Invitation cards are a mandatory part of all the Indian weddings. Selecting an Indian wedding card, irrespective of the religion, is no less than a serious matter of several days involving a lot of considerations amongst a lot of important people in the family; thus playing a pivotal role in the marriage. Some people use these as a gesture to continue the age old ritual of sending invitation prevalent during those times when there were no other means of invitation. Some people send them to showcase their taste and style through customized invitations. Some people send them just to avoid unnecessary complexities which might among their relatives having orthodox mindset!
Recent Trends in Indian Wedding Cards
Since the olden days, these Indian wedding cards have come a long way and have evolved a lot in style and elegance. Today they stand for style, personality and also depict the invitees class! Following are some of the latest trends seen in Indian wedding cards-
3D texture is used in Indian wedding cards as a highlighter these days. Such an element is seen as unique. This can be a plastic or metal religious symbol pasted on the front page, or a flower on top, or just laces and wires used as decorative.
Couple sketches or pictures are also quite prevalent in some Indian wedding cards. Ideally engagement pictures are used for the purpose. It also adds a personalized touch.
The wordings chosen in Indian wedding cards have also moved from formal to a casual tone. A special care is taken here so that they appear to be woven with extra love and affection and do not look arrogant or too blunt.
Judge the book by its cover is the new mantra! The couples to be have always taken care in designing and accessorising their marriage cards, but now they even pay attention to how the envelope looks like!
The retro look is in these days. From offbeat silvers and pastel shades, the Indian wedding cards are again going back to older richer designs and floral vine decorations. Vintage fonts and other classy designs are also in. they even include quotes and sayings from ancient scriptures.
Wedding theme also plays an important role in designing the invite. If the theme is royal wedding, the wedding card might be in a Farman or scroll pattern.
The use of handmade paper is also on a rise as seen in the selection of Indian wedding cards. These cards bring on an elegant texture, also being environment friendly.
A good advice for making a wedding romantic and truly special is to make the ceremony debt-free and low-key as possible. Couples should save their money and not pay much attention to wedding advices features in magazines. Love is basically between the couple that will be getting married so its best they focus on each other.
A morning wedding followed by a luncheon reception is ideal, as it will give the couple enough time for their honeymoon, starting a new life and have enough energy to perform immediate post-wedding activities. Over 200 guests waiting at an expensive sit-down dinner will not add anything special to the romance.
A morning wedding will also help the couple save money and their eager energy and more than half a day to savor the moment of finally getting hitched.
Etiquette in a morning wedding
A morning wedding can be formal, semi-formal or informal. The bride can be outfitted with a short wedding dress or suit. In a formal morning wedding, the bride’s gown should touch the floor and veil fingertip or slightly below the middle knuckle of the mid finger. A fingertip veil becomes more attractive when it is used with an elbow length blusher. For a semi-formal morning wedding, the gloves and blusher veils are optional.
The groom’s attire is typically composed of a business, sportcoat or morning suit in accordance to the level of formality. In a semi-formal morning wedding, proper etiquette dictates that the groom can sport a dark stroller or suit without black or gray tails. In a formal wedding, a morning suit, which is composed of gray pinstripe trousers, ascot, gray vest and a cutaway coat, is suffice. The groom also has the option to wear a tuxedo if he wants to.
The groom and bride’s attire should complement each other. If the bride is wearing a casual short wedding dress, then the groom should wear a business suit or sportcoat instead of a tuxedo.
Regardless whether the wedding is during the morning or late in the evening, there is a certain etiquette that should be followed in the ceremony.
– Bridesmaids and groomsmen should assist in the ceremonies if the morning wedding is not held strictly in private.
– The bridesmaids should not have dresses that is not too eye-catching but will match the wedding dress. In addition, they should be younger than the bride. The dresses can contain more ornaments and should consist of light, graceful fabric. Flowers should serve as the main decoration.
– The wedding dress should be simple but elegant and can be decorated with few ornaments or jewels that come from the parents or the bridegroom. The dress needs to have an attractive veil and garland.
– The bride needs to be assisted by her bridesmaids in wearing the wedding dress, receiving visitors and locate themselves at her left side. The first bridesmaid for easy access should keep the bouquet and gloves.
