| Marriage is a ceremony celebrated
by all religions, world over. Marriage is not a mere word but encircles
within itself human emotions of understanding, patience, caring, affection,
sharing and sacrifice. With changing times the concept of love marriage
came in where a girl /boy chooses their own life partner and then
the wedding is arranged by both the families with a lot of enthusiasm.
The first step if you want to get married in Goa is the act of the
proposal or the utor. MATCHMAKING:
Earlier marriages used to be arranged by a middle person
who was called mali or raibari who used to take the proposal to
the groom or the bride's family and act as an intervener between
both the families or alternately.If the family liked either the
boy or the girl, they would directly approach the respective family
with a proposal.
UTOR:
After the decision has been taken by the respective families,
the details of the wedding are discussed which includes the dowry
to be given to the bridegroom. The discussion is called utor or
promise.
ENGAGEMENT:
The formal engagement takes place with the exchange of
rings, and is traditionally held at the bride's place in the presence
of family members, priests and other relatives.
Groom's family: kiteak ailea?
Bride's family:Oh garan, amguer full fullam, tumguer pormouphak
amin eilean.
Groom: Io bitor team fullacho valor poiia.
The entourage is then led into the house, where upon, they open
the box which contains the rings, and also the box containing the
gold ornaments. The ring for the bridegroom is taken in a special
box along with a statuette of Infant Jesus. At the bottom of the
box, some money is put by the bride's parents, which represents
the amount of dowry. Each note of Rs 100 is equivalent to RS 1000.
This money is for the groom. An elderly member called yezman counts
the money.
WEDDING PREPARATIONS:
As the wedding day approaches, arrangements are made to
style the bridal gown. Prior to the coming of the tailor, the fabrics
are purchased. For this purpose, on the appointed day, relatives
of both, the bride and groom go shopping. The saddo and dress material
to wear the next day of the wedding by the bride - torna boda are
bought.
CIVIL REGISTRATION:
Civil Registration is the next step for the couple, according
to existing Portuguese Civil Code. The registration is done at the
Civil Registrar's Office, in the presence of parents, close relatives
and two witnesses. Thereafter, the Registrar invites the public
by affixing a notice on the board, to submit objections if any,
to be raised within the stipulated period of three weeks.
WEDDING BANDS READ IN THE CHURCH:
The wedding bands are read in church in the conformity
with the ecclesiastical law on three consecutive Sundays. Just a
week or weeks before the wedding, in case the ceremony is to be
held in a short period of time and there is no possibility of reading
all three banns, then either one or two may be read. If it is not
possible for the banns to be read even on a single Sunday, special
permission must be obtained from the Patriarch. The banns inform
the public of the impending marriage of the couple, and is a request
for objections if any, in general from public.
CHUDDO:
On the day of the first bann, the bride is invited to the
house of her maternal uncle for lunch. She is then made to wear
chuddo. In the absence of maternal uncle, the maternal aunt performs
the chuddo ceremony. This is a special ceremony, where, the cankonkar
(bangle seller) comes to the house and fits bangles to the accompaniment
of zotis ( a special commemorative songs), on the hands of the bride,
who is bedecked with flowers in presence of other ladies.
The bangles to be worn are follo (green background with yellow
line). It is said, that no bangles should be broken, and as such,
the bride was not expected to do any work, lest a bangle break and
cast evil on the betrothed. It symbolizes the married life of the
bride. For his services the cankonkar is paid a measure of rice,
one coconut, five bananas and some money.
ROSS:
The first coconut juice called the apros, is used for the
ceremony. A day before the wedding, the bride and the groom, each
at their respective residences are made to sit in the main hall
or in the matov (pandal), and relatives and neighbor’s are
invited to apply the ross.
The ross is applied to different parts of the body, starting with
the head and down to the limbs. The ceremony signals the end of
bachelorhood/spinsterhood, and is probably used for purification.
The guests are served atol (a sweet dish made of rice, coconut and
jaggery).
BICAREANCHEM JEVONN:
A lunch is held in honour of the departed souls of the
house, who are represented by beggars. The specialty of the day
is samarachi koddi ( a heavily spiced aromatic curry cooked with
dry prawns and mango sol (dry unripe salted mango), cooked in coconut
juice. Vonn, made of coconut juice, gram dal and jaggery. Bread
and a banana are a must for this meal and small sized voddes made
of rice and urid dal. All this is accompanied by zotis. The lunch
is served on a patravalli, a plate made by stitching together jackfruit
leaves. Liquor or beedis are also served. Special paddy is boiled
for this meal, and on the wedding day, while washing the rice, zotis
are sung.
Before the cooking for the meal has begun, a coconut is broken
in front of the house by a senior member of the family. Today, in
case no Bicareanchem jevonn is served, the some beggars are given
one measure of rice and some money.
Celebrating your Catholic or Christian Wedding in Goa
Gaiety and merry making mark the ceremonies of Christian weddings,
and Goa is no exception. Although a Goan Christian wedding may vary
in some details to a western church wedding, it basically follows
the diktat of a catholic wedding.
CIVIL REGISTRATION:
In this process, we help you acquire a court order which
grants you permission to get married in the land of Goa. Then our
team would get your wedding registered at the local registrar's
office. We generally take 4-5 working days to finish all the formalities
related to the legal part of your wedding. Out solicitor guides
you through this process. We do all the necessary paper works and
arrange residential certificates for you. You enjoy your precious
holidays while we do all the run around. We provide transport to
and from the court and registrar's office too.
WEDDING CEREMONY:
In case of a church wedding, we book the church for you,
help you getting your church file organized and book your mass and
arrange choir for you. We do decoration of the church which includes
floral deco of the entrance, floral deco of the church etc. You
exchange your rings and vows in the church. Please note that registration
of the wedding at the local registrar office is a must for church
wedding in Goa.
In case of a wedding ceremony on the beach, a venue facing the
beach or a lawn or an indoor venue is hired for you. We do all the
necessary decoration of the venue. A priest solemnize your wedding
and you exchange your rings and vows before him. Please note that
no catholic priest come out of the church to bless a wedding. Generally
A protestant or a believer priest solemnize this sort of weddings.
We, therefore, strongly suggest to go for a church wedding in case
you are an ardent believer in catholic religion.
WEDDING CELEBRATION or WEDDING
RECEPTION:
We hire a wedding venue of your choice for this purpose.
We can arrange your wedding on a lawn, or on a venue facing the
beach or in an in door hall. We provide live music or DJ music for
the occasion. A MC coordinates your wedding proceedings. We do all
necessary guest seating arrangements. We set up the dance floor
for you. We do all other decoration including decoration of the
entrance, bridal seating decoration, buffet lay out decoration etc.
We also provide entire lighting of the wedding venue and the necessary
power back up. Our expert planners stay at sight to take care of
all your needs.
In case you are just a couple, we arrange a romantic dinner set
up right on the beach or on a boat etc. Serenaders set the right
mood while you enjoy lavish dinner right on the beach.
ENTERTAINMENT:
Services we offer for Wedding Reception:
MC Wedding Band
Live Music One
Man Band Catering Fireworks
To make your evening a special one, we offer various entertainment
packages which includes Fire Works, Fire eaters, Fire Jugglers,
Goan Folk Dance, Portuguese Dance etc. |