Friday, July 31, 2009

Wedding Customs: A Day Before The Wedding

Today I wish to share with you a punjabi pre wedding ritual....one that i personally like very much : the tying of the kalira on the bride's hands after the chooda.The morning before the actual wedding ceremony, the bride's maternal uncle and aunt come to the bride's house loaded with gifts for the family and the bride:)

It is now that the bride is made to wear the traditional chooda (a set of 21 white and red bangles, an important symbol for a newly wed punjabi bride) by her maternal uncle and aunt. the bride is not supposed to look at the chooda before or during the process is on. All family members touch the chooda to bless the bride and sing traditional songs. in olden times the chooda used to be made out of ivory but now it is made in plastic.

After the chooda has been worn, the bride's family ties the kaliras on each hand to a bangle.
Kaliras are traditionally umbrella shaped ornaments made in thin gold or silver sheets. Some relatives even tie small silver boxes, toe rings etc onto the kaliras. These ornaments signify blessings and good wishes. From now on the bride has to wear these till the end of the wedding ceremonies. Some jokingly say that the kaliras are tied so that the bride may rest before the wedding day as working with the kaliras on becomes very difficult especially if you have a big extended family (which is the case for me;).

The bride then shakes the kaliras on the heads of the unmarried girls of the family and the popular saying is that...the lucky one on whom a part of the kalira falls will be the one getting married next!! i like the traditional golden kaliras the best...they look so pretty...and this photograph above has always been one of my favourite frames in any wedding album. In India girls are often called Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth and prosperity)..and so when the lakshmi of the house leaves to go and be with her husband, she ensures that her maternal house remains prosperous by throwing rice puffs which are symbolic of food and wealth :)

i love this custom...don't you think its sweet?
all pics from rob and lauren photography, maharani weddings and theweddingbee

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Honeymoon Planning

A few articles I came across via www.austinweddingblog.com on honeymoon planning and I Thought I'd share them here with you!
here goes:
10 Things Every Honeymooner Needs to Know
Top 5 Cheap Honeymoon Ideas
8 Money saving Tips for Your Honeymoon

Thursday, July 23, 2009

party decoration ideas

i have lost the link to this decorative paper mobile above...can anyone pls help me with the link?
hey people..i found the link to her website and shop..and this link is for her lovely blog.

aren't these paper party poms just gorgeous! these are handcrafted creations of an artsy mother of two who was born on the 25th of june:)...buy the partypoms here.
i think these papercrafted pieces are gorgeous for a beautiful fun filled and semi casual wedding event...what say you?

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wedding Bands





Just awesome aren't they!
Images via Google

Tents and Mandaps

www.theweddingtravelers.com
Raj Tents via Maharani Weddings(link on the right bar)
Dreamers Events
Maharani Weddings
www.maharaniweddings.typepad.com
www.zweddingblog.blogspot.com
beautiful all white tent Raj Tents
via American Gypsy
Shamiyanas and Mandap tents form an integral part of the indian wedding..i've tried to put a few styles together for you to feast your eyes on...enjoy!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Nyrmla's Wedding

nyrmla
brother puppoo

Bindhu

pappa ji and ma ji below

nyrmla's kalire

the sikh wedding
What a wonderfully pictoral way of documenting and story telling. i think it is a wonderful idea for a wedding album...what say you?

Must check out the link for the full story!

:)

Friday, July 17, 2009

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Amrapali

Beautiful jewellery by Amrapali!

Romance


ROMANCE by Chris Craymer.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Monsoon Wedding






my all time fav real indian wedding movie...:) with awesome soundtrack and brilliant performances...MONSOON WEDDING by Mira Nair!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Anuradha Wakil

love these designs by anuradha wakil...so traditional and non fussy!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

New Ritu Kumar "Label"-SS'09



nice for the summer...i wish i had better quality scans!!
:)
ps: better pics here:)