15 Indian Wedding Traditions To Know About

From the ancient saying, it is believed that the Samudra Manathan, the legend of the churning of the ocean is a newly emerged Laxmi who appeared with garland with her or lotuses and accepted him to be her divine concern. For that reason, Hindus follow the vermala ceremony as one of the commitments of a Hindu wedding. 

In India, Most of the people are Hindu religions. They suppose jayamala or varmala is one of the rituals during Indian tradition where bride and groom meet and exchange vermala in the wedding ceremony. Mala is the Hindu word for garland which is made up of bunched flowers on a string.

The haldi ceremony takes place at the bride and groom’s parents’ home the day before the actual wedding and is also referred to as the Mayian, Mayun, Pithi, or Ubtan ceremony. Turmeric (haldi) is applied topically by massaging it onto the skin in a mixture of oil and water.

From sanskrit phrase for the evil eye is Buri Nazar, and one popular reason Haldi is used in this ceremony is to protect the couple from it. The newlyweds are supposed to stay inside the house for the rest of the night to ward off any evil spirits.

The Mehendi ceremony is a tradition that is held the night before the wedding. Generally, the wedding ceremony is organized by the bride’s family where the family brings both female members of each side. Sometimes mehndi ceremony is combined with the sangeet ceremony where dance performances and live music are too organized. 

It is the ceremony and occasion where both families get a chance to have fun, dance, and feasting. To get the best henna mehndi on hand they call for henna artists at their home to create designs for the bride and her guests. Additionally, some brides go for Indian Vedic Mehndi designs to maintain the tradition of Indian weddings, some brides go for modern designs according to the theme of Arabic or indo-Arabic designs.

According to the ceremony, there are different outfits mainly for brides and grooms. There is the trend of wearing a green dress code in the mehndi ceremony, yellow colored a saree or lehenga in a haldi, and a red outfit at the wedding big day. Traditional Indian bridal wear consists of zardozi-embroidered lehengas, saris, and shararas. Fabrics of higher quality, such as silk or satin, are used to emphasize the opulence of these motifs.

Moreover, men wear sherwani yellow in haldi, light green in mendni, and dress combination color sherwani with sehra on the wedding day. If the bride is wearing something red-colored heavy lehenga then the groom can wear a cream-colored sherwani with red sehra to match the outfit. It is recommended not to wear black on the wedding day as black is supposed to be inauspicious or unlucky dresses for both bride and grooms.

Mandap decoration is also an essential part and the things that should be known about Indian wedding tradition. It is believed that an Indian wedding is incomplete with a mandap. 

The mandap serves as the four pillars in Indian weddings which represent earth, air, water, and fire. All the rituals are performed in the mandap where air, water, fire, and earth become witnesses of the bride and groom’s marriage. The mandap is made up of a wooden structure and is usually decorated with floral fixtures, bells, flowers, and with transparent clothes for fixing the wooden structure.

In the Indian wedding, there is fun activities or a prank that can be played on the groom which is known for the Joota Chupai. Basically, Joota Chupai is all about the stealing groom’s shoes as soon as he takes them off while heading to the mandap. Cousins, sisters, and other females secretly look at all the scenarios and expect to hide the shoes after stealing them. 

After all the mandap rituals end, sisters and cousins come to the groom and ask for money in exchange for shoes. The objective of doing such is to ask for money and ask the groom to look after her bride for all the happiness they are giving their sister whom they love a lot.

Seven pheras is also known for saptapadi which is the major ritual of Indian weddings. The word saptapadi means seven steps and the couple takes seven steps to make the beginning of their journey together for a lifetime. In the process, the couples takes a vow at the beginning and receive blessings from the priest or everyone present at the stage.

Saptapadi involves seven steps in a clockwise direction and is taken around the agni near the mandap. Each step taken is called a phera and each phera has seven promises that is taken by the couple to make their relationship strong with respect and their responsibilities to each other.

Mangal pheras is also one of the phases or process of Indian weeding where the priest sings Mantras while the pair circles the Holy Fire four times. The Groom leads the Bride on the first three feras (Circles), while the Bride leads the fourth and final step, symbolizing matrimonial equilibrium.

The pheras represent life’s four essential goals: Dharma (morality to live well), Artha (prosperity), kama (energy and desire), and moksha (self-realization). The couple rushes back to their seats after their last round. Racing to sit first, The custom holds that the first to sit will control the household.

At an Indian wedding, after lunch, photo secession, the final part of the ceremony takes place. The final part is supposed to be the bidai or saying goodbye part where the couple leaves the mandap and given with handful of rice which she throws over her head, behind her as she leaves the palace. 

Family members as well as the bride will get emotional at the bidai time. The bride will say a tearful farewell to each family member as she says goodbye and starts a new life with her husband and his family.

Mangalsutra and sindur are the important things that must be known by every Hindu culture. In the Indian wedding, without mangalsutra and sindur, the marriage is incomplete. From the viewpoint of Hindu tradition, sindur plays the role of kumkum which represents ancient folklore and marks making his husband’s presence in her life. 

The groom places sindur at the parting of the bride’s hair which symbolizes the woman thta she got married. Along with the sindur groom places the mangalsutra as a necklace with black beads around the bride’s neck. The black beads in the mangalsutra on the neck symbolize protecting the husband’s life from danger and a symptom of prayer for a long living.

Misri ceremony is the one which is celebrated by Indian people at Indian weddings. It is performed within the last three days before the wedding.  In this ceremony, the groom’s parents also bring a basket of gifts for the bride with the misri that symbolize sweetness such as sugar in their married life as well as sweetness in their future life. 

This ceremony is celebrated with the newlywed couple where they also, exchange flowers garlands, and gold rings, for each other family. 

In Hindu religion, the groom is led to the marriage venue with the process of dancing known as Barat. The groom gets his own dress and enters the Barat with lots of relatives either by riding in a car, horse, or an elephant.

After the process groom is welcomed where bride’s relative takes him on his way to the manadap. The parents and the groom remove the shoes and enter the space near the stage for the vermala. They do a vermala or garland exchange in front of large guests and family to show the witnesses that they got married and are life partners today.

Ganesh pooja is the thing that you should know about Indian weddings. It is mainly performed a day before the wedding in Hindu families to bless the wedding. The prayer (puja) is mainly performed to bring peace and good luck to the new couple who are going to knot together for the long term.

In the pooja, the priest invokes lord Ganesh, where the Hindu element god removes all obstacles. IIt is believed that a traditional Indian wedding is incomplete without Ganesh puja so, the puja is performed by the bride’s parents.

In the Indian wedding tradition, jewelry plays an important role. The wedding plan is not as easy as it seems as it needs to have a long month of planning where the bride and groom both have to shop for a lot of things. 

In the same way, jewelry selection is the most considerable thing as it requires a long time to give orders according to the bride’s choice. Most women prefer gold jewelry but silver and platinum are also popular options. The jewelry selection should be decided by the bride along with both family consent. Both families made a list of gold, platinum, and silver and decided which one should be worn on which day for the wedding purpose.

Whether it’s a South Indian, Pakistani wedding, or Punjabi wedding, food plays a significant role in enhancing the ceremony. Without food, no ceremony is celebrated. So for the wedding, one can go with Indian, continental, veg, non-veg, or western food with buffet style can be offered.

It is supposed that chicken, beef, and fish are the most commonly served food as the main course that maintains heat when served with large groups and works well with sauces. Additionally, liquor is also offered with the dish at one installation where guest can like to have small snacks at the wedding.