Hindu weddings are very bright events, filled with ritual and celebration, that continue for several days. They are not small affairs, often with 400-1000 people attending (many of whom are unknown to the bride and groom). Though most marriages are arranged, some couples in urban areas have love marriages. The true Indian wedding is about two families getting wedded socially with much less emphasis on the individuals involved. Many of the wedding customs are common among the Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and even Muslims. They are a combination of local, religions and family traditions. dress was the bride wearing silk sarees

Thali is an Indian meal with contents varying from one regional cuisine to another. A thali is a selection of different dishes, usually served in small bowls on a round tray. The round tray is generally made with steel with multiple compartments. In North America people sometimes use plastic thalis because they are disposable.
Typical dishes include rice, dhal, vegetables, chapati, papad, curd (yoghurt), small amounts of chutney or pickle, and a sweet dish to top it. Important marriage ceremonies Some of the rituals were in vogue considering the young age of the bride and groom in the early days. But these have been followed even now also. Examples are Nalangu, bride and groom being carried after the Kaasi yathirai,Oonjal and the bride sitting on the father’s lap. Vrutham The wedding rites/rituals/celebrations start off with prayers offered to ancestors to seek their and God’s blessings for the upcoming wedding. This usually takes place in the early morning hours of the first wedding day.
The bride’s side does the rites for the bride’s side of the family while the groom side does conducts its own prayers side-by-side. Janavasam/”maapillai azhaippu” – the procession This is the archetypical picture of Indian celebration packed with a kaleidoscope of color, glitz, music and dancing! The groom would be seated on a horse-drawn chariot (or in some cases, beautifully adorned cars) as he makes a procession through the roads with his entourage. The accompanying entourage dances to the rhythm rendered by the accompanying band announcing to all the upcoming matrimony .

 In recent times the bride gets a piece of action as she joins the groom halfway through the procession and gets to sit alongside the groom on the chariot. They then make their way to the temple where the groom – “maapillai” – is given a new set of traditional dhoti – “veshi” and shirt – to wear for the following nischayathartham ceremony. Of late some grooms go for Western styled suits also. The reason for this ritual is from the practice of announcing in early days to all the village people on who is the bride and groom. The procession then makes its way back to the mandapam (wedding hall) where the nischayathartham then ensues Nischayathartham – the engagement ceremony
After all the joyous dancing and pompous procession, the guests settle down at the mandapam to witness and bless the rites and rituals involved in the “engagement ceremony” with the background of Sanskrit mantrams chanted by the Hindu priests.

During the Nichayathartham the following details of both bride and the groom are read out for the everyone Personal: Father’s name, Grand father’s name, the village to which their forefather’s belonged, their gothra,aliasname etc. Muhurtham: Date & Time (Georgian and Lunar), Lagnam, Star, Address of the marriage hall etc. The bride and groom are officially engaged in God’s name and the auspicious timing for the Muhurtham – the actual wedding rites – is set in everybody’s presence.

 Everyone present in the Nichayathaartham is asked if anyone has any concern or objection and only after everyone is okay the “Thaamboolam” plates are exchanged. “Thaamboolam” plates containing items required for the muhurtham are exchanged by both the groom’s and bride’s sides (generally the senior most male) during this function.

Muhurtham – the WEDDING proper Muhurtham refers to the actual wedding ceremony itself. It typically occurs on the second day of a 2- or 3-day wedding ceremony and occurs generally early in the morning around 7-8 am depending on the priests’ decree but may be even up to 11 AM. The muhurtham includes the “Kasi yaatrai” , “maalai maatral”, “oonjal ceremony” and the actual Muhurtham itself.

Kasi yaatrai refers to an age-old Brahmin ritual where the groom “decides” to take up ’sanyaasam’ (i.e. asceticism, monkhood) for spiritual pursuit. He would ultimately be ‘convinced’ by the bride’s father to return and take up “grahastham” or family life and that the bride will assist in his subsequent spiritual pursuit. For the Kaasi Yaathirai, the bride’s father would have to buy(as in general practice)an Umbrella, Hand fan, Bhagwad Gita book, Sandals. The maapillai (groom) will then agree and garlands will be exchanged by the bride and groom (maalai maatral).
The process of maalai maatral may be complicated by the groom’s side carrying the groom and the bride’s side cayring the bride and each side making it difficult for the other side to correctly place the garland. Basically traditional family entertainment. They would then head to a swing (oonjal) in the mandapam. Respected womenfolk of the household will then perform short rituals with classical singing to ward off “evil eyes” as the bride and groom are seated on the oonjal. They then proceed to the podium in the mandapam where rites of the marriage – muhurtham – are performed.

The climax is when the bride is seated on her dad’s lap as her dad does (kannigadhaanam) and offers his daughter to be taken care of by the groom. As the priest then chants mantrams, the groom ties a “thaali” or “thirumaangalyam” as a necklace around the bride’s neck as all the guests shower their blessings (symbolized by rice grains that are distribued to all guests to shower onto the bride and groom). This symbolizes the actual wedding and the newly-weds take their marriage vows in 7 steps (sapthapathi) as they walk 3 rounds hand-in-hand around the holy fire (agni).

Nalangu – wedding games Nalangu is a tradition that dates back to times when marriages used to occur at a younger age (early teens). This component was incorporated to keep the mood light-hearted and fun for the newly wed young teens. It has stayed on as an integral component of South Indian weddings. Traditional games include the newly-weds putting their hands into a small bowl to find a small object with the person finding the object first the winner. Other examples of games include breaking papadums over each other’s heads and so on and so forth. It is an interesting component of the wedding gala. Wedding Reception Photos may be taken with the newly weds with the backdrop of classical music.

Typically South Indian / Carnatic musicians are called upon to provide the music entertainment as the reception goes on. Kattu Saatham This is on the day next to the Muhurtham. In early days the groom’s family would have to travel for a longtime to reach their place and so for their travel needs food would be packed and given.This is how the ritual came in to practice.

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10. White wedding gown, for the Christian-Indian bride. One the most famous ones in parts of India like Goa.

9. Anarkali Suit, remember Rekha in the song “Dil Cheez Kya hai”. Gorgeous on a bride who is slender. A bride who chooses something simpler.

8. Laacha Kameez, it gains its popularity in Punjab. Laacha also known as the Dhoti is paired with a long Kameez (shirt). Back to your roots for a Punjabi bride.

7. Shalwar Kameez, a no fuss bride having a simple wedding. But there are amazing styles to choose from. A few shalwar styles to choose from like the dhoti shalwar. Patyala, or the latest crop style. Any color goes.

6. Ghagra Choli , the bottom skirt quite similar to the Lehanga. The difference the top or choli is very short showing off the belly. Also a classic in India for the lavish but classic bride. Pink would be the color to go with.

5. Lehanga- Straight skirt/hour glass, another form of the Lehanga. This is for the bride that wants to keep the lavishness of the Lehanga but also wants to show off her figure. Team with a sleeveless kameez and a dupatta. Gold will be the color to go!

4. Lehanga- Full skirt for a bride with a grand wedding. It’s flashy and heavy. Again unlimited colors to choose from, however green and red being the most popular. A snug short shirt on top with a embroidered dupatta.

3. Gharara, (a two legged skirt, worn with a short top) worn by the Mughal women it was one the most gorgeous outfits of those times, today we see them in collections of almost all the famous Indian designers. Beautifully embroidered bottoms of the gharara are paired with a short hip length top with small slits at the side and a long draping dupatta (oversized scarf). I see the gharara on a curvy bride. A rainbow of colors to choose from. Kameez can be long sleeved for the more modest or short sleeves/sleeveless for the modern bride.

2. Bengali Sari, made famous by movies like Devdas. Aishwariya was seen draped in those beautiful works of art. Longer in length than the normal Indian Sari and has a distinct way of wearing the pallu. A bride marrying into the Bengali culture and still keeping her fashion sense. I would suggest a jewel tone, with a matching long sleeved blouse just like Aishwariya.

1. Indian Sari -is the traditional and national dress of India. Not the Sari that your grandmother wore years ago; it’s been revamped into one of the sexiest outfit in India today. Designers like Manish Malhotra create gorgeous designs every season. I see the Sari on a bride that is having a very traditional wedding but still wants to look sexy. Best color would be a deep red with sparkling gold embroidery.

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So this is what happened… We arrived two days before the actual ceremony began, as my mother had conveniently volunteered all our help, my sister and I were looking forward to a relaxing weekend hoping to drop by at the local market known for its clothes and bags, much to our surprise we were put on duty the night we arrived. The couple had mutually decided to have all the religious and legal ceremonies, which meant the Goan as well as the Zoroastrian functions, as well as the Court marriage.

