Bridegroom Malik Zulfikar Ali, from Pakistan, with Indian bride Shabana Ibrahim Augwaan, at their wedding on October 27,1996, at the Ramada Adria Hotel in New York. After the traditional Muslim nikaah ceremony the groom placed a ring on the bride's finger. Although wedding rings are perceived as a Western tradition it is now very popular among South Asians in North America. Weddings involve a lot of paperwork. This allows the guests to be more involved with a ceremony that may otherwise be entirely foreign and inaccessible.
Receptions provide numerous examples of the combining of Indian and American wedding traditions.
But of course we will have Indian sweets as well. While the first generation may recall traditional cooks, working for weeks on end to prepare food for thousands of wedding guests, Indian-American weddings tend to rely on caterers. In regions with a high density of South Asian immigrants, such as New York and New Jersey, finding a caterer who specializes in a certain regional cuisine is not difficult. But many guests, especially younger ones, Mehta thought, tend to prefer Mugalhai cuisine, which will be served at her daughter's reception instead of Gujarati food. Weddings that extend through several ceremonies are particularly suited to serving a variety of cuisines.