Although horse-drawn carriages are our specialty, we also provide horses to ride for weddings and special events. This year, St. Petersburg Carriages was a part of a Hindu Baraat, at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor Fl. The family wanted to use our white wedding horse for the Baraat so that the bridegroom could make a grand entrance. They chose us because we have many years of experience and our wedding horses are very well-trained and used to laud noise and dancing. Our white horse is wonderful for Hindu Baraat wedding ceremonies, because he is beautiful, loves people and posing for the camera.
We took Popcorn, our white horse, to Innisbrook Resort early to get him ready and let him get used to his surroundings (not that he cared). He said “hi” to the drummer and tried to eat the green grass. We decorated him in Indian silks and flowers, so that he would look festive for the Hindu Wedding. The Baraat horse is a very important part of the Indian wedding, because it is the white horse that brings the groom to his bride. We make a strive to follow the Hindu wedding tradition as best we can. Even the wedding horses handler dresses in Indian attire.
This was a unique wedding because the bride and groom were from different cultures. The groom was Christian and the bride was Hindu, to very different wedding traditions. They choose to celebrate both styles by having the Hindu wedding in the morning and Christian wedding later at night. They had thought about using one of our wedding horse carriages for the Christian ceremony, however, decided to just use the white wedding horse for the Baraat.
Popcorn enjoyed posing with some of the wedding guests for photos, before the Hindu wedding started. Our friendly white Baraat horse delighted everyone. Once the groom arrived he mounted his white horse and the Baraat began. Our white wedding horse had no problem with the music or the dancing crowd. The groom was nervous riding our white horse at the beginning of the Baraat. Once he realized that the Popcorn was very calm He became more comfortable riding the wedding horse.
The Hindu Baraat celebration continued for about an hour. The guests danced around the groom and his white horse. The procession slowly made it’s way through one of Innisbrooks parking lots, toward to the bride and her group of guests. The dancing was beautiful and everyone seemed to enjoy the festivities. Hindu weddings are always wonderful to experience and it seemed that the Christian guests were very much engrossed by the festivities. It is not very often that two culture are able to come together in such a celebratory way.
The groom’s friends and relatives, called the barati. danced towards the brides family. Once the procession arrived and received by the bride’s family. The bride’s parents and elder members of the family welcome the groom. All the guest came together and danced, before entering the building for the union of the bride and groom. Innsbrook was a wonderful venue for a Hindu Baraat because it had plenty of space for dancing and beautiful. We hope to be a part of many more Hindu weddings with our wonderful white Baraat horse, whether it is in Palm Harbor or other parts of the Tampa Bay area.