Ganesh Chaturthi, Indian Wedding Traditions & Making Culture Your Own
There is someone who gets photographed at almost every Hindu wedding we photograph.
He doesn’t need a timeline.
He doesn’t care if the baraat is running late.
He has never once complained about the weather, asked us which side is his good side, or wondered when cocktail hour begins.
And quite often, he gets to greet the wedding guests before the bride or groom does.
Lord Ganesha.
Today is Ganesh Chaturthi, the celebration of Lord Ganesha’s birthday, and it felt like the perfect excuse for a little story time with The Regeti’s.
Because after more than two decades of photographing Indian, South Asian, Indian-American and fusion weddings, there are certain details we have seen hundreds of times that we still stop and photograph.
Ganesha is one of them.
Before You Enter the Wedding, Look Around
The next time you attend a Hindu wedding, pay attention before walking into the ceremony space.
You may see an elaborate Ganesha murti surrounded by flowers. At another wedding, it may be a small brass Ganesha tucked beautifully among candles and greenery. He may appear on the wedding programs, on the welcome sign, incorporated into the mandap, embroidered into fabric or represented through artwork chosen specifically by the family.
Sometimes he is impossible to miss.
Sometimes you almost have to know to look for him.
But there is a reason he is there.
Lord Ganesha is traditionally associated with new beginnings, wisdom, prosperity and the removal of obstacles.
And really, what bigger beginning is there than marriage?
That is one of the things we have always loved about Hindu weddings. So many of the details are not simply there because they are beautiful.
They mean something.
And when you know what they mean, you begin seeing the wedding differently.
The Funny Thing About Photographing Ganesha
After photographing South Asian weddings for as long as we have, there is a funny little routine that happens without either of us needing to say anything.
We walk into the ceremony space.
We photograph the mandap, the florals, the chairs, the programs and all of the incredible work that went into transforming a ballroom, estate, temple, tent or outdoor space into their wedding.
And somewhere along the way, one of us finds Ganesha.
Click.
It has almost become our own little tradition.
Because years from now, that photograph isn’t merely a photograph of a statue or a piece of décor.
It tells you something about what happened there.
It says:
Before this family began something new, they remembered where they came from.
And THAT is the stuff we are always looking for.
Not simply what was pretty.
What mattered.
Which Brings Us to Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi celebrates the birth of Lord Ganesha, and celebrations can look very different depending upon the family, community and part of India from which traditions originate.
That last part matters.
One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding Indian weddings—and Indian culture in general—is the idea that there is one correct way to do everything.
There isn’t.
India itself contains an extraordinary number of languages, religions, regions, customs and family traditions. Then take those traditions across oceans, raise another generation in America, add an intercultural or interfaith marriage, and suddenly the question becomes:
What does this tradition look like in our family now?
We happen to think that is a beautiful question.
Because culture doesn’t have to remain frozen in time to remain meaningful.
Especially for Our Indian-American and Fusion Families
This is where things become particularly personal for us.
We live in a fusion family ourselves.
One culture does not have to disappear for another one to have room.
And creating a blended family does not require taking every tradition from both sides and somehow squeezing all of them into one exhausting day.
Instead, you get to ask:
What matters to us?
What do we want our children to know?
Which traditions make our parents’ faces light up?
Which traditions still feel meaningful to us?
What do we want to carry forward?
And what might we reinterpret for the family we are creating?
Those questions apply to weddings, holidays and eventually the traditions you create inside your own home.
There Is More Than One Way to Celebrate a Birthday
Which brings us back to today’s birthday boy.
If Ganesh Chaturthi is important to one side of your family and completely unfamiliar to the other, that doesn’t have to create an either/or situation.
Make it yours.
You might create a small Ganesha display at home and decorate it together. Let the kids make flowers, decorations or their own little Ganesha artwork. Prepare traditional foods from the Indian side of the family and add a favorite dessert from the American side.
And if birthday cake has become part of how your children understand birthdays?
Have the cake too.
Tell them who Ganesha is.
Tell them why their grandparents celebrated.
Better yet, ask their grandparents to tell the story themselves.
Play music. Invite both sides of the family. Take pictures.
And maybe, years from now, your children will say, “This is how our family celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi.”
It may not look exactly like their grandparents’ celebration did.
That’s okay.
Their grandparents’ celebration probably didn’t look exactly like the generations before them either.
Tradition survives because people continue practicing it—not because every generation practices it identically.
A Little Regeti Family Fun Fact…
And speaking of birthdays, Ganesha isn’t the only birthday we celebrate in our family today.
Our son Brijesh turns 24 today!
So yes, September 14th already comes with a pretty special reason to celebrate in the Regeti household.
This year, Brijesh happens to be spending his birthday all the way in Peru in the Peace Corps, which makes this birthday feel a little different for Mom and Dad back home.
And because Ganesha is so closely associated with new beginnings and the removal of obstacles, we can’t help but have one tiny parental request this year.
Brijesh submitted his medical school applications earlier this year, and while we certainly aren’t asking Ganesha for any special treatment… if there happens to be a little obstacle that needs removing, an application that needs an extra nudge, or an admissions committee that could use a moment of divine inspiration, today would be a perfectly acceptable day to handle that.
Just saying. 😉
All joking aside, we couldn’t be prouder of the young man Brijesh has become and the life he is building for himself.
There is something wonderfully fitting about watching your child step into his own new beginnings on a day devoted to celebrating a figure who represents wisdom, possibility and clearing the path ahead.
So while we’re wishing Lord Ganesha a very happy birthday today, we’re sending an enormous amount of love across the miles to Peru, too.
Happy 24th Birthday, Brijesh.
We love you tremendously, we’re incredibly proud of you, and we’re cheering for everything that lies ahead.
And Ganesh… about that medical school application?
