Wedding Trousseau for the Bridegroom

During weddings, every minute detail of the bridal’s trousseau is taken care of, while no one cares to look after the trousseau of the bridegroom. However, times have changed there is lots of stuff for the groom-to-be to select from. And not only this, guys are even more concerned about their looks like the girls do and want to look their best.

The bridegroom keep themselves coordinated with the theme of the wedding party, which includes his attire, accessories and the colour schema chosen for the special day.

For a formal wedding, the grooms can wear a tuxedo with a waistcoat, a party wear shirt, a gorgeous tie and not to miss, the cufflinks. The shoes must be sparkling. In various communities, black is forbidden during the wedding, which can be replaced with tan brown, dark brown, or other nude colours.

Pearl and diamond cufflinks are pretty popular these days among the bridegrooms. Every man likes to have a lovely pair of cufflinks included in his wedding wardrobe. A number of designs are available in the market, which can also be seen on the internet to have a wide range of ideas.

A perfect combination of waistcoats and ties is required to complement with the wedding theme and also have an impressive personality. It is always advisable to wear the waistcoats of the perfect fit, neither too tight nor too loose. Colours ranging between black to blue and grey look very stylish.

For the ethnic and traditional marriage, the bridegroom can choose sherwani in shades other than off white or cream, as these colours are too common since years. Blue, grey, purple, silver or even black are very popular these days, however, these need to be matched with the dress of the bride as well as the decoration theme.

Author: Rashmi Karan

Make your Life Partner Feel Special this Dating Season

Life Partner

What’s the plan for today? Let’s go out somewhere. Look at the weather outside, you cannot let the time pass like this! These are few of the dialogues; we get to hear when the god of monsoon showers its blessing on us. It’s not just friends; the weather brings a great opportunity for the couples, to scribe some amazing memories together. It is a well known fact, that weather has a great effect on our mood. A beautiful weather has the power to turn your romantic senses on and enjoy the feeling of love, which is out of this world.

The weather these days perfectly calls for a date and therefore can also be called as the dating weather. It’s not necessary that dating has to be between boyfriend and girlfriend; it can be between a husband and wife also. There are a number of occasions, where you treat your wife and make her feel special, but doing something just like that, just because you feel like, makes the whole effort extra special.

Married life with time is said to become monotonous with the passage of time, therefore little changes in the daily routine are mandatory for you as a couple. This helps you add colors of happiness and surprises in your life. Summers with the orangish tone spread across the sky, cool breeze making the trees swing and droplets of rain humming with the air, frames the perfect weather which can give a romantic change to your married life. This is the weather, which surely makes you sing songs like ’yeh mausam ka jadoo hai mitwa…’, and you must take your wife on an amazing date in such captivating climatic conditions.

Indian marriages are always based on the principle of longevity and keeping the factors of romance and surprises alive in the bond is the only way to make it keep moving flawlessly.

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.

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.

India accepting the concept of love marriages

Earlier whenever we use to hear the word marriage, it simply meant arranged marriages. No one could ever think of love marriages. In fact love marriage was considered a crime in our grandparent’s generation. But now- a- days marriage corresponds to only word i.e. Love marriage. Most of the marriages in India today are love marriages. Parents today have become more open towards the concept of love marriage and are welcoming the our choices as their daughter in law or son in law. They are more concerned about our happiness rather than their pride and the so called name of their kin. Earlier this was the major excuse given by the family members, when the children use to ask about love marriage. But now, the times have changed and parents have modernized their approach towards love marriage.

In fact in the last few days, most of the wedding ceremonies I have attended were the legalization of bond of love between bride and groom. It is somehow very important in the Indian society to have permission of the parents for marriage and also their blessings are always believed to be very important for the whole marriage journey of the couple. It is actually very good news for the youngsters these days, as no more we need to take extreme steps of running away from our house or to marry against the choice of our parents. But still there are few families who even today like to stick with their orthodox believes related to marriage. They still believe that inter- caste marriage is the biggest of the evil practices that a human being can perform.

A lot more needs to be done to enlighten and modify the thought process of our oldies in respect to marriage and its practices. But, I think, if this much has been achieved, then more reformations can surely be seen in the coming future, with no parents coming in between the love marriage of their children. Thus, making their life a happy and a cherished one.

