The first gift…

Marriage is the sweetest gift, given by the god to two human beings for their life time. Every human being, whether it’s you or me, everyone is very excited about each and every thing related to marriage. It’s a function, which involves a number of people, whose happiness and joyous moments are related to the closeness in the relation, they share with the bride or the groom. There are lot of things, combining which forms the reasons due to which the bride and the groom can live a cherished and a smooth married life. The very first meeting of the bride and the groom, just after their marriage gets fixed is a very precious one. There are a number of questions, which both of them have in their minds which are directly or indirectly related to expectations.

The biggest curiosity, which keeps the mind of the bride and the groom busy, is the first gift; they would get from their fiancée. There is a lot of excitement and pleasure attached to the gift, the expectations and their fulfilment, which both of them uses to greet each other. Whether it is the bride or the groom, both goes through a lot of mind boggling sessions, which makes them, decide what to choose and what not as the gift. The gift makes them form the first impression on their fiancée, which he or she carries through out the life. Therefore, the selection of the gift has to be the best and needs to match the personality of the bride or the groom.

The gift should also be the mirror image of the feelings, which the person has towards his fiancée, which helps in forming the base of their relation. so, whatever you choose as the first gift, needs to be very special and unique, and should in every way suit the personality of your would- be life partner.

Nervousness before the first meeting for matchmaking

As we grow up, we get to be more mature, leaving behind all the childishness and bubbliness in our behaviour. It’s because, with time, we are required to take decisions, which are often for life time, and have the power to make or ruin our whole life. One such decision is choosing the right life partner for marriage. Marriages in India are always considered as the life time bond, which binds the bride and groom with each other for the rest of their lives. In case of love marriage, you know the highs and lows of the person and it’s a well sought and tested decision. But, in case of arranged marriages, the time from when the talks about the marriage start, the tensions and a ticklish feeling start arousing around us. The nervousness before meeting the prospective bride or groom is unexplainable and plus the sweet and sour flavours are added by the family members and the relatives.

This suddenly came to my mind, because one of my friends is going through this stage and I can feel what he is going through all these days. Every moment you have this thing in mind, what would you talk to her, how would she react, will she like me, what would happen, and a series of questions keeps on banging your head every moment. It’s something, which is beyond explanation and plus when you know, once said yes, cannot be brought back. This is really inexplicable and different, something which you would never have experienced before.

The only thing, which I think and would suggest to all my friends going through this stage, is be positive and have an optimistic approach in whatever you do. I know nothing much can be drawn out of those ten minutes discussion, but try and take the best use of those few minutes and transform them to the best minutes of your life. Because, whether you say yes or no, it has to be for your good. So be alert and cautious at every step. ‘Just be yourself’, is the mantra and remember by following this, you can win over any situation.

Love is in the air!

Mere sapno ki rani kab ayegi tu ……!!Exactly this is the song, which every bachelor can be seen singing today. Love is in the air and so are the marriages. Marriage is the ultimate stamp, which gives certification to the love and the bond shared between couples. It has become so much important these days, to know a person before marrying him. We just cannot risk our entire lives, with a person, whom we do not even know. Understanding and compatibility being the prime reasons and many more has given rise to the sudden increase in the number of love marriages happening in the country these days.

But to love, you need to find some one, who is compatible, understanding, caring, loving, charming and much more. And same are the traits required to marry some one and to be able to spend your entire life with the same person. Its not that we will search and we will find, whom we can love or not, it’s something, which just happens. Its very well known and rightly said, love is blind; we tend to see only the positives, when we start liking someone. But a number of factors are required to be kept in mind, because he/ she is going to be your future husband or wife. You are not looking at his negatives now, but don’t let the situation turn so bad that after marriage, you get to see only negatives in him. Don’t let your self fall into the pit; remember that you are choosing a person for your whole life.

I known love relations cannot be formed in the basis of calculations, but you really need to be cautious, in choosing your life partner. Because, as in earlier days, you used to evaluate a person in just five minutes before marriage, same is the case here, with the big difference, that the time provided is unlimited. So give all the time available in the world and then make your marriage as the best decision of your life.

Till then enjoy the rainy season with your loved ones!

Finding the right person for marriage

Marriage is a phrase, which all of us gets introduces to in our life time. The moment, we turn 23- 24 years, our parents starts pondering our lives, with the marriage proposals. Everywhere we go, our relatives, uncles, aunties, keep pinching us with the choices for marriage and different talks about marriage. Obviously one gets irritated out of it. But at the end, we have to get married, right? Well if you have already chosen your life partner, I mean you are going for the love marriage, then it’s not that tough. But the main difficulty comes in the arrange marriages, where you have parental pressure, plus time constraint, which makes you go hay way. The decision of marriage is the one, on which our whole life is dependent. Therefore, it is very important, that a proper research is done before choosing the person for marriage.