After two laborious days of running here and there it finally began. The first was an official engagement for the girl’s side of the family where the boy goes and asks the girl’s father for permission to marry her. The couple then exchange rings and “Monu Mithu” themselves which means that they feed each other sweets to celebrate the Official engagement. The girl’s side then visits the boys side and does the same, where gifts are exchanged and a great spread of food is laid down for the ravenous.

After a most fulfilling lunch we followed with the traditional Siesta time and all slept for a good few hours to gain energy for the evenings events. The evening was spent celebrating with dance, beautiful lights and gorgeous Sarees and dresses to die for.

 Everyone let down their hair and drank to merryment, as tradition goes. The amusing part was that there were actually two different celebrations on the same evening. The Goan side of the family celebrate the eve of the wedding, whereas the Zoroastrian side were celebrating that their daughter had found a suitable partner!

As the next day was to begin early with a wedding mass at ten, the evening wound up ending surprisingly early, and the entire family went to their respective homes to prepare last minute for the next day. The day dawned beautifully with warm rays and a few clouds. The church was garlanded with orchids and white lilies on every window, and a four tiered cake lay waiting to be cut under a stark white canopy. The groom was surprisingly early, and guests began trickling in by the time the ten chimes rang out. The mass began, while the bride and her entourage of bridesmaids took their time getting ready. As the mass ended, the choir took their place as the groom took his place at the Alter.

The wedding march rang out and Lia in her beautiful white corset gown walked hand in hand with her father who affably gave her away to Robin. The ceremony was more than memorable, the wine and cake cutting brought tears to more eyes than countable, and best of all the lunch seemed to last forever. The exquisite spread of typical Goan and Zoroastrian food came as a surprise to the guests.

The couple danced their first dance, as did the mother and son and father and daughter dances take place, just before the beautiful couple dashed away to catch their flight to Mauritius. It was a tremendous effort on both the families to unite and provide exactly what the couple wanted, but they did an excellent job of it, and hats off to them!

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By the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 passed by the Union Parliament of India, for all legal purposes, all Hindus of any caste, creed or sect, Sikh, Buddhists and Jains are considered as Hindus for the sake of the Hindu marriage Act – and can hence intermarry. By the Special Marriage Act, 1954, a Hindu can marry a non-Hindu employing any ceremony provided certain legal conditions are fulfilled.

The pre-wedding ceremonies include engagement (involving vagdana or oral agreement and lagna-patra written declaration), and arrival of the groom’s party at the bride’s residence, often in the form of a formal procession.

The post-wedding ceremonies involve welcoming the bride to her new home. Just as Hinduism is hard to grasp and contrast against the newer, book-defined, structured religions such as Christianity and Islam, India’s prevalent wedding traditions are also hard to categorize purely on a religious basis. They have a closer similarity to ancient cultures such as Greek, Roman, Persian, Egyptian and Chinese.

An important thing to note is that despite the fact that the modern Hinduism is largely based on the puja form of the worship of devas as enshrined in the Puranas, a Hindu wedding ceremony at its core is essentially a Vedic yajna (a fire-sacrifice), in which the Aryan deities are invoked in the Indo-Aryan style. It has a deep origin in the ancient ceremony of cementing the bonds of friendship/alliance (even among people of the same sex or people of different species in mythological contexts), although today, it only survives in the context of weddings.

The primary witness of a Hindu marriage is the fire-deity (or the Sacred Fire) Agni, and by law and tradition, no Hindu marriage is deemed complete unless in the presence of the Sacred Fire, seven encirclements have been made around it by the bride and the groom together.

The most fascinating part of this wedding was that the ceremonies lasted for three full days and I bet for all those who attended this wedding it’s going to be a memorable event for their lifetime.

The first day of the ceremony was like an engagement sort of thing, members of both families sort of renewed their promise that they will be available from the wedding day after tomorrow. All the members of the groom’s party were given elaborate gifts like dresses, dry fruits, sweets and cash. Then there was a tea and snacks for everybody and this function was held in a five star hotel.

The next day was mehndi ceremony which was organized at the bride’s residence. This ceremony is meant for bridal makeup. All the friend and relatives of the bride help her in preparation for the next days wedding. This includes applying turmeric paste, mehendi, etc. and other aspects of bridal make-up. All this accompanied by music, dance and lots of fun.

