How a Mayan wedding ceremony works
A symbolic union held between the four elements, led by a shaman. What happens, in what order, and where it can take place.
Couples increasingly choose a symbolic ceremony over a religious one, because it can carry their own values rather than a form they inherited. In Mexico that opens a particular option: a Mayan ceremony, rooted in the culture of the southeast and held in the middle of it.
What it is
A Mayan ceremony is symbolic and has no legal standing, it is a spiritual union, with no paperwork involved. The couple establish their marriage among the four elements: earth, water, fire and air, for good energy, harmony and success.
Where it can happen
Traditionally in nature, an archaeological site, a lagoon, a cenote, a beach, a hidden cave. More venues now open their grounds for it, and the requirement is simply that nature is part of it.
What happens beforehand
The groom gives the bride a mahul, a package of gifts, and her family accepts it before the wedding proceeds. The couple then take a temazcal, a traditional steam bath with herbs and plants, to purify body and spirit. After that they are ready.
The ceremony itself
A shaman leads it and presents the couple. The altar is divided into four parts with flowers, candles or gourds, and a circle of sugar is drawn around it; the couple stand inside. Fire is essential, so flowers, copal, incense and cinnamon burn throughout.
The shaman purifies the altar, then rings a shell to ask permission of the seven directions: the four winds, Mother Nature, the cosmic energy above, and the Superior being held in the couple's own hearts. Their presence is what blesses and strengthens the marriage.
After the prayers in Mayan, the groom gives the bride corn and cacao and she gives him tortillas and chocolate. The elements can change; the exchange is the point, receiving the fruit of the earth and transforming it into food, which stands for the union and the prosperity ahead.
Then the vows, and the rings. The couple offer flowers, seeds, fruit and incense, and it is best accompanied by the music of the culture: drums, bells, flutes, conch shells.
And afterwards
A banquet, and ideally a local one, stuffed cheese, tamales, pickled turkey, cochinita pibil, pok chuc, and pozol to drink.