A guide to wedding tips, trends and experiences. Marriage event reviews, Wedding venue reviews and ideas, honeymoon destination tips, photography, wedding decor and much more.

Lots of weddings to attend this year? Then this one is for you… Like other major events, weddings too come with dos and don’ts where attire is concerned. Although, there are no hard and fast rules concerning clothes for guests at an Indian wedding, it’s best to follow certain basic guidelines so you don’t stand out for all the wrong reasons, or worse offend someone. Let’s take a look into some of the ways you can avoid becoming a fashion outcast at a wedding:

Check for what is specified – Do check if the wedding invitation specifies a dress code. Especially nowadays with themed events, there may be some specific requests like Western formal wear at a cocktail or reception, or specific costumes.

When in doubt go with favourites – The norm at Indian weddings is sarees, salwar kameezes or lehengas. Pick one of these and you can’t really go wrong. Sarees always look gorgeous, but if you aren’t comfortable in one a pretty embellished salwar kameez or lehenga choli are good options.

Generally, more traditional or conservative Indian wedding attire is appropriate for the actual wedding ceremony and you can save your more playful or avant garde choices for other functions like the wedding reception or the cocktail party.

Consider Indo-Western

(Designer:Manish Malhotra)

Less formal events also give you room to experiment with Indo-Western fusion wear like a lehenga with a corset top or slim pants with a kurti / tunic and embellished scarf. Keeping a slight Indian touch though not required, lends a nice wedding-y vibe.

Go for Colour – One of the best parts about weddings in India is that women bust out the brightest, funnest colours from their wardrobes and top it off with beautiful jewelry. Indian weddings are definitely a time and place to let your inner peacock out. There is one thing you need to keep in mind, certain colours like black or white are considered inauspicious for weddings in some communities. So if you aren’t sure simply avoid them.

Don’t compete with the bride – This is definitely the bride’s day, so avoid stealing the fashion spotlight, even accidently! That is a major boo-boo at any wedding, anywhere in the world. Stay clear from over the top dressy outfits in the bridal colours, for e.g. a heavy and embellished red and gold lehenga or a white dress at a church wedding. Also if you aren’t sure how formal the crowd is going to be, try to take the mid path.

Lastly, in India, especially when there are going to be a lot of elders around, slightly conservative wedding wear is always better!

Hope these tips help! Stay tuned for more…

These among other floral arrangements were put together for a fashion catalogue. We promise to share more images soon!

It’s actually a little silly how excited I am to be posting here today; Now before I begin I want to declare my undying love for India! How filmy I know, but on a serious note I really can’t wait to visit Delhi :-)

So here is my guest post at the awesome wedding planners Marry Me\’s wedding blog.

I thought I would tell you about what are the latest trends for British Indian weddings, and how you can add some British glamour to your wedding.

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I\’m sure both weddings and the internet/social media have been such an important part of most of our lives these days, this topic is something that most of us can relate to. Is it appropriate etiquette to leverage social media at a wedding? Will my guests be comfortable with such an idea? To do or not to do? Here is a short piece on the possible use of Social media at Indian weddings.

(Image Source:beyondld.com)

Even before planning a wedding, we meet many couples that are engaged and many of the grooms have told us how they go online to read proposal stories and to even watch video\’s on how to pop the question! That\’s a start for sure :-) Check out this video – one of the best proposals ever!

If you have decided to plan the wedding on your own or with a wedding planner, the first thing I\’d tell you to do is decide what your Indian wedding is going to look like. Build a look book or an inspiration board from all the reference material available online. Do not keep changing the look and feel of your functions or else you will land up with a complete disaster. Pick the theme and then stick with it!

The first thing most couples do is start looking for their perfect wedding venues. Social media today allows us to go online read reviews of various wedding reception venues in India, tweet pictures of the venue and even ask friends for their opinion of the wedding venue of your choice. Imagine back in the day when things might have been more traditional, and most couples probably didn\’t see the venue till it was really close to the wedding date. Seating and layout at wedding receptions can be planned with software available online and you can share this with your best friend in another country right away for her opinion!

Next, the couple would begin putting together the wedding guest list. I\’m sure if someone\’s not a friend on your Facebook list the likelihood of inviting him or her to the wedding will be quite low. This won\’t be the same case for parents, as all are not Facebook users! Once the guest list is saved and the news of the wedding is out, you can change your profile settings, relationship status and even tag your fiancé in pictures for your family and friends to see the person that you are getting married to. You can also do a pre-wedding photo shoot and break the news of the engagement online. You can also send out a save the date to your friends on Facebook or create a group for the pre-wedding parties like the bachelors / bachelorette? And let them directly communicate with each other through a group. So much easier isn’t it?