Presence of celebrities in marriages

A marriage in India corresponds to fun, enjoyment, masti, pop and gaiety. We are always in wait of our cousins to get married, so that we can have fun- filled time there. All the peppiness and friendliness experienced in the marriage of one our close relatives cannot actually match any of the functions attended in life. The chores and the naughty things at the relative’s weddings form great memories and are unforgettable. You generally carry and rejoice these memories for life long. Marriage in itself is a huge event and just imagine how special it would become if some celebrity joins the wedding ceremony.

Now- a- days presence of celebrities in the wedding ceremonies is a common practise, but for that you need to shed a huge amount from your pocket. The presence of celebrities in a wedding makes it more entertaining and more talked about. These celebrities vary according to the standards of the family members of the bride and the groom. It can vary from a laughter champion to a film actor. The contacts of the family members, with any of the people from the film industry also turn out to be productive at the time of marriage, with their glimpse or presence at the marriage function. Just one glance of the film stars, or just one photographs of their with the Indian marrying couple makes the moment more memorable and cherished for long.

It is actually one of those lavishes, which can only be bared by the brats of top nosh people of the society. It is kinds of that expenditure, which can only be spend by those who have that extra money to spend. This is also in a way to show the standards and the capabilities of the family by having an extravagant wedding affair. Also in India, the film stars are actually worshiped as god, so their presence in a wedding ceremony adds a lot the importance of marriage from just being an event. I, personally have never got the chance of witnessing such marriages, but surely would want to, atleast for once and add those moments in the memories of my life time.

Marriage Anniversary

Marriage anniversary is the day, when the bride and groom get to rejoice their day of marriage and the moments spent on the auspicious day. Though, I am not married, but I can surely say by seeing my parents that marriage is the most precious bond, one gets to tie in his life and that also for the lifetime. The bond which is made by God, but it is purely in the hands of the bride and the groom, that how well they sustain and maintain the elements of love and understanding in their relationship. Love, trust and understanding are the basic elements, which are needed to be instilled by both the bride and groom, in their married life; to make it more strong and long lived.

Marriage anniversary is a day, which is the proof of the strength of their married life, because if and only if the bride and the groom have been able to build the bond of trust between each other then only, their relation can be long lived. The more time in terms of years you tend to spend with your life partner, the better bond is said to be developed between both of you. Have you ever wondered why couples celebrate their 25th marriage anniversary, that too at such a large scale? This is because of the fact that they are not only proud of their long lived relation, but also they are so happy that they want to share this happiness with everyone around. Also, couples like these have set examples for the new generation, for whom, marriage is no longer a serious relation. They have been beaten by the bug of divorce, which gives them an easy way out, if they are not happy or satisfied with their married life. So it totally depends on you and your life partner as in how much understanding you share with your life partner, which would give fuel to your marriage journey and you will be able to celebrate more number of marriage anniversaries with your life partner!!

Peeping into the mind of the bride

No doubt, wedding day is the most amazing day in the lives of both bride and groom. But, for bride, it is the day filled with loads of emotions. I think a bride, goes through tons of emotions throughout the day, the major ones being the sadness and happiness. Tears seem to be like the best friends, they accompany not only bride, but even her family members all day during the marriage ceremonies. Even the rare moments, called the tears of happiness can also be witnessed during this occasion. Shades of the happy, sad, nervous, anxious, chilled, cool, surprise moments are experienced by the bride in a single day.

One of my friend, who got married recently, told me, that the day of the marriage seems like a long day, its not at all like a usual day, it seems like you live so many days and relations in that one day. Actually you get to know the meaning and sanctity of all relations on the day of your marriage. Actually I too believe that, the moments, when the maternal uncle, mother, father, grandparents, perform different rituals with the bride are speechless, they are times, which are priceless and a girl only, when in the form of a bride, gets to earn and practice those moments.

Each mantra or spiritual rhyme recited by the priest, takes the bride away from her parents and maternal family, leading her life towards new beginning with new family and new relatives. The most emotional and touching moment in the marriage, is when the girl leaves her maternal house and heads towards her new house with her husband. Though, the happiness and the majesticity of the feeling of a new life, full of happiness and joys is beyond description, but anyhow the feeling of leaving your family behind, and that this house will no longer be yours, certainly overpowers the happiness and makes you as a bride so feeble and full of tears. All these emotions are very personal and close to the heart of the bride, so the groom should always try and understand these emotions which a bride goes through at the time of their wedding, and should always support her, in starting a new life, filled with all the smiles and happy moments.

