Pakistani Wedding - What a Memorable Event

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A wedding in Pakistan can take up to a year of planning, and is considered the most stable means of living between two adults. It is not uncommon for family members to plan the wedding. Another name given to a Pakistani wedding is shaadi. Although most families make arrangements for who the bride will marry, modern-day love marriages are starting to become more prevalent. Marriage between cousins of the Pakistan tradition is also not considered to be unheard of.

Before the wedding, there is a proposal party where the parents and family of the groom ask for permission from the bride's family and parents for her hand in marriage. Some families will present one another with gifts of gold and other types of jewelry to be worn on the wedding day, although not all families choose to do this. The next step preceding a Pakistani wedding is an engagement party between families. This is when the rings are exchanged. Depending on the family's individual tradition, some may still allow the rings to be presented by the family, although it is not uncommon for the bride and groom to exchange the rings themselves. The engagement party is often referred to as Mangni, and involves the very important step of deciding when the wedding day will be.

After the wedding day is determined, the Mayun is celebrated. The Mayun is a symbolization of the bride's upcoming wedding. She is given no chores or errands, and is not allowed to see her groom-to-be until the official day of the ceremony. The bride's family and close friends are all present for this celebration. Singing, dancing, and beautification rituals all begin during the Mayun.

The next celebration is referred to as a Dholki. The bride wears a yellow Pakistani outfit and celebrates with her family by singing popular wedding songs. The following ceremonies include the Mehndi, Barat, along with a few others, and then finally, the wedding. The Mehndi celebrations are held separately, and are provided for both the bride and groom. While the bride is celebrating, the groom stays home, and vice versa. The bride's family is present for the groom, and brings to him sweets and henna. Likewise, the groom's family will also do the same for the bride.

The Barat includes the groom and fellow family members and friends as they make their way to the bride's home for the Pakistani wedding ceremony. The groom usually makes his way on a horse or in a car along with several other vehicles and/or horses carrying his family members and friends. Once the groom makes it to the bride's home, he is greeted by her sisters, friends, and cousins as they present him with an array of flower garlands and rose petals. After a few more days of ceremonial traditions, the wedding finally takes place. The bride and groom each wear dress attire and are joined together by an Islamic priest. Both the bride and groom's family are present, as are their family and friends. The bride's wedding gown is usually very beautiful and unique, along with her jewelry and veil. Grooms in Pakistan are to wear a turban to their weddings, although some prefer to take a more modern approach and wear jackets and trousers. The brides will wear a lot of makeup and show off their artwork. Each will exchange their vows, and once the marriage is official, a Holy Koran is to be held above the bride's head as she joins her husband's family. Finally, the marriage papers are signed in front of the priest and guests.

A Pakistani Wedding can be fun and memorable event.

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Bridezilla Bride!?

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Nobody, I repeat nobody likes a bridezilla bride. If you feel this feeling taking hold of your higher thinking processes fight it! Fight it will every fiber of your being, if you don't your friends may never forgive you. I am speaking, from experience of my close friend. She has never been a bride, but often been a bridesmaid. You know what they say; always a bridesmaid, never a bride but I keep my hopes up. But back to the bridezilla thing, it is too easy for the bride to get carried away and wrapped up in all of the planning. And oftentimes if she has a wedding planner she will be inclined to take all of this planners words as gospel. This unfortunately often hurts the bridesmaid's chances of looking pretty during the ceremony. I don't know what it is with ugly bridesmaid dresses but they seem to be the popular thing to choose among brides. This is one wedding tradition that does not seem to be in any danger of being lost, like ever.

Be nice to your bridesmaids, they are there to support you on your special day, they don't deserve to have to wear ugly plum wedding dresses. Sorry that plum dress thing was a flashback. Let your bridesmaids wear a pretty color like soft pink or blue, perhaps even a gorgeous red or green, for the love of all that's holy, anything but plum! Just kidding plum bridesmaid dresses can actually look quite flattering on many women and this color does go extremely well with all of the flower arrangements that will be decorating the reception hall and the altar. Choosing the color of your bridesmaid dresses is one of the most important decisions that you will make about your wedding. These dresses will be highlighting your fabulous wedding gown and that is why it is so important that you choose the right color. You need the bridesmaid dresses to match your gown but yet not look like it at all. This is where things can get tricky. See, you need the dresses to compliment each other while being a completely different color and style. How on earth?!? Sounds impossible right? It isn't though, it can be done easily. Just ask for some help at the boutique from which you are purchasing your wedding gown. They should know all of the best tips and tricks.

Again I am going to admonish you to be kind to your bridesmaids. Let them have at least some say in the bridesmaid dresses, they are paying for them and they have to wear them, it is the least that you can do. It really is. Consider what colors would go best with their particular skin tones. Your bridesmaids do not have to wear all the same color although this is the most common practice. One of the best ideas is to have all of the bridesmaid dresses the same color but have the styles vary slightly. This way each bridesmaid will have her own individual bridesmaid dress. They do not have to be too different, just different enough that it showcases and highlights her own unique curves and attributes. This my dear, dear bride is the kind thing to do. And this way the bridesmaids might even get to wear their expensive dresses again someday. Bonus! Wow small things like this matter a lot and you got to learn a lot about the things that make your wedding a memorable day not just for you but for everyone around you.

The best resource for knowing everything about weddings right from dresses to wedding rings you should visit the following website http://www.weddings-online.com/ This article was coauthored by my friend TP. There are some good resources for wedding decorations and about honeymoon destinations in the website making a good read about weddings.