Mehandi!

image via ditikotexha.blogspot.com

I was asked recently what one event If I had a chance to plan would be my ultimate favorite and I would have to say hands down an Indian wedding.

I think they are beautiful full of life color culture passion ect. I'm fortunate enough to have taken some classes on traditions around the globe and I thought I'd share one of my favorite parts of the Indian Wedding Festivities. Mehandi. I think this is such a beautiful form of art and it intrigues me. I would love to be able to be part of a this tradition one day.

To explain it in the best way possible I am pasting this article from wikipedia if you'd like to know even more you can click the link above.

Weddings in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are considered to be a sacred and sanctified ceremony. They can often be long ritualistic and elaborate affairs with lots of pre-wedding, wedding and post wedding ceremonies. The occasion of Mehndi ceremony is often one of the most important pre-wedding rituals especially for the bride. It is a fun filled ritual, which is celebrated mainly by the bride's family. Different regions of the country celebrate the ritual in a different way according to their own marriage customs, rituals, and culture. Mehndi ceremonies take place outside the Indian sub-continent amongst the Asian community and places like Birmingham in the UK are such known hotspots for lavish Mehndi celebrations.

The ceremony is mainly held at the bride's house or at a banquet hall on the eve of the marriage ceremony or few days before the marriage. Generally the bride and groom attend the event together and on the occasion a professional henna artist or a relative applies mehndi to the bride’s hands and feet the designs are very intricate. Often hidden within the mehndi pattern the name or intials of the groom are applied. The event generally has a celebratory festival feel to it with the women dancing and singing traditional songs and the girls wearing vivid colours such as hot pink and yellