The muhurat is yours.
A mandap on the far shore.
Two ceremonies in one day: the civil one that makes you married, and the one your family flew for.
Two ceremonies, and they do not compete.
A Seychelles wedding for an Indian family is two events on one day. The civil ceremony is short, legal and conducted by a Seychelles civil status officer. It is what produces the certificate. Most of our couples hold it late morning with the two witnesses and the photographer, and it takes about twenty minutes.
Then the mandap goes up while you have lunch, and the religious ceremony runs in the last two hours of light. Jaimala, kanyadaan, the fire, the seven steps. Your pandit's order, your family's length, nobody watching a clock.
Sunset here is between six and half past six every month of the year and there is no daylight saving, which makes a Seychelles muhurat unusually easy to plan against. It is worth knowing before a date is fixed at home.
Set the date against the numbers.
Pick the island, add the photography, and tell us the muhurat in the last box.
Five properties that have done this before.
A mandap is a structure, and a structure on a beach needs permission and a crew who have raised one. These five have.
Four Seasons Resort Seychelles
Petite Anse, MahéA private crescent of sand under the hill, reached by buggy. The mandap goes on the beach and the pheras happen with nobody else on it.
Kempinski Seychelles Resort
Baie Lazare, MahéThe largest Indian kitchen capacity on the island, and a lawn above the bay that takes a full baraat without anyone raising their voice about it.
Anantara Maia Seychelles Villas
Anse Louis, MahéThirty villas, one beach, no day guests. The one we suggest when the answer to how many people is under twenty.
Raffles Seychelles
Anse Takamaka, PraslinThe Praslin option with room for the whole party, ten minutes from Anse Lazio for the photographs.
Hilton Seychelles Northolme
Glacis, MahéCliffside villas on the north-west coast, so a June to September wedding still gets flat water and a sunset behind the ceremony.
Jain and satvik, without a fight.
This is the anxiety Indian families arrive with and the one nobody in this market answers properly, so here it is answered. The five properties above cook to a brief when the kitchen has notice. Jain, satvik, no onion and no garlic, and a separate preparation area are requests those kitchens have handled before.
Outside the resorts, Mahé has real Indian kitchens. Mahek at the Coral Strand on Beau Vallon does Jain and Indian fine dining, and Maharajas at Eden Island is ten minutes from Victoria. On Praslin and La Digue that layer is much thinner, which is a genuine reason to hold a large family wedding on Mahé.
The islands' own food helps more than people expect. Creole cooking is built on coconut milk, rice, curry leaves and a curry-powder base. Kari koko is not a compromise for an Indian palate. It is a cousin of it.
What it actually looks like.
Ceremonies this family has photographed on these islands.
The questions Indian families actually ask.
Can we actually have a mandap and a fire on a Seychelles beach?
Yes, at a property that has done it before. The five that have are Four Seasons, Kempinski, Anantara Maia, Raffles and Hilton Northolme. A mandap is a structure and a structure on a beach needs permission, which is exactly the sort of thing a hotel that has done it ten times already has and a hotel that has not does not.
Does the Hindu ceremony make us married?
No, and this is the one thing worth being blunt about. The civil ceremony in front of the Seychelles civil status officer is what produces the marriage certificate. The Hindu ceremony is the wedding your family will remember. The civil one is the wedding the registry will remember. Have both, on the same day, and nobody has to choose.
Who performs the pheras?
Most families fly their own pandit, and if you can, do. He knows your gotra, your family and your mother. If you would rather we asked here, tell us early. We will ask and we will tell you honestly what we find.
Can the muhurat be honoured?
Almost always. Seychelles sunset is between 6 and 6.30 every month of the year, which is unusually early and unusually stable, and there is no daylight saving. If your muhurat falls before dawn or in the middle of the night, that is a conversation about lighting and about which hotel, not a refusal.
What about the catering?
Handled at the five properties above. Jain, satvik, no onion and no garlic, are all briefs those kitchens have cooked to before, and they need notice rather than luck. Say it in the enquiry, not on arrival.
Is there a Hindu temple in Seychelles?
Yes. The Arul Mihu Navasakthi Vinayagar temple has stood on Quincy Street in Victoria since 1992, and Ganesh Chaturthi and Cavadee still fill the street outside it. It is a living temple in a small Indo-Seychellois community, not an attraction, and we point couples to it as a place to visit rather than a venue.