You can create a wedding website or even a blog with all the information about the wedding where guests can login, see pre-pictures, watch videos of the couple and even see all the function details of your Indian wedding.

You can do this much before the wedding and let your guests even be a part of the planning. I\’m sure with so many weddings taking place in every family,they will surely be able to add some value to your planning process. If your guests are from all over the country or overseas, a wedding website will really help them understand details of an Indian wedding, like what to wear, the meaning of some of the wedding rituals and customs as well as the fun events like the mehendi & the sangeet. Many pictures / videos get taken by guests at weddings and a wedding website can have a feature for them to go back after the wedding and post the wedding pictures and videos back on your wedding website for all your guests to view.

(Image Source:Martin Whitton)

Very often it becomes difficult for guests to share those pictures back with the couple and a website will make that process so much easier. In addition, a wedding website will help guests figure out air & local travel, touristy stuff and other important information about the country of the wedding. Managing RSVP\’s on the website should not be too difficult or else depending on the number of guests that are on Facebook you can create an event for RSVP purposes.  Integrating Google maps for local directions will also be helpful.

You can also link from your wedding website to a wedding gift registry online so that you do not receive the same boxed gifts from more than one person.

Today wedding gift registries have gotten really creative where you can pick not only gifts, but even cash is an option or you could ask your guests to contribute towards a wedding fund like maybe a honeymoon fund, a spa day or even pick multiple charities that they can make a donation to as your wedding gift.

So finally you have reached the wedding day and hopefully you have a wedding planner that\’s in control of everything. If not it won\’t hurt to use applications available for I-phones, I-pad\’s, blackberry playbook that will help you maintain a To Do list irrespective of who\’s actually been delegated the task. Such applications will help you make sure that someone is doing it and you can easily keep a track of it.

At your wedding reception, you can have everyone who is on twitter wish you online and create a custom hash tag # for your wedding. Considering the number of guests that attend Indian weddings I am sure you might even set a trend on Twitter :-) Another great idea – put up a projector and stream all the tweets live! Imagine pictures, wishes and more streaming live at your wedding which can be viewed by all the non social media peeps!

Many couples also opt for live video streaming from the wedding for guests that could not make it for the wedding. You can take this a step further and with a decent internet connection you can Skype and have guests from all over the world actually video conferencing live that can be projected and can wish the couple or even raise a toast!

Once the wedding is over and its time to go on the much needed honeymoon break, you can go online and read up about destinations, do surveys as a couple and figure out the kind of honeymoon destination that will work for you, and even build reference guides of the place that you plan to visit for your honeymoon. The best deals are available online with reviews, freebies and more.

Also, don’t forget, during the wedding planning process you can choose to ask professionals questions about areas you may need some professional help with. You can use Yahoo answers or Twitter and reach out to the top wedding professionals and am sure they will be able to help you if you end up getting stuck while planning your wedding. Hope this article helps you with great tips to plan your Indian wedding with the help of social media options that are available.

Do let us know how you used the internet and social media while planning your Indian wedding….

(Image Source:uschiandkay.com)

Ever thought of serving appetizers differently at weddings instead of the tradition wedding menu\’s?? The trend is catching up and couples are now laying more stress on presentation and service of food & beverage  at Indian weddings. Here are some tips on how to serve cocktail snacks with a twist at your celebration!!

Creative garnishing and unique presentation of bite sized snacks will interest guests. Using uniquely shaped platters is another interesting concept. Also instead of just restricting to platters you can opt for edible spoons or plates (made out of fruit, vegetables etc) served on artistic acrylic platters instead of ceramic or silver platters. You could do welcome shooters instead of welcome drinks. These can be served in test tubes instead of glasses. In case you are serving rolls you could make them in smaller sizes and wrap them individually. Also you could serve fries in small brown paper cones with the design or initials of the couple on it. If you are serving barbequed food like tikkas the service personnel can carry small barbeques on salvers and serve the tikkas on individual bamboo skewers.  Another great idea is to serve drinks from steel stand carriers instead of serving them on salvers.

Remember to keep the portions small so that guests can try more options yet leave space for the main feast. Depending on your theme you can add other elements. Like for an Indian theme function you could serve tea in glasses which the street side dhabas use but you could use painted glasses instead of plain transparent ones and you could carry them in the same stand which the street vendor uses. The tea can be served directly from an artistically painted kettle. We also suggest the use of personalized cocktail napkins with the names of the couple, the monogram and the wedding date.

