For both Western and Indian weddings, families prepare for the “big day” with various pre-wedding celebrations. In the Haldi Ceremony, turmeric paste is applied to the couple by friends and family to purify and cleanse them. We hope to celebrate with the beautiful sunset colors!

Expect lots of mingling on both sides through games and music. We hope to also have the “milni” at this time, where the bride and groom’s respective families and friends “meet” and come together for the first time.

Upon arrival to Raffles, we have a Batik-themed Brunch. Additionally, the Mehndi (henna) will take place to decorate everyone for the big day! This is an Indian pre-wedding event traditionally done alongside the bride’s mehndi application. During this time, guests will slowly check-in to their rooms alongside lunch and other activities.

Batik is an ancient wax-resist dyeing technique used to create intricate patterns on fabric found in many cultures, including Malaysia and India. In Malaysia, Batik is characterized by vibrant colors and bold leaves and flowers, whereas Indian Batik will often feature cultural stories and art. We hope to bring all the batiks together during our welcome brunch.

The Sangeet is a vibrant, musical pre-wedding ceremony filled with joyous music and dance performances. Our Sangeet is titled “Laal Shaam”, translating to “red evening”.

Our Laal Shaam will honor our cultures through the color red, a powerful symbol of prosperity, love, and new beginnings in both Indian and Chinese weddings.

Performances

We are looking for full audience participation—we will provide more information on Sangeet performances once RSVPs have been finalized.

For the main day, we will begin early with the Chinese Tea Ceremony, a gift and blessings exchange symbolized by the couple serving and receiving tea from their family members. Alongside the ceremony, there will be cultural exchanges and activities for everybody to enjoy.

In the ceremony, the families exchange red envelopes with money known as “ang pao”, which symbolize good fortune, happiness, and prosperity for the couple. Beginning with the eldest, the couple serves tea to their elder family members in exchange for ang pao. Once this is complete, the couple takes the seats to be served tea from their younger family members, who receive their ang pao and words of wisdom from the couple.

We will have our baraat (groom’s procession) into the wedding ceremony in the early evening, where the couple will tie the knot with ceremonies from each culture.

Use the large gap between the tea ceremony and wedding ceremony to go for a swim or a nap!

Now that the couple is officially married, we will hold a cocktail hour and reception to celebrate!

Reception will be the time for the couple to finally relax, connect, and dance with all the guests that came so far to celebrate them. Expect a lot of toasts!