Decorated Women

I hope my last post on the outfits at a traditional Indian wedding was a treat to your eyes. Inspired from my earlier post, I thought, it would be a good idea to give you some insight on the kind of accessories Indians don at the weddings. Accessories are an important part of the traditional look for Indian Weddings. These are the times when people usually wear exquisite and expensive gold, diamond and platinum jewelry. Flaunting posh jewelry is also considered a sort of a status symbol at these weddings.

There are a lot of different forms of accessories exhibited during the weddings other than the usual earrings, neckpieces and bangles.  However, my favorite remains a lot of bangles and chunky earrings.

The headgear is an essential part of the bride’s attire, along with bangles and an extended bracelet that connects to the rings. The anklets worn by the bride are heavy, usually studded with uncut diamonds and set into gold. Most of the friends and relatives stick to simple or no head gear but bangles, earrings and neckpieces are common.

The most popular and well-known accessory of a bride and all the other female attendees at a wedding is Henna or Mehndi. There is a special function, when henna artists are called, there is traditional music in the background and they chalk out traditional henna designs for the bride and the attendees. The henna for the bride is detailed with intricate and delicate designs, which starts at the fingers and goes all the way up to the elbow and sometimes beyond.  The bride also gets the henna done on her feet till the shins or a little below.  Henna for the other female attendees is usually in Arabic designs and not as detailed as for the bride, which only extends to a little beyond the palm.

Men are not left behind when it comes to accessorizing for a wedding. The groom usually wears a traditional hat known as a  “Pagadi” and for feet traditional shoes called the “joothis”.  (pics of pagadhi and jhoothi)

Indian weddings are an epitome of culture and tradition; however as times change, there are modern twists and turns to parts of it, but the core value and celebrations remain, regardless of the fact what part of the world they take place in.