This gorgeous Indian wedding invitation card was hand delivered to us. I could not help but admire the design of this colorful wedding invitation which looks very Indian to me.
Here are 8 facts related to weddings in India, more specifically in the Hindu culture in Mumbai. I learned about this facts from my Hindi teacher who is from Mumbai. Please note that some facts might not be true in other regions in India. I find learning about wedding traditions is one of the most interesting cultural experiences living overseas.
1. A wedding season in India starts as soon as a monsoon season is over. November indicates the beginning of the wedding season in Mumbai.
2. When an invitation says “Blessings Only”, it signifies that the family is very wealthy and does not need any gifts. Close families and friends, however, still give gifts.
3. For Hindu weddings, the writings on the very top on an invitation card is written in Sanskrit, a holy language of Hinduism and a scholarly literary language in India. (It is different from Hindi.)
4. There are still many families in India who still practice arranged marriages. Mothers of daughters start looking for a candidate for their daughters’ future husbands when the daughters are still very young.
5. A bride’s family give their groom’s family and relatives gifts. Normally diamonds or gold jewelries are given. This is the reason why when parents have a girl, they start saving all the valuables from the daughter’s early age to save money for her wedding.
6. Often times, brides’ families pay for the transportation as well as lodging for the out-of-town family members who attend the wedding.
7. There is a wedding celebration called Sangeet, which is a party held a few days before the wedding ceremony to give blessings to the bride and groom by families and friends with music and dancing.
8. After a Hindu woman gets married, she wears a black necklace with gold, toe rings, red bindi or sindoor which is a red cosmetic powder that women wear along the parting of their hair and green glass bangles. I asked my Hindi teacher if there is anything that Indian men wear to indicate that they are married and she said no. Apparently men do not have to wear anything to show that he is married or not. Interesting…
I hear that many women like to wear a sari to a wedding here. I don’t have one. I would love to get one eventually.
How lucky you can go to many countries and know every country’s customs. thanks for continuing to provide me information that is very much going on out there! hehe smooch !
Winda, thank you for following my adventure! I appreciate it!!! I find it fascinating to learn about other cultures and I am thankful for the opportunity.
Thanks for this great post! I also think the way people get married is very interesting. I feel very interested is India lately, I love how they use vibrant colours et loads of gold. It’s sparkling all the way! I believe you should get a sari ASAP, it will suit you very well! xx
Marie, thank you so much for the comment!! I think you would LOVE all the sparkling cuteness that jumps into your eyes in this city. With your eye for design and love for everything pretty and kawaii, I can picture you using the inspirations in India to create beautiful bags and sequence designs!
Hi Kaho ,
I don’t know much about Marati wedding (Mumbai Most of the peple are maratis) . But in the state of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, During the time of wedding the wedding mangal sutra the dollar is made in the wedding hall the night before the wedding by the Goldsmith in the wedding hall in the presence of Bride and the.grooms family. Our Indian wedding is called big fat Indian wedding because Our wedding is all about inviting people who are our family, friends and neighbours to wish the bride and groom . Lots of food, Very expensive jewellery, and yes the bride side will pay for the grooms side hotel and travel arrangements. But these days both the families share their responsibilities they provide accomodation for their side friends and family. We have to book in advance for the wedding hall . In South it is important for the bride side to book big wedding hall to show their status, also gold jewellery on the Bride will show their status.
Indian wedding is colourful and very expensive. Mostly it is 70 to 8o percent of the marriages in india is Arranged marriage. Parents or the relatives look for wedding alliance with the horoscope match. The wedding is the most expensive event in any indian family .
For my wedding i had about 700 -800 guests in total from both our side and the grooms side. We do have to serve the guest breakfast and dinner and booked hotel rooms for only very important family members and friends, return gifts, when we invited our close family members we gave the ladies a kanchipuram silk saree . Which they will have to wear for the wedding it is like brides maids costume , we pick some colour but the designs will be different based on the availability. Our wedding saree is really expensive.Since i am from Andhra Pradesh, we follow telugu wedding procedure. You can get some wonderful teugu wedding videos on youtube.
Thank you, Padmaja, to add more traditions seen in South India, more specifically in the Telugu traditions!
This was a good read. Check out India Best Wedding Wear or Wedding Collection and also Party Wear Site….. http://manyavar.com/
Thanks for the link! I actually stumble upon the website while I was searching for Indian wedding! How interesting! It’s a men’s wear brand, isn’t it?
Yes… Check out my blog too… http://manyavarsherwanis.wordpress.com/
The cards that the designers design these days can touch the heart. The impact which they make can even bring tears of joys. Thanks!
Very true, you have shared some relevant facts relating to the Hindu marriage. These customs and rituals are followed even today. People are avoiding gifts in many cases. I want you to tell me what are the best gifts for a 30 year old couple? I am visiting their wedding next week.
Thank you for the comment, Parekh! In the U.S. many couples register kitchen items on their wedding registry. I have used cooking dishes and tools such as a hand mixer for baking a lot. I can only speak from my experience which might not be so helpful… I’m sorry!