Marry Me\’s Food & Beverage team help you plan a wedding menu, help work with the presentation of the food & beverage & supervise the service to ensure all your guests are well taken care of on your Big day!

Love this piece from L\’Officiel India May-June 2011 on the designs some of India\’s leading designers would create for Kate Middleton\’s big day. Just had to share it with you! We would love to know which is your favorite….

So I recently had the pleasure of visiting Thailand and experiencing some of the most fabulous hotels there! More details on my trip and the properties visited are here.

Thailand is definitely very popular as a wedding destination for  due to a number of reasons. Here are some reasons why I believe Thailand is the perfect destination for your Indian wedding!

Flights: A short flight out of India and you are in the ‘Land of Smiles’. Not just that, flight costs are extremely well priced – Check out Air Asia for some great fares!

Wedding Venues: Hotels in beach destinations like Phuket and Hua Hin have spectacular beachfront, garden and poolside venues that make for a surreal setting as well as fantastic photographs.

Hotels in Bangkok on the other hand, each have their own unique personality – Large ballrooms, each one better than the other!

Wedding Décor: The flowers are available in Thailand are amazing!

Beautiful blooms as well as exquisite designs create beautiful Mandaps, garlands and arrangements all part of the big fat Indian wedding!

Entertainment options are numerous – Thai or Indian performers, and even international performers are readily available in Thailand itself.

Food & Beverages: Thailand already has a large Indian population so most hotels there have Indian chefs and have the most delectable Indian food on their wedding menus.

They are well equipped to handle Indian catering as well as special requirements for Indian wedding food.

Hospitality: The world famous Thai hospitality makes Thailand even more popular as a destination.

The warmth and helpful attitude of the locals as well as the support I received while there was just amazing!

Things to do: Thailand has a lot of tourist attractions, activities, shopping and much more to keep your guests busy!

Wedding Costs: A beach wedding in Thailand is not as expensive as you think! Hotel rooms as well as banquet rates are quite reasonable even for a five star property!

Thai Culture: The unique Thai culture is perfect to incorporate in your Indian wedding. Maybe in the Mandap or the welcome or even the Baraat – the entertainment with Thai elements will create something your guests wont easily forget! Maybe have a baby elephant pass your Varmala to you? Or have your Mandap on an infinity pool? Thailand is where it is all possible! Contact us to find out more…

This is so exciting! Check out our first guest post done for the fab blog Asian Wedding Ideas – here where we have written about creating your very own Bollywood themed wedding! The pictures from this post are from a wedding that we planned in Blackpool, UK – dhol payers, Bollywood performances, an Indian wedding video and even a Taj Mahal cake! Thanks Rabbia from Asian Wedding Ideas for asking us to be a part of your lovely blog!

(Image Source:Tanishq)

The bridal attire of a Malayalee Hindu bride is very simple and elegant. The traditional bridal dress consists of a two piece cream colour saree called Set Mundu with a thick woven gold zari border. But very few brides choose to dress in the traditional Set Mundu today. Instead they opt for expensive Kancheepuram silk saris, which are available in plenty of bright colours like red, maroon, magenta, green and blue.

Though the bridal saree is quite simple, the jewelry complementing it is very unique and heavy and forms a very important part of the bridal attire. The jewelry designs are inspired by nature or temple statues mainly consisting of motifs like paisley, rice grains, melon seeds, cobra heads or birds and usually crafted in red and green semi precious stones. The jewelry from this region is commonly known as Temple jewelry.

A Malayalee bride is heavily decked with bridal jewelry from head to toe. The piece of jewelry worn along the parting of the hair is known as Netti Chutti. It is very similar to Mang Tikka which is worn by brides from northern parts of India but the design and style of a Netti Chutti is very different from a Mang Tikka. Typical hanging earrings in the shape of an umbrella known as Jhimkis are worn and suspended by an artistic chain called Maattal which goes around the ear. The hair is adorned by a stone studded ornamental chain which is worn over the plait is known as Tirukkuppu. The bride also adorns various gold necklaces with designs inspired by temple borders and comprise of a gold disc in the centre with different designs and motifs of goddesses. These necklaces are traditionally called – Nagapada thali, Laxmi thali, Palakka mala and Kasu mala. The bride also wears a combination of gold and stone studded bangles along with other pieces of jewellery like gold anklets known as Padaswarams, a waist band embellished with pearls and stones, a stone studded nose ring and a gold armlet.

Though Malayalee bridal jewelry is known for its bold and heavy designs, brides these days are opting for more contemporary designs and are switching from the yellow gold to diamond and platinum jewelry.

More interesting stuff coming up on Brides of India…stay tuned!!