Navajo Wedding Traditions

My husband and I have traveled much of the great Navajo reservation. From Antelope Canyon to Monument Valley, Canyon De Chelly to Santa Fe, the people and the landscape are amazing! As a wedding planner, I wanted to learn and share more about the wedding traditions of the Navajo people.

The Navajo wedding ceremony is a ritual that has been practiced by the Navajos for centuries. The ceremony is conducted by a respected elder of the bride or by a medicine person. The families of the bride and groom witness the ceremony.

Up until the mid-20th century, the Navajo practiced arranged marriages. The parents of the groom would propose marriage to a young woman outside of their clan. Even though marriages are not arranged today, many couples still want to have the traditional wedding ceremony.

The parents of the groom usually initiate the planning process by visiting the parents of the bride. At that time they will present an offering to the brides parents. In the past, the offering was often horses; today it is usually money or jewelry. The brides family has the option of either accepting or declining the offerings.

If all parties are in agreement, the brides family will set the wedding date.

Traditionally, the ceremony would take place at night, today most weddings happen in the daytime. In the past, the brides relatives would build a Hogan (a traditional Navajo house, now used mostly for religious ceremonies) as a place to hold the ceremony and also as a home for the newlyweds as they establish their own independent family. Today weddings are held in a Hogan or house of the brides family. Some couples build their own Hogan for the ceremony.

On the wedding day, the groom and his family arrive at the Hogan. The groom sits on the west side of the Hogan floor with his mother beside him. His relatives will sit on the north side of the Hogan floor. The bride will enter carrying a wedding basket half full of corn mush. The elder or medicine man will follow her carrying a water jug. The bride will place the wedding basket on the floor in front of the groom and sit beside him on the south side. The medicine man pours water on the grooms hand to wash it and the bride will wash her hand. This ceremony signifies the cleansing of body, mind, and spirit. The medicine man blesses the basket of mush by sprinkling corn pollen from four directions. The four directions are symbolic of being united in the Navajo universe. The bride and groom eat the mush with their hands, signifying their unity in spiritual matrimony.

The ceremony continues with serving the couple a traditional meal. The family of the bride serves the grooms family first. The family of the groom are given gifts from the family of the bride and the elders will offer the couple advice about married life. After the meal, the ceremony ends.

Today, many Navajo couples want to include some or all of the traditions in their ceremony, often blending the traditional with the contemporary. At.TheKnot.com you can see photos from a Navajo wedding, the wedding of Kasey and Jason in Page, Arizona. They incorporated many traditional elements into their wedding and the result was beautiful!

There is a new hotel right inside Monument Valley called The View. You can check it out at www.monumentvalleyview.com. You might be inspired to have your beautiful wedding on site, surrounded by some of the best views on Earth.