We’ll just leave that right here. ❤️
The Same Is True for Your Fusion Wedding
The funny thing is, the very same philosophy applies when planning an Indian-American or fusion wedding.
We wish more couples understood this before they began planning.
A fusion wedding does not need to feel like two completely separate weddings awkwardly stitched together.
It can become something new.
Maybe Ganesha greets your guests before they enter a ceremony that incorporates traditions from both families.
Maybe your wedding program briefly explains his significance so guests from your non-Indian side understand what they are seeing.
Maybe your décor combines Indian elements with the architecture and aesthetic of an American estate.
Maybe you incorporate a Ganesh Puja alongside traditions meaningful to your partner’s Christian, Jewish, Muslim or other cultural or religious background.
Maybe you wear traditional Indian attire for one part of the celebration and something completely different for another.
Maybe Mom wants one tradition, Dad remembers another, Grandma insists they did it differently, and the priest tells you something completely different from all three.
Welcome to an Indian wedding.
We say that with love.
There are regional traditions.
Religious traditions.
Family traditions.
Traditions that changed after immigration.
Traditions people swear are ancient that may actually have begun three generations ago because someone’s grandmother liked doing something a certain way.
And there are traditions your own family will start.
There is room for all of it.
Your Wedding Does Not Have to Pass a Cultural Purity Test
This may be one of the most important things we can say to our fusion couples:
Your wedding is not an exam.
You don’t receive extra points for making it “more Indian.”
You don’t lose points because you incorporate Western traditions.
You aren’t doing fusion incorrectly because your ceremony doesn’t look exactly like someone else’s wedding on Instagram.
And you shouldn’t have to perform your culture for your photographer either.
Our job is to understand enough to recognize what matters while remaining curious enough to understand how your family practices it.
Those are two very different things.
We’ve photographed enough Indian weddings to anticipate moments.
But we’ve also photographed enough Indian weddings to know never to assume every Indian wedding is the same.
That distinction matters enormously to us.
Photograph the Meaning, Not Just the Pretty Things
This is why photographing South Asian and fusion weddings requires more than knowing where to stand during a baraat or recognizing the major parts of a Hindu ceremony.
You have to pay attention to families.
Who keeps adjusting Dad’s clothing?
Who is Grandma watching?
Who becomes emotional during a ritual everyone else seems to be casually watching?
What did Mom bring from home?
What object has been passed down?
Which detail did the couple intentionally incorporate because they wanted both sides of the family represented?
And yes…
Where is Ganesha?
Because sometimes the smallest photograph in a wedding gallery explains the largest part of the story.
Culture Is Allowed to Grow
For Indian-American families raising children between cultures, this is something we think about often.
Preserving culture does not necessarily mean preserving every detail exactly as it existed at one specific moment in history.
Culture has always traveled.
It has always absorbed.
It has always adapted.
Families move.
Languages evolve.
People marry outside of their communities.
Children grow up between worlds.
New traditions appear.
Others fade.
And some become even more important precisely because we are afraid of losing them.
The goal shouldn’t always be replication.
Sometimes the goal is connection.
If your child knows why Ganesha sits near the entrance of a wedding ceremony, that’s connection.
If your future spouse’s family understands why your parents want a Ganesh Puja, that’s connection.
If an American grandmother asks an Indian grandmother to explain something happening during the ceremony, that’s connection.
If your children someday incorporate a tradition differently but still understand where it came from, that’s connection.
That is how culture keeps breathing.
And Perhaps That Is the Perfect Ganesh Chaturthi Lesson
Ganesha represents beginnings.
Marriage is a beginning.
So is bringing two families together.
So is immigration.
So is raising children between cultures.
So is watching your son turn 24 while he is halfway around the world, pursuing a life and a purpose entirely his own.
And so is deciding that something your parents taught you deserves to continue—but perhaps in a slightly different way.
Our couples aren’t simply planning beautiful Indian and fusion weddings.
They are creating families.
And somewhere inside all those flowers, outfits, ceremonies, performances, speeches and photographs are tiny decisions about what pieces of the past they are carrying into their future.
Those are the stories we love photographing most.
So today, on Ganesh Chaturthi, we’ll say happy birthday to a very familiar face.
One we’ve photographed hundreds of times.
One who quietly waits outside countless mandaps while everyone rushes around getting ready.
And one who reminds us why we photograph all those little details in the first place.
Because before the guests see the bride…
Before the groom takes his place…
Before two families officially become one…
Ganesha is already there to welcome them into a new beginning.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi from our fusion family to yours.
And however your family celebrates—traditionally, differently, loudly, quietly, with modaks, flowers, prayers, children running around, Grandma’s traditions, an American birthday cake, or some wonderfully imperfect combination of all of it—we hope you make it meaningful.
Because there isn’t only one way to belong to a culture.
There isn’t only one way to carry tradition forward.
And there certainly isn’t only one way to celebrate a birthday.
Around here, September 14th gives us more than one very good reason to celebrate.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi.
And Happy 24th Birthday, Brijesh. ❤️
— The Regeti’s (Mom & Dad to you Brijesh)
Planning an Indian, South Asian or Fusion Wedding in Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland or Beyond?
We are The Regeti’s, a husband-and-wife photography team specializing in Indian, South Asian, Indian-American, multicultural and fusion weddings.
For more than two decades, we have photographed weddings with one belief at the center of our work:
Your wedding isn’t simply about two people.
It’s about the families, cultures, histories and relationships that brought those two people together.
If you’re planning a Hindu wedding, Indian-American wedding, interfaith wedding or multicultural celebration and are looking for photographers who understand the traditions without assuming that your family must follow them exactly like everyone else, we’d love to hear your story.
Because your photographs should preserve more than what your wedding looked like.
They should help your family remember what it meant.
