India is the second most populous nation in the world, and the seventh largest, which brings to the fore an assortment of Indian wedding decor. It is home to a number of varied cultures, beliefs, and traditions; and people in India are generally bound by values that have guided their forefathers through the ages. When it comes to Indian weddings, one has to first establish which custom the wedding is to follow.
People from different parts of India conduct the wedding ceremonies in different ways, and the decor also varies from region to region. However, Indian wedding decor does generally involve a fair amount of floral decorations. Since the average Indian wedding is spread across a number of days, the quantity of flowers that are used in the various ceremonies can get to be quite a lot. While Indian wedding decoration mainly depended on the local flower supply in the past, people now have fairly easy access to a wide variety to exotic flowers.
When it comes to an Indian wedding, the bride is often the center of attraction. A lot of effort and time is spent in making sure that she looks her best on the d-day and the preparations include going through various Indian wedding hairstyles, skin treatments, special wedding make up packages, etc. A lot of importance is also laid on what the bride is to wear through the various ceremonies, especially the wedding. Jewelry is made specially to go with the dresses, and the make-up and the hair are also in accordance with what’s being worn.
The typical ceremonies that one can expect to come across in an Indian wedding would include the ‘sangeet’, the ‘mehndi’, the ‘milni’, and the ‘haldi’. The ‘milni’ is when the bride and the bridegroom meet and exchange rings; the ‘mehndi’ is when henna is applied to the bride; the ‘haldi’ is when turmeric is applied to the bridegroom; and the ‘sangeet’ is when the bride’s family celebrates the coming of the union with music and dance.
The actual wedding ceremony is also broken up into parts. The first is the coming of the ‘baraat’, wherein the groom and his entourage reaches the venue of the wedding. This is followed by the ‘lagan’ wherein a priest binds the bride and the bridegroom in holy matrimony. The bride leaving the venue of the wedding with the bridegroom is referred to as the ‘bidaai’.
All the different stages of an Indian wedding lay particular importance on aspects such as the food and the decor, and almost every region in India follows this basic dictum when it comes to Indian wedding decoration.