The second installment of the series is here!

I finally got a few minutes of peace to put together this post. I have realized how hard it can be to multitask sometimes. Oh Shahzadis, you thought planning the wedding is stressful! Wait till you’re married!

So once the families have given their blessings during the Paka Kotha, the fun part begins!

Although, this ceremony is not an age-old tradition in Bangladesh, the formal engagement ceremony in has become a pretty big deal.  This is because it is the first official announcement of the impending wedding.  It almost is like a practice run for the actual wedding.

Takes weeks to prepare, the families use this opportunity to bond and discuss the way they would like to plan the wedding.  The engagement  planning period gives the family time to also understand each family’s style and customs.  This way they know what to expect in the future.

At the engagement ceremony, the Groom to be is welcomed by the Bride to Be’s friends and family.

The groom arrives with his entourage! [Raihan Ahmed Photography]

They usually come with gifts for the bride, perhaps the sharee she will wear for the ceremony and the jewelry they give her as a token of the engagement.  They also give the bride pretty much everything that she needs to wear for the event.  Most often, the Groom is also sent the suit, shoes and anything he will wear as well by the Bride’s side.

Engagement Sharee [Raihan Ahmed Photography]

The groom’s side will also carry in a large amount of sweets that are traditionally supposed to be given away as gifts to the attendees of the ceremony as well as delivered to important people that could not make the engagement along with an announcement.

Bengali Sweets [Raihan Ahmed Photography]

The engagement ceremony features the bride and groom receiving a gift from their parents in-law. Traditionally, the groom receives a watch or cuff links; more recently, families are giving off beat gifts, like an engraved instrument if the groom has a musical background, or something that speaks to the nature of the groom.  The bride will receive a jewelry set, or set of bangles that belonged her mother in-law.  Essentially a token that represents that the families have welcomed their new member into the family with open arms.

He put a ring on it! [Raihan Ahmed Photography]

After this, the big moment arrives and the actual ring exchange takes place.  That’s right ladies… in Bangladeshi culture BOTH bride and groom get rings.  Hey… if you like it, ladies YOU should put a ring on it! Believe me we’ve been doing this for generations even before MANgagement rings were cool!

We’re Engaged! [Raihan Ahmed Photography]

And then it’s OFFICIAL! WOWWIE!

The Bangladeshi community LOVES wedding events because they get to do what they do best at these things – socialize!  We like to include our family and friends and do our version of shouting from the rooftops when good thing happen.  The engagement ceremony is just the beginning of that!  With the engagement underway, the community is alerted that a whole new set of ceremonies and get together are on the horizon!  This is what I love about the Bangladeshi wedding…

I hope you will join me in the next post in the series as we explore the Holud Ceremony!

<3