nap before reception.

@S - Definitely agree on naps. +1 for naps! I wish I could nap in between lol, will probably be too busy though with photo session and getting ready since I'll be changing outfits for the reception (it's common in Indian weddings for the bride to change into something less traditional in between)

@Natalie - Yeah...we'll have to figure something else out...maybe make the initial ceremony on Friday morning and have it be family only and then do a separate ceremony on Saturday based on my traditions. Either that or only have a reception on Saturday and nothing else.

I'd totally come but mostly because I'd be interested in what is entailed in a South Asian wedding. (I love learning things about different cultures) however, I would definitely be grumbling to my fiancé about getting up so early. (I also hate waking up early lol). If it weren't for the cultural interest, unless you were a close friend or family member, I'd rsvp no after seeing the 6am start time.

Unfortunately on here you will not get a lot of people who understand the cultural traditions and basically flat out tell you it's a bad idea-- which I totally disagree with. This is definitely a know your crowd thing. If most are family or friends that are also Tamil or Hindu they will understand the auspicious time and will be there.

I'm getting married this weekend (OMG!) and FH is Hindu. We are having two ceremonies in one day, but our guests will arrive at 10am so a little later than yours would. We had about 60% of those invited who are coming all day (both ceremonies and reception) and another selection of people who are coming to one half or another. As long as you're cool with that then I'd go for it and respect both tradition sets.

About vendors: my decorator is coming the day prior to set up the mandap, and my hair and makeup is coming at 6am but it's just me and two others getting hair done in the morning, then me and 3 others getting it done in the afternoon for the 2nd ceremony. I second what people said to get someone who is Indian and they will get it and should be willing to do a super early start.

ETA if you do decide to do two different days, make sure you're feeding people both days - which can majorly add up to the point of doubling your budget. Also consider with two ceremonies if you'll want different decor each time.

I would do it for someone I loved...bit not a work friend.

Whatever you wind up doing, please come back here with photos, I'd love to see them!