– The clergyman should be received by the groomsmen and led to the couple that will be married. They will also serve as assistants for the bridegroom, during the occasion.
– Guests should wear something light and fresh. A breezy dress or a light-colored suit would be appropriate. Those who are fond of hats are in luck in a morning wedding, as wearing one will complement the ease and energy of the ceremonies. Dark suits and dresses should be avoided.
The Wedding Breakfast
If the bride appears during breakfast proper etiquette dictates that she sits beside her husband at the center table, while the father and mother occupy the top to bottom and greets the guests coming in. Once the cake has been cut and every one has eaten, which include offering a toast to the new couple and giving acknowledgements, the bride and groom meet with their friends and eventually exit from the ceremony.
The newly-married couple can start in their wedding journey at around two or three o’clock, while the rest of the guests and family member depart from the reception area shortly after.
The symbol of the wedding veil has been permanently tied to a tradition that the bride and groom not see each other the day of the wedding. The tradition holds that it is bad luck. The symbol of the bride’s veil is actually part of the old traditions when marriages were prearranged, often before they were even born. The bride would be kept away from the groom for her entire life. On the day they were to be married, she would wear a veil so that her face is not revealed until after they have been legally declared as husband and wife. This is so the groom will not see the bride and possibly change his mind. While this custom was terribly degrading for the bride, it was not customary to tell women how beautiful they are and not buildup their esteem. It was just another form of repression in those cultures.
There is another culture in Eastern Europe that is steeped in the people’s superstitions. The people of old were terribly frightened of demons and evil spirits. It is said that these evil spirits would be jealous of a newly married couples attempt at happiness through marriage. Spirits cannot do what the living do and it makes them extremely angry. The bride would be veiled from the moment she arose on the day of her wedding. The veils back then were huge, billowy, and much thicker than today’s sheer fabrics. She would eat, dress, and do everything disguised under her veil so that evil spirits could not recognize her and torment her before she could be married. The veil was only lifted after they were married and therefore protected by her husband and by God.
The wedding veil was also said to be the funeral shroud. For this reason, a woman would make the veil before she was married. It was long enough to wrap her body in on the day of her death. This would prevent the evil spirits from recognizing her as she crossed from this world to the next. Women lived in great fear in those days and while this sounds morbid, a woman’s veil turned shroud was of great comfort to her. When I girl was old enough to sew, she would begin making her veil with the help of her mother or grandmother. By the time she was married, it would be long enough to serve both purposes.
Another symbol and tradition was that the wedding veil was supplied by the husband. It is what he used to capture is bride. The groom would pick the woman he wanted and sneak up on her, throwing the veil over her and carrying her away. She wore it until after she was married so that no one would recognize and attempt to rescue her.
The wedding veil and the wedding kiss are also tied together in symbolism. The wedding veil is pushed back after they are pronounced man and wife but in some places, this did not conclude the service. The bride and the groom had to then consent to a kiss before it was legal. Since the bride could not see her husband very well and in some cases, the husband never saw the bride until he lifted the veil, it was a moment of extreme anxiety as to whether they would both consent to the kiss. It was very often the happiest or saddest moment of the entire affair. The wedding gifts were often money in those days and the groom would be counting on the monetary gain. He would also be out any wedding accessories he would have had to purchase up to this point. That means that it was a more crucial moment for the groom than for anyone else.
They are known as bridal consultants and wedding consultants. They are popularly referred to as a wedding planner. Their services range from wedding preparation up to the wedding day. They make sure that every aspect of your wedding details is fixed and any problems encountered are ironed out. They try not to let you get stressed out on what is perhaps the most memorable day of your life.
There used to be a time when only the rich and famous could afford the services of wedding planners. Today, however, almost every wedding that happens every second in all parts of the world will have a wedding planner involved one way or the other. Weddings are a big part of the couple’s lives so the wedding planner has to make sure that everything is in place. They are professionals in their own fields, but when it comes to wedding details, they are experts.
