In different parts of India, brides wear different kinds of clothes, ornaments, and adornments. The bride's clothes are usually typical of the area. A Rajasthani bride would wear a lehenga, a Punjabi bride would wear a salwar-kameez or the kurta, salwar and odhni, and a Maharashtrian bride would wear a nine-yard saree. Most brides wear saris nowadays, usually in shades of red, pink or mustard but in different ways. A Gujarati bride will wear a saree in Gujarati style usually in red, white and gold; a Coorgie in their particular style and a Bengali usually white or onion pink with red and gold border in their own style and so on.

Most grooms in the north wear a shervani with a churidar pyjama, a bandha gala suit, or a western-style suit. Turbans are also very popular, for the groom and the important members of his entourage. In the South, grooms either wear the traditional veshti (dhoti) and jubba (kurta) or a three-piece suit. North Indian grooms set forth to their weddings adorned with a sehera, a veil of flowers tied to the turban, to screen their faces from the evil eye.
In south India, flowers are an important adornment on the hair for the bride, while the north it is not so popular. In northern India applying Mehendi or decorating the bride's hand and feet with mehendi is a ritual done before the wedding. An auspicious day is set-aside before the wedding date for this ritual. This ceremony is also mandatory among Muslims everywhere in India for their wedding.

A Christian wedding ceremony consists of several elements. These resources are designed to give you a guide for planning and understanding each element of your Christian wedding ceremony.

Normally all Christian wedding are celebrated in a church. The friends and family members of the bride and the bridegroom attain the wedding celebration. Just like any other wedding in other religion Christian wedding is also celebrated over a couple of days. As there are pre wedding, wedding and post wedding rituals. An Anglo Indian Christian bride traditionally wears a white gown in western style and the groom wears a suit.

The wedding rituals are conducted along with the holy mass. Like in all Indian matrimonial rituals, this community too., has an interesting lecture with an emphasis on the sancity of marriage given by the priest. Christian wedding rituals and customs are simple and easy to follow.

Among the main pre wedding rituals there are functions like bridal shower, which is an informal hen party hosted by the bride’s female friends. It is mainly a female get together to celebrate to celebrate the occasion. It is a fun filled function where games are played, they sing and dance the whole night. The friends and relatives shower gifts upon the bride. The bride serves a pink cake with a thimble hidden inside. According to tradition, the girl who gets the slice of cake with the thimble in it will be the next to marry.

Just like the bridal shower, which is an all girl’s party a bachelor’s party is also celebrated by the groom and his male friends. It is called a stag party hosted by the groom on the eve of his wedding or a couple of days earlier. Usually this is a wild party and the groom is expected to enjoy his last night as a bachelor.

It is customary to raise a toast before the drinking begins in earnest. It is mostly celebrated to have fun and enjoyment with his close friends.

Welcoming the bride is done on the day of the wedding; when the groom sends a car to pick up the bride and waits for her outside the church. When the bride arrives, the best Man welcomes her with a kiss on either cheek and hands her a bouquet of flowers. The couples walk down the aisle slowly and gracefully with the wedding procession in tow till they reach where the priest stands for the wedding mass. The priest then welcomes them and offers his best wishes. The wedding mass begins with hymns and selected readings from the bible. The priest then delivers the homily, with an emphasis on the sancity of marriage. The next ritual is the blessing and the exchange of the wedding rings. The ceremony comes to an end with the final blessing of the priest. The guests, towards the end, shower their blessings on the newly wedded couple. The last formality is the couple then signs the register and walk down aisle, arm in arm.

In the post wedding rituals like wedding in all Indian community Catholic weddings is followed by a reception for celebration the reception party is grand where the newly-weds enter the venue and are welcomes by all with a shower of confetti. They cut the wedding cake and feed each a bite of the first slice. The toastmaster proposes a toast in honor of the couple. The reception is mostly celebrated with dance and dinner party. In many function a live band performs and everybody dances to the tune of the band. This is how most Christian wedding are celebrated.

Muslim Wedding

Muslim wedding ceremony is celebrated with splendid grandeur. Muslim wedding known as Nikkah can take place at any convenient time, because there is nothing like auspicious time in Muslim weddings. The wedding venue can be the bride or groom’s house. However these become a fashion to hold the wedding ceremony in the banquet hall. Read on to explore information about Muslim wedding tradition.

Here is provided information about traditional Muslim marriage rituals.

PRE WEDDING RITUALS Mehendi Ceremony WEDDING RITUALS Welcoming the Barat Nikkah Ceremony Nikaahnama Blessing the groom Dinner, Prayers and Aarsimashaf

Mehandi Ceremony

This ceremony is the inaugural ritual of a Muslim wedding, which is held at the home of the bride on the eve of the wedding ceremony. Mehndi is the artistic drawing in Henna of patterns and flowers on the hands and feet (and nowadays the neck) of the bride and the other ladies. Female relatives of the would-be bride or a professional mehndiwaali apply mehndi to the palms and feet of the girl. Also, the female relatives of the girl anoint the girl with haldi or turmeric paste to bring out a glow in her complexion. According to the tradition, the girl hereafter is forbidden to step out of her home until she gets married. The event has a festive feel to it with the women singing traditional songs. The bride wears sober clothes. The bride's cousins sometimes apply a dot of mehndi on the palm of the groom.