You obviously don’t have enough time, because giving verdict to the bride or groom’s party is also important, in the given time period. But, taking the right decision in the time available is the toughest thing to work on. In that small time only, you need to make the biggest decision of your life. A lot of research and enquiry should be made, before the bond of marriage gets finalised. Also, you should try and spend some quality time with the prospective bride or groom. Knowing the compatibility ratio and character traits of the person is very important. Though, the same cannot be achieved in such a small period, but at least you should have that analysing power, to judge the person’s personality according to his attitude and behaviour in the respective time.

Marriage is actually the biggest decision of life, so please don’t take it lamely and go through a proper research before giving your final verdict!

Journey of Indian Marriages

Indian marriages have traversed a long way from the days when couples hardly met each other before the wedding to the times of today when they make an informed, well though out decision on marriage after several meetings. Marriages used to last for a lifetime earlier but now they break up at any instant due to trivial issues.

Dr. Vijay Nagaswami in his recent book titled ‘The Fifty-50 Marriage: Return to Intimacy’ talks about issues revolving around marriage and their solutions. The idea of marriage has changed tremendously over generations- from being a spiritualistic institution to a pragmatic one. This is commendable as it moves on from the level of being a ritualistic exercise to the one where the couple is involved and ‘owns’ it. This sacred relationship has always been on a backburner until few decades ago where husbands and wives viewed the relation as a role play. It is much more than role playing in modern times with couples getting engaged as life partners and human beings.

The kind of love in the course of relation may change but the magic never dies down, be it an arranged or love marriage. Dr. Nagaswami says that romantic love in the initial years of a marriage gets replaced by either intimate love or nurturing love. As couples are much more demanding-both men and women- they make efforts to accentuate the quality of their lives and relations. It has become a novel idea for them since what they had seen in their parents’ marriage as a kid has undergone a complete transformation. The roles of women as home makers and men as bread winners do not exist anymore at least in urban India.

A married couple today is like partnering of two individuals embarking on the journey called life!

Spectacular Indian Weddings are back

With the long awaited goodbye to recession, the pomp and grandeur in Indian weddings are back. People are again splurging on weddings like always and celebrating the once-in-a-lifetime event with extravagance. Apparently, the adieu to economic slowdown is welcomed not only in terms of money but also celebrations.

The wedding splendor seemed lost for 2 years when fiscal meltdown hit the country. The expenses were cut down keeping celebrations modest without much show and revelry. The budgets shriveled considerably with switch to non designer dresses, lesser food items on menu, lower expenditure on pre-wedding ceremonies, controlled buying of jewelry, inviting limited number of guests, selecting the reasonably priced venues or destinations and so on and so forth. But, the spectacular wedding celebrations are back in India with the final exit of recession.

Even with soaring gold prices and inflating economy, Indian couples are willing to spend lakhs and crores of money on their weddings. The magnificent display involves gargantuan spending on wedding costumes, venue, jewelry and cuisines. The guest list has become longer and the squandering on pre wedding ceremonies has gone up. The trend of destination weddings has almost become a norm among the wealthy families. The dream weddings with fabulous backdrop-a beach resort or breathtaking hilltop and top vendors-from chef to make up artists are all coming true.

The latest wedding trends in India after theme weddings is destination weddings. They need whole lot of money as you need to transport people (friends & relatives), material (as it may or may not be available at the venue), labor (who will help make the arrangements) and other such things. Some of the preferred wedding destinations include exotic places like Mauritius, Honolulu, Florence or the Caribbean beaches, French vineyards, Spanish castles or aboard a cruise-liner.

Annual Wedding Fair in September

Weddings in India are a much celebrated event that unites two individuals into a couple amidst the sacred chants and best wishes of friends and relatives. Being a grand occasion, everything- from wedding costumes to make-up to gifts and sweets distribution- is given detailed attention. Hundreds of guests including both distant and close relatives from far flung areas are invited to the mega feast.

As soon as the term ‘marriage’ is mentioned, the image of a gorgeous bride decked in a stunning costume appears in our minds. The bridal costumes are of paramount importance when making preparations for a wedding as they give that ultimate princess look to the bride. The couples today are ready to spend a fortune to carve a memorable event that they can remember for a lifetime. The market for all bridal costumes and accessories has flourished greatly as the grandeur of the event multiplied.

Bridal Asia is celebrating its 12th edition by organizing an annual wedding fair, showcasing everything related to weddings under one roof. The three day wedding extravaganza begins on September 11 at Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi with designers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh participating in the exhibition. It will put on display everything from designer lehengas to breathtaking jewellery, from wedding planners to honeymoon packages and from lingerie to accessories. Things in vogue and those that can appeal the people are to be presented by designers like Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Rina Dhaka, Falguni & Shane Peacock, Jaya Rathore among others. The hottest trends of the season will also be unveiled by jewellery designers such as Dolly Oberoi, Notandas, Preeti Shah, etc. and accessory designers like Malaga and Bea.

This annual fashion wedding exhibition by Bridal Asia is a trendsetter and among the largest in India with an exclusive range of wedding attires.