There are so many things that you will have to think about on your wedding day. Planning usually has to start a year before, even longer. This allows you with more time to schedule everything. What makes this daunting is that you will have to shuttle here and there just to get to appointments, fittings, and the like. This is nothing compared to what you will have to do on the day itself, check the caterers, the food, the decorations, see if the wedding entourage is already in church and more. Relieve yourself of all these and leave them in the hands of a wedding planner.
The most professional and successful wedding planners are sometimes the most expensive. They are able to fulfill every aspect of a client’s wish, and this is mostly the bride’s wish. From the possible to the impossible requests, a good wedding planner will do his or her best to meet this.
It is a common practice that every wedding will have its own budget. This should not deter you from engaging the services of a wedding planner. They are flexible enough to give in to the smallest requests. Cutting costs is not a reason for cutting down on hiring a wedding planner. As the bride, you will need all the help you can get. You do not have to worry about every detail of your wedding with a planner around. This task is quite impossible so it is best to just delegate it to some who knows how everything works. You have to enjoy your wedding, especially the wedding day itself.
A wedding planner’s strength lies in what he or she knows. His contacts make him popular that is the reason why he must do his best in every wedding he heads. His duties revolve around fixing the budget as provided by the couple, selection of staff, assisting in documentation and travel requirements in the case of destination weddings.
Weddings are expected to have back up plans just in case any problem should happen. A wedding planner cannot afford to have any mistake. That is the reason why he was hired in the first place.
Bride’s Dowry, part of the Chinese Wedding customs and rituals from the 3-Letters and 6 Etiquette’s. This part actually consists of the most things or accessories for the bride to prepare or to buy. The Dowry is actually the gifts from the bride’s parents for her to get married and these are the things that she will bring to her new home once she got married and moved in with her husband.
Back in ancient China, no doubts that a lot of Chinese Wedding’s bridal accessories have been missing compare to what we have today. That is the reason why we sometimes called it contemporary Chinese Wedding. It has been simplified. Totally changed but the root is still there.
The most important Bride’s Dowry usually consists of the followings. The Dragon & Phoenix or the Mandarin Ducks Bed Sheet. The color will be in Red cause the color itself represents auspicious for the Chinese. A lot of people still think that this item, the bed-sheet should be bought by the Groom instead. The truth is the other way round. This is the very first item of the Dowries. The parent will look for this first before any other thing else. It is belief that this bed sheet will bring them the luck and good omen of getting a child or a boy as soon as possible.
The second item will be the Potty Set. It consists of a potty, spittoon, round tray, basin and a baby basin. Nowadays, most of the Chinese couples that I found in Malaysia are trying to opt this out. This is actually very wrong. They dont even know what they are missing out. As I totally understand that most of them dont want children as soon as they get married. They are actually afraid the having children will tie them up. This set is actually meant for them to have children. In Chinese we call it
Red Wooden Clog – a pair for each of the couple wear inside their new home after they got married and also meant for the couple to be successful after they got married. It usually will be placed on top of the war drop and the higher it goes, the more successful the couple will be in the future.
Pair of charcoals actually meant for two things. The first one is meant for the bride to bring luck and prosperity to her husband. The second one is for the bride to use. Back in the old days, the charcoal will be lit and placed on the ground right in the middle of the grooms house front door for the bride to enter the door by crossing over it. This is to spell off evil spirit from entering the house.
Red or wedding umbrella- for the bride’s elderly usually the father will have to use it when sending the bride out of the house when the groom comes fetching her on the wedding day. The reason is her father is blessing them to have lots of children.
A pair of paper fans will also be needed on the big day. One will be used during the wedding day before the groom come to fetch her. Once she is inside the car, then she will have to throw the one she is using and change to the other one and continue to hold it until they reach the grooms house. The first one will be thrown out to leave part of the good luck and prosperity back to the brides home instead of bringing all over to the other side.
Chinese Wedding Tea Set is also a must. A new set is needed for the bride to bring it over the new home for her to serve tea grooms elderly during the tea ceremony. This is actually one of the major events in Chinese Wedding.
Lastly it will be the 8-boys cushion for the needles. For the Chinese, this is meant for more boys. This is a very good omen for them.
The above are only partly of whatever that has to be done. Betrothal Gifts is another custom that Chinese are still practicing until today.