Baraat procession: a wedding guide

Your wishlist

Answer these before you meet anyone.

• How do you picture the groom arriving?

  The ghodi is a mare, the classic mount in Punjab and the North. A baraat on foot with the family dancing every step is every bit a baraat.

• What do you picture carrying the music?

• Do you want a milni when the baraat arrives?

• How big a moment are you picturing?

  A block can take forty minutes when the dancing is good.

What to ask each one

• How does the groom arrive?

  The decorated ghodi — a mare — is the classic mount; Gujarati and Marathi grooms ride too, and many families arrive by car. A baraat on foot with the family dancing every step is every bit a baraat — the procession is the people, not the ride.

• What does the provider include?

  A decorated mare with a calm handler and a rain backup is a different offer than the mare alone.

How it’s usually priced

Usually priced as one flat amount.

Possible extras: Mount / vehicle hire, Mount or vehicle decoration, Travel fee.

What you settle once booked

• How long a procession?

  A baraat covers very little ground on purpose — a block can take forty minutes when the dancing is good, and that's the point.

• What carries the music?

• Where does the baraat gather?

  The family sends the groom off from here — his sarbala beside him, and the sehra tied where the family keeps one — so it needs room for the crowd, not just the mount.

• The route

• The milni

  The meeting of the two families as the baraat arrives — elders greeted counterpart by counterpart, garlands exchanged, embraces all around, before anyone goes inside. At a Sikh wedding the sides greet each other with the Fateh; in many Hindu families the bride's mother receives the groom with an aarti, and a Gujarati mother reaches for his nose, the ponkhvu; a Pakistani baraat is met with garlands and rose petals.

• Who greets whom at the milni?

• Any permits or notices needed?

  A baraat on a public street, amplified sound outdoors, or an animal on the property can each need notice or a permit — venue and municipality rules vary widely.

The day-of sheet

Confirm arrival, finish, who to call, access, a meal, and what is due.

Across the whole day

Choose which moments to include.

• Baraat gathers & stages
• Baraat
• Milni