We hope you’ve been enjoying all the cute proposal stories over the last few days! No South Asian blog would be complete if it didn’t also include a story about a traditional engagement ceremony.
{About Hinna & Shakeel}
Hinna and Shakeel opted to have a formal engagement. We caught up with Hinna to learn more about it.
We did a traditional engagement ceremony with about 60 guests at my parents’ home. Shakeel is Indian and I’m Pakistani. Since we’re both Muslim our families traditions for the ceremony were similar. Though it was a smaller event compared to what we plan to do for our wedding, we still wanted it be very festive. We adorned the house with lights, got a colorful tent put up in the backyard and placed centerpieces on the tables where our guests were going to sit. At the ceremony, we exchanged rings and gifts. The ceremony itself was pretty quick. The rest of the evening we enjoyed the company of our guests.
{Clothes, Hair & Makeup}
I wore a beautiful heavy, long kameez with a pant style shalwar. Shakeel wore a suit with a tie that matched the color of my outfit.
I also got my hair, makeup, and mehndi done for the ceremony. The sleeves on my kameez were a little longer than 3/4 length so I got my mehndi done a little passed my wrists. Plus I wore lots of chudiyan.
{Traditions: Baat Paaki}
Before we got engaged and several months before the engagement party, our families met and we had a baat pakki (similar to a roka/rokna) where our families declared the intent for the union to happen. My family went to Shakeel’s home and my future MIL gave me jewelry.
{The Wedding}
We’re getting married this summer at the Westin LAX. And, we used ShaadiShop to find our venue. The main website has so much useful info that South Asians need, and the blog posts are so informative. Before we even talked to Samta we got so much helpful info! When we did talk to her, she walked us through the options based on our budget, guest count and other parameters and educated us about things we never would have known.
{Engagement Vendors}
 Royal Kabob
Fareeha of 
Amana B (Instagram: amanabartistry)
Congratulations Hinna and Shakeel!
How ShaadiShop Works
Search for venues by location and further filter by geography, price, capacity.
Detailed venue profiles have the Indian and South Asian-specific info you need.
Fill out the form for each venue that you’re interested in and the venues will reach out to you.
The Largest Indian Wedding Venue Marketplace
Our Partners
One thought on “A Traditional Engagement Ceremony”