On the final day the actual wedding took place. The groom and party came with a huge procession accompanied by a 10 member music band, DJ sound system and lot of firecrackers bursting. Then there was a lavish dinner for 2000 people. There were 75 varieties of snacks, dishes and sweet times to choose from. The food served was of North Indian, Chinese and Continental style dishes. There was also a live band and orchestra performance along with dinner. The place was decorated like Royal palace and even the waiters were dressed like royal staff.

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From these sprit and these culture some of the most popular fashion designer come from India these days and I like to but a spot on the most success 10 of the Indian designer like Ritu Kumar witch Considered as a revivalist in the Indian She work on six or seven collections simultaneously-they are for all ages from 18 to 80. Her traditional range is considered the couture of India. Ritu Kumar has also written a book named customs and textiles of royal India.

And also from the top lest Manish Malhotra For a change ace designer Manish pandering to the style-conscious chattered in Mumbai and not his Bollywood lovelies. Malhotra who is better known as the makeover king for such style icons as Urmila Matondkar and Karisma Kapoor, recently launched his pret collection to a select gathering Ritu Beri witch started her illustrious career in fashion when she created her first line of clothing in 1990, called Lavanya. It was a complete success for Ritu in her homeland and on the international market, with the range selling out very quickly. In the list of top Indian fashion designer Hemant Trivedi is one who has made a special place for himself in the Indian fashion industry. He is one of the brightest and leading versatile designers. He pursued his graduation from the Australian Technical Institute of Fashion Design. Later on, he went to New York for further studies.

It was in 1980 when he came down to India. This famous designer Hemant Trivedi from India has been serving the Mumbai’s S.N.D.T University for quite a long time. In the present scenario, he is the pride of Sheetal, India’s famous designer fashion store. And let’s have a space to Rohit bal the Indian fashion designer he is simply fabulous to make a perfect match and set the trend for every season. Rohit Bal has designed clothes for the very well known personalities in India as well as abroad.

Like Uma Thurman, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell, and he even walked down the ramp on one of his show. To mention just a few he has created a history by being successful on his own fashion shows in New York, London, Paris, Singapore, Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, New Delhi etc.. He wants the Indian fashion world to reach the global heights. Due to his perfect attitude, hard work, devotion, he reaches on this height and he will continue to rise along with the sun. and also Muzaffar Ali with his new style and Satya Paul witch has been a supporter and promoter of the various crafts of weaving from all over the country and also one to use the latest in technology to create design from all over the world.

And also JJ Valaya is regarded as one of the fashion czars in the industry and you will never forget John Abraham who drew upon history, fantasy and folklore in his creations, showcased a mixture of gothic and Indian and the theme was about seduction of the night. And the special touch Rina Dhaka witch I have good news these year and also Thakore witch is Abraham partner in the Abraham & thakore fashion line. From all the names and history of those entire names I can say that all of them are great and every one of them has his view and style and every one of them has his fans.

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Our wedding was solemnized as per South India, Telugu rites. The first event of our wedding was a prayer to Vinayaka, to overcome anything untoward during the wedding.
I bought a Kanchi silk saree for the wedding, which is the apparel normally worn by every bride. It was flowing and gorgeous, a dress that would make all who wear it proud to be lucky enough to adorned in such heavenly attire. Black is a taboo shade, and only either red or yellow sarees are preferred for the occasion.

Women want to look slender in the wedding; hence they starve themselves before that. The brides will look tired and jaded if they go on a dieting binge just days before the wedding.
My advice would be to eat judiciously taking care of the right nutrients. Consume a lot of fluids as the preparations for the marriage would tire you a lot. I attended a friend’s wedding some time ago and I did not recognize the bride. I could not recognize my friend in that getup. One should have subtle and sophisticated look for the occasion.

You should endeavor to look flattering on your most important day. Good food and a wedding go hand in hand. Strictly speaking, the dinner includes 10-15 main items, 4-5 side dishes and around five beginners. The dinner is purely vegetarian containing an array of popular South Indian dishes.

It is considered auspicious to serve dessert after the dinner, which are mainly sweets. Major Indian sweets like laddu, barfi, kheer, jalebi, halwa gulab jamun are displayed with topping of dry fruits in them. Preparations start two to three days before the actual wedding date, in the bride’s as well as the groom’s houses. Mehendi Ceremony is catching up in every wedding nowadays, where intricate drawings with henna are done on the hands and legs of the bride. ‘Sangeet” or the song and dance programmes go on till early hours of the morning, where all are free to perform and enjoy.

