Heading For a Wedding
Asian Wedding Themes are so beautiful and they really show how diverse we can be as people. Asian wedding themes have been a very popular trend over the past 20 years and no matter how many I see each one is unique.
Once engaged most brides begin to look through bridal magazines and dream about how they will look on their wedding day.
Your wedding outfit although traditional and ritualistic, may have a contemporary look or cut that will make you feel glamorous and will distinguish you from every other bride. You need to choose your wedding outfit very carefully.
Engagement is held to the exchange the wedding rings. The couple welcome each other with garlands and sweets are also exchanged between both families. The engagement is completed with a dinner party for friends and family.
The occasion of Mehndi is fun a filled ritual, which is celebrated mainly by the bride's family. Today within our Asian community weddings it is no longer a small affair with only get together of family members and friends. But it is celebrated in a much larger canvas than earlier. It is a lavish and elaborate affair nowadays. So pre wedding functions are no more a private affair. It is celebrated with equal fun and enthusiasm as the main wedding. Different regions of the country celebrate in different manner according to their own marriage customs, rituals, manner of dress and culture.
It may feel like everything related to your wedding is piling up; catering, dress, bridesmaid dresses, venue; the list is endless. Trying to sort this entire day out by yourself is a hard way to go about your wedding, especially with interfering relatives and friends. But if you consider them helpers rather than interfering, then it could help your big day go with flying colours. The mother-in-law may have her own ideas on what caterers to use, so rather than agreeing or disagreeing with each other, you could hand out duties to each person. She could collect a range of places to cater to your day and then the final choice could be left to the bride and groom. The same would go with the venue, entertainment and decoration; each being assigned to a hopefully trustworthy guest that would do a lot of the hard work for you. But remember to always have a back-up for everything just in case something goes wrong on the day (or your chosen company goes bust). A written contract with each company you are working with is a must.
The celebration also depends on the wealth and status of the people. The bride's family celebrates Mehndi party. The ceremony is mostly held at bride's place or sometimes in a banquet hall on the eve of the marriage ceremony or few days before the marriage.
The female relatives and friends of the girl attain the party. It is mostly a ladies party. The female friends and relatives apply turmeric paste on the bride's body and face to bring out the glow in her complexion. A relative or a Mehndi wali who knows well to apply Mehndi is called to put Mehndi on the hands and feet of the bride. The event has a festive feel to it with the women singing and dancing traditional songs on Mehndi ritual. The bride is dressed in light colour clothes with light jewellery. According to the custom the bride must not step out of the house after the Mehndi ritual until her marriage. The bride's female cousins sometimes apply a dot of Mehndi on the palm of the groom.
What happens at reception of barat?
It is customary for the bride's sisters and friends to stop the barat from entering the arena until a sufficient amount of cash is given to them. Other traditional rasams include doodh pilai (milk drinking), jooti chupai (hiding shoes). The bride traditionally wears a heavily embroidered red outfit along with jewellery while the groom wears sherwani with a sehra or turban. Food, sweets, pans are served afterwards in feast.
Rukhsati
(see off ceremony) takes place, when the groom and his family leave together with the bride. Usually Quran is held over the bride for blessings. The departure of the bride becomes a very emotional scene as she says farewell to the home of her parents and siblings to start a new married life.
At groom home
(welcoming ceremony) - Upon arrival at home of groom the traditionally the eldest female members of the family welcome the grooms with prayers, a typical job to do is using water utensil revolving around the heads of bride and grooms.
It is really true that traditional Indian wedding is far more exotic and grand as compared to any other wedding in the world. The elaborate rituals and customs give a special touch to the celebration of Indian marriages. Today wedding receptions are a grand affair. Just like the other wedding rituals reception also forms a very important part of Indian wedding. The reception parties are celebrated in different fashion in different regions of the country. The groom's family in his house or in some banquet hall or hotel celebrates the reception party. Family members, friends and relatives of both the families come together for the celebration.
Nowadays reception parties are highly influenced by the television soaps and Hindi movies. The way it is shown in these movies people try to emulate it.
It is celebrated in a grand scale as people are invited for the occasion. In recent times people are organising theme reception parties with beautiful theme décor and menu. It is mainly time to enjoy and have fun. The reception party is mainly celebrated one day after the wedding ceremony. The groom's family mostly pays the expenses but in some cases it can be a combined celebration by the bride and groom's family. On this occasion the bride is mostly dressed in traditional Indian dress like sari or lehenga with heavy ethnic jewellery and the groom is dressed in either ethnic Indian wear or western suit. The ceremony ends with a sumptuous meal, which mostly includes Indian dishes but nowadays continental and Chinese is also kept in the menu.
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