Marriages : Made in Heaven, Celebrated on Earth

Everyone believes in existence of a superpower above us and some name it as GOD. God has made a soul mate for everybody and brings them together through the eternal bond called marriage. These marriages are celebrated luxuriously and elaborately on earth, especially in Indian customs.

Marriages lead to physical, mental and spiritual unison of a couple. A successful marriage demands love, understanding, mutual respect, trust, commitment and togetherness of a couple. Marriage is considered to be a very sacred relation that unites two individuals from different walks of life. The relationship of a man and woman is incomparable to any other relation that they share throughout their lives.

Marriages are, definitely, made in heaven else how do you think that two people with different upbringing and different opinions are bonded together. What is the force that unites only those two people as a couple and not with some one else. Most of us believe that it is destiny that makes you meet all the people in your life and so is the same with life partners. Destiny is written by God or at least directed by that superpower that operates above all of us.

He decides in advance whom to bring together to be tied in the bond of lifelong commitment and unison. And then, this matrimony is arranged and solemnized with pomp and grandeur to let the world meet your better half. In fact, this is why, marriages in India are performed royally and people spend most of their savings on the wedding. Such grand weddings are dream-like where the bride and the groom are the only center of attraction for all the guests and relatives.

Every girl, even today after such modernization, dreams of getting married in a fairy tale kind of a way. And then, why not, this is the most memorable moment in a person’s life.

Changing your name after marriage

Marriage is the most important decision of our life. It is the decision, which not only changes the whole lifestyle of a human being, but it also leads to the change in identity of a bride. There are hardly any changes, which a guy goes through after marriage, other than the responsibilities, he takes of his family. But, if we talk about the bride, there are loads of changes and modifications that a bride has to adopt to lead a hassle-free life. The first and the foremost step towards change is shifting of her home, from her maternal house to the house of her in- laws, which is still ok, but the next thing, which any girl is most resistant to is the change of her name.

The change in the surname, is a common practise, which has been followed since ages in Indian marriages, but with the changing times and the girls becoming more independent and adopting modern ways to lead her life, she is not ready to accept the change in her name. According to the girls these days, how can they change their identity or the name, with which they have lived for so many years? And plus adding the whole name of your husband to yours becomes too lengthy and difficult to pronounce. In fact some girls these days, are too conscious that they just don’t change their name at all, not even their surname. Some brides add their in- law’s surname at the end of their original full name to mark their alliance with the new family, which I think is the best way.

These things are very debatable and have even lead to some family disputes, but at the end it depends on the mutual understanding of the bride and the groom. The mental set- up and the thinking of the groom and his family plays a very important role here, because if the family is very strict and blindly follows all the old rituals and customs, then the bride in any case would have to bear the full additional changes to her name, but if the groom or the family understand her emotions, then they would surely support in keeping her original name as it is with an add-on of their family name, forever. And if you are among few of the latter cases, then I must say, are the blessed one, because in such a modern society even, you would find very less families, who understands the attachment and the emotions that a bride has for her name and family.

Wedding card - the official announcement of the marriage

Marriages are definitely the most exciting moment in our life, its not only you who is happy for the marriage ceremony, but the family as a whole takes part in its preparations and rituals. The first and the most important step towards the announcement of the wedding alliance is the wedding card. The invitation card for the marriage is what, which declares the togetherness of the couple, with their names written on the card, next to each others. I hope you will agree with me on the fact that, a prospective groom or bride feels very different and relaxed after seeing their names written together on the wedding card. The announcement makes their relation official and from then the countdown for the wedding starts.

In most of the Indian weddings, as far as I have observed, the first wedding card is presented in front of the lord or the religious god of the family, to seek his blessings for a successful wedding life. Invitation of the wedding needs to be sent to all the family members and friends. With our couples adopting the modern methods, invitation cards, these days, are also sent via emails. In most of the cases, these wedding cards are the scanned copies of the original invitation, but many perspective brides and grooms are also seen designing cards for their marriage themselves.

Designing your wedding card, has its own charm, all the dreams and designs you have always thought of, you can implement that to your card. A lot of innovation and creativity is required for the same, and the card should be a result of the prior discussion with your partner. Disseminating self- made cards among your friends makes you feel proud and contended at the same time. In fact, some couples, even design the print format of the wedding card, which goes to all the relatives and friends. This not only saves the money of the designing part, but also the happiness and the jolliness felt inside is something which cannot be expressed in words.