Welcoming the Baraat

Common to all wedding ceremonies, the groom arrives with his friends and relatives and a group of musicians at the wedding venue with the groom seated on a horse or in a car. On arrival, the groom and the brother of the bride exchange a glass of sherbet. Throughout the ceremony, the bride's sisters welcome the guests from the groom's side by playfully teasing them good-humouredly. It is customary for the boy's family to send the wedding attire, jewelry and cosmetics for the girl. She usually wears the outfit as per the norms of the state she hails from for instance a gharar or a zari sari or salwar kameez. The dupatta covers her head. While the groom typically looks good in a sherwani and a topi that covers his head. Both the bride and the groom don a sehra or a veil of flowers around their foreheads.

Nikaah Ceremony

Nikaah symbolizes the actual wedding ceremony, the venue for which can be groom's house or the bride's, as per convenience. Traditionally, the men and women have to be seated in separate rooms or have a purdah (or curtain) separating them. The 'Walis' (the father of the bride and of the groom) play an important role in the ceremony. It is on the day of the Nikaah that the elder members of the two families decide the amount of Mehar (nuptial gift that is a compulsory amount of money to be given by the groom's family to the bride's.)

Nikaahnama

The ceremony is directed by a Maulavi (priest), who reads quatrains from the Holy Quraan. Prior to this, the consent from both the would-be life mates is seeked by reading aloud a document called Nikaahnama, a document wherein the marriage is registered. First, the groom and the two witnesses sign it, and later the bride does so. In south India, the bride gets a 'lachha' (a necklace, similar in concept to a mangalsutra) from the groom. Whereas in the north, she gets a nose ring. This is followed by the Maulavi reading the verses from 'Agadh-a-Nikaah’, which symbolizes the grant of religious approval to the wedding. The boy and the girl are hereafter deemed as 'married' to each other.

Blessing the groom

After the Nikaah the groom receives blessings from the older women and offers them his salaam. The guests pray for the newly-weds.

Dinner, Prayers And Aarsimashaf

The cardinal ceremony of Nikaah being over, a festive dinner is served, which is very prodigal and extravagant. Dinner is served separately to the ladies and the gentlemen. Their heads are covered by a dupatta (traditional scarf) while they read prayers under the direction of the maulvi (priest). The Quran is placed between the couple and they are allowed to see each other only through mirrors (aarsi). Thereafter, the bride's relatives bid her a goodbye as she now leaves her parents and her home for a new home and a new life.

Jewellery

Brides without jewels are like the best fondant cakes minus the icing. Even the most simple of women has got to have a bit of bridal jeweler in her when she walks down the aisle. It sets apart the occasion of her wedding to be above anything she has ever experienced and it merits the highest level of accessorizing. The wearing of jewelers is supposed to endow the women with qualities of power and authority as well as great beauty.

Gold has traditionally symbolized wealth and prosperity within Indian culture, holding special significance in celebrations such as weddings and births. Ornaments such as the mangalasutra, bindi, ear rings, bangles, nose rings, rings armlets, waste bands etc. are presently worn by brides almost all over the country..

Rings are the most traditional form of wedding jewelers for both men and women, and universally symbolize a marriage between two individuals. In Indian marriages, the additional adornment of a 'mangal sutra' or 'thaali' (a small gold pendant worn on a thread or necklace) is the main symbol of matrimony. Tying a thaali around the neck of the bride by the groom is the most important ceremony in Indian marriages. The traditional 'mangalasutra' usually in gold, comes in various forms and sizes -some with auspicious symbols depicting 'Om' or gods like Vishnu or Shiva (for Hindus) or a cross (for Christians) and others with traditional designs. Nowadays more fashionable versions with diamonds and precious stones are also seen. In the south especially in Tamil Nadu and in a few other states, Thaali's are tied on a thick yellow thread. When the thread is worn out, a new thread replaces them. Generally, in the northern states Mangalsutra is worn on a chain with two strings of black beads interspersed with gold. These beads are believed to protect the marriage against evil.

The mangalasutra with vatis (tiny bowls) is a must for every Maharashtrian bride, the Gujarati bride sports the typically Gujarati Mangalasutra interspersed with gold and black beads with a pendant in a traditional design.
Wearing of 'chura' (set of red bangles given to the bride from her maternal side of the family) and toe rings (which the bridegroom puts on the brides toes) are also traditional symbols of marriage. The kind of ornament, of course, depends on the community to which she belongs and their particular customs.

Other than the Mangalasutra, in North India, many women deck their arms with bangles in vivid green and red. And the chooda that is presented to the bride by her mama as a symbol of her newly married status, is one which she has to wear for at least 40 days after her marriage. The chooda is traditionally a set of ivory bangles with inlay work. The modern day variations can be found in cheaper forms in plastic or acrylic as well. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, all married women must wear bichwa or toe rings. After marriage, the Sindhi women prefer to wear the traditional gold earring each studded with nine diamonds. Further north, after marriage, the Kashmiri Brahmin women wear the 'dejhoru' and 'aathhoru', an ornament worn in the pierced cartilage of the ear with a cord suspended from it at one end. Among the Muslims, the nose ring is obligatory at the time of marriage.