By Kurtis Elsner
A growing trend towards non-traditional wedding ceremonies has allowed a Centretown couple to earn a living doing what they love — marrying people.
“We’re not here to tell people [what they want], and we’re not here to judge people,” says Siri Bandhu Khalsa. “We’re not necessarily here to give them a Christian wedding, or a Jewish wedding, or a Sikh wedding. We’re here to give them what they want.”
For more than 10 years, Siri and her husband, Harimandir Khalsa, have owned and operated Weddings Your Way, a company that specializes in diverse and unique wedding ceremonies.
Performing about 100 marriages a year, their business fulfills a market that seems to be growing. One reason for this is Canada’s growing multicultural population, says Roderick Phillips, a family historian at Carleton University.
“The increasing number of inter-faith and multi-ethnic couples have led to the emergence of ‘hybrid’ weddings,” says Phillips. Weddings are not just single-denominational anymore, he says. They may have characteristics from many different beliefs, each of which reflects aspects of the couple’s heritage.
While recalling one wedding, Harimandir says that originality is what makes doing weddings fun. In the ceremony there was fire walking, the couple was married under a Jewish chuppah, and it ended with a traditional Celtic folkdance.
“They created it the way they wanted to,” he says. “People enjoy these weddings.”
While some weddings the couple presides over involve grand planning, such as one Harimandir conducted on a hot air balloon, most tend to be simple, he says.
For Phillips, this fits another trend that seems to be emerging in the wedding industry.
“There has been a shift from what we think of as ‘the big wedding,’ to smaller weddings,” he says. He attributes this to not only the great expense of big weddings, but to the increasing age of the couples.
“Cost is a big factor, and we’re moving away from the idea that the bride’s parents are going to foot the bill,” says Phillips. “People tend to be older and are less likely to run to their parents for money.”
“People want something nice, but not everyone wants to spend a lot of money,” says Harimandir. “They don’t mind spending $2,000, $3,000 or $4,000, but they don’t want to spend $20,000.”
For Darrin and Alexis MacDonald, Weddings Your Way offered the type of wedding service they wanted. The bride-to-be had met Siri through yoga classes, and choosing her to preside over their wedding seemed like a natural choice.
Siri and Harimandir’s relaxed approach allowed the MacDonalds to have a simple wedding the way they wanted, while staying within their budget.
“We wanted to get married outside, and not in a typical church setting,” says Darrin. The couple, which married five years ago, wanted a small, simple service. In many ways, the service was traditional. What made it special was Siri and Harimandir’s attitude.
“They’re a lot of fun, and they are really easygoing,” says Alexis. She also believes their enthusiasm and caring nature adds to the experience. “It felt like they were a part of it, and it made it more special.”
While non-traditional services might be a growing trend, there are still those that like a more conventional approach in planning large-scale weddings.
This is evident in some phone calls Siri receives from clients looking for someone to tell them how to have their wedding, she says.
“Some people get frustrated with us,” says Siri. “That is not what we do, we’re Weddings Your Way.”