4 Indian wedding quirks
An Indian wedding is a week long journey filled with multiples events designed to tease, bless and congratulate the bride and groom. The wedding enlists a massive number of guests who all engage in the following activities with the highest amount of excitement and enthusiasm.
Mehandi is a form of temporary tattoos which are often known by the term “henna” which originates from the Arabic route. Mehendi mainly encapsulates the beauty of leaves, flowers, peacocks and swirly patterns. It often contains small pictures of the bride and groom to further symbolise the love and moment of celebration. I would personally love to see more geometric designs used for mehandi as it give a subtle yet classy look. a Most women attending the wedding apply mehandi in order to increase the grace and beauty of their hands and feet although there are few people who love the herbal smell of it which slowly fades in in approximately 2 weeks. Mehandi is a task for the patient as it can take up to 5 or 6 hours to properly and leave a vibrant and finely detailed design. For the application of mehandi artist use cones which are a smaller version of icing tubes. As an indian it is also exciting to see the culture of applying mehandi is gradually growing in the west.
In the early days when makeup and skin products didn’t exist a grandmother’ recipe was used to to make a DIY face mask of turmeric, barley and sunflower oil to enhance the beauty of the bride and groom and give them natural glow. It has been working effectively since multiple centuries. Initially it was necessity but now in 2017 it has become tradition where the entire family works towards making the bride and groom look their best by still using the original face mask recipe whilst having a communal spa day although the luxuries of it are only for the bride and groom.
The main wedding function can also up to 12 hours because of all the funny traditions which solely exist to tease the bride and groom and have a laugh with them. These are mainly little pranks performed by the bride’s sister, friends and guests to joke around with the groom in ways such as stealing and then hiding away his shoes which are later returned in exchange for gifts. Also not letting him in the enter the wedding hall by gathering around a ribbon and asking the groom to cut it with either a pair of fake scissors or no scissors, at this point the he is also fed several desserts to properly welcome him and some families even paan (essentially a burrito made of leaf with areca nut as the filling although is half the size comparatively) is offered. These moments provide for bonding between the 2 families and allow the wedding to be even more glorified and unforgettable .
Indian weddings are often known for the extremely lavish and royal jewelry and dresses worn by the guests. The traditional dress worn by women is “lehenga choli” which comprises of a floor length skirt and a cropped top which ends just above the navel. According to the hindu religion the color red is considered a color of happiness and celebration therefore the outfit of the bride is mostly red. Men wear coats which are heavily glamorized by the detailed embroidery and use shiny colours such as gold, silver and bronze. Each person attending is at least wearing one piece of jewellery enhance the royalty of the event. The bride however is essentially bathed with gold and diamonds from her hair accessories to her toe rings to make her special day unforgettable for her.