Renata Kudlacek and Vishal Kirit Shah were married yesterday in Barga in an event that mixed and matched many cultures, languages, countries and traditions.
Vishal was born in Mumbai in India, Renana in Zabreh in the Czech Republic and both are resident in Berlin in Germany.
The 50 guests including family and friends attending the wedding ceremony and reception afterwards arrived in Barga from 14 different countries.
A huge cultural mix that included henna painted hands and ceremonies from India dating back centuries and high technology with wedding photographs during the reception at Al Benefizio, the small family managed farm and agriturismo, taken from 60 metre above via a drone controlled by the photographer Ugo Borghesi.
The local band, The Aristodemo’s were in attendance to give the whole affair a genuine Italian feel as they played their brands of Italian swing from the 40’s and 50’s well into the night.
Congratulations to Renata and Vishal from all the staff at barganews.com
Henna has been used to adorn young women’s bodies as part of social and holiday celebrations since the late Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean. The earliest text mentioning henna in the context of marriage and fertility celebrations comes from the Ugaritic legend of Baal and Anath, which has references to women marking themselves with henna in preparation to meet their husbands, and Anath adorning herself with henna to celebrate a victory over the enemies of Baal.
Henna is traditionally used for special occasions like holidays,Henna Art birthdays and weddings in Africa, Pakistan, India, and the Middle East. The most popular of the traditions is the Mehndi (henna) Night where the bride, her family, relatives and friends get together to celebrate the wedding to come. The night is filled with games, music and dance performances that may have been rehearsed for months prior to the event by those closest to the bride while the bride gets extensive henna patterns done on her hands and feet that go to her elbows and sometimes, knees.
Today, brides prefer to have their henna done prior to the mehndi night so that they can enjoy the festivities and also have a deeper stain by the wedding day.
Tradition holds that for as long as the henna stain appears on the bride, she doesn’t have to do any housework. Also, the darker the stain the better the marriage and the better the mother-in-law will be.