Indian weddings are quite expensive as every detail is paid attention too and invitees are many. The wedding goes on for a week or so, even after the main event. Bride’s parents spend a lot of unimaginable amount of money in solemnizing the wedding. Feast your eyes on the lavish weddings of India on the internet.

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Out of all ten red lenga choli with dupatta is most worn and the best dress for brides and look awesome with jewellery.

1) REd Lehenga choli with dupattta
2) RED Saari with blouse
3) Ghaghra Choli
4) varanasi saaree
5) Baluchuri saaree
6) Kota saarees
7) Shalwar kameez
Jardashi saaree
9) Patiala suite shalwar
10) Bangladesi dhaakai

1) Red Lehenga choli
Red Lehenga choli with dupattta Lehenga choli specially red with a beautiful dupatta having all jari designs on it is the best bridal dress designs out of all. Color red is best suited because its a sign of love and new relationship. Short sleeves are best, because with this dress u can wear all type of jewelleries. If wearing diamond jewelleries then use same color designs on the dress. And if wearing gold jewelleries then prefer golden embordiery and golden designs on it.

2) Red Saari
Red Saari with blouse and dupatta on head Saare as you know is a 6m long cloth mostly worn by indian women and are the best costumes to be worn. Red saari is also a very good bridal wear and is worn most occassionally on marriages. Again short sleeves blouses are best for it. It is less fashionable than red lehenga but mostly wore by brides in uttar pradesh, bengal, madhya pradesh, south india. With this also brides prefer a juda on head and dupatta. Mostly gold jewelleries are worn with this.

3) Ghaghra Choli
Ghaghra choli is an alternative of lehenga choli. Ghagra is most preferred in the western india like in rajasthan , gujrat , haryana etc. The Ghaghra as you see looks good in all gujraati designs and in all colors. Good color ghaghra are red, pink, orange, yellow and marroon. Short sleeves are preferred because brides wear ornaments around their arms and that looks awesome.

4) Varanasi saaree
Varanasi saarees are just gorgeous ones to be worn by bridals. The exotic designs on it makes it more dashing and beautiful. You wear a matching blouse with this and can go for heavy necklace, bangles, earnings, nose ornaments, fist ornaments, payals etc. Short sleeve blouse are preferred. Hardly long sleeves are worn. This dress is most worn by the Eastern India like uttar pradesh specially Varanas and Northern India like up, uttaranchal, etc..

5) Baluchuri saaree
Baluchuri saarees with a blouse is beautiful dress. colors can be blue, green, golden,etc. Again short sleeve blouses are worn with this. Brides of states like west bengal, assam, orissa prefer this type of dress. The beautiful design on it make the saaree costlier. The designs and colors available are hard to resist.

6) Kota saarees
Kota saarees are dazzling ones and are used by the bridals but are preferred less as compared to others. people mostly use this saaree to give the bride as head dress. The check designs made on the saaree is beautiful. You can go for red, pink, green , or combination of any two colors with golden checks or other contrast checks on the Saari. In this also short sleeve blouse are used and the blouse color is contrast color of the saaree so worn.

7) Shalwar kameez
Shalwar kameez with a duppatta and quarter sleeve kameez is preferred. Colors that look good are red, pink, marroon, or shades of these colors. Specially golden designs on this shalwar and kameez is prefereed. The duppatta that is used is either net or of the same color silk piece of cloth. This type of dress is most worn by the punjabi brides and northern brides.Golden jewelleries are preferred and are traditional but nowadays people are even going for diamond and platinum. chuda is used with this dress. Chuda is a number of bangles of the combination red and white and golden bangles, that cover the hands from wrist to elbow and are most famous in this type of bridal wears.

Jardashi saaree
Jardashi saarees are the dazzling and shining saarees. People prefer dark colors on this saarees and brides wear heavy jewelleries along with this. These saarees are less preferred and worn by the brides but are worn.These wear earlier fashionable. People wear again short or quarter sleeves blouse with this.

9) Patiala suite shalwar
These are similar to shalwar kameez but the difference lies in the shalwar or the leg piece cloth that is being weared. In case of Patiala shalwar the cloth used is more and the aleigance of the dress is increased. Brides prefer short suite (or kameez) on this.You can go for any dark shades of red or pink or orange.

10) Bangladeshi dhaakai saaree
Bangladeshi dhaakai saaree and blouse Bangladeshi dhaakai saaree and blouse as the name suggest is most used by the brides in west bengal state of india and are preferred more by the bengali peoples and in kolkata. Even the bangladesh country this saaree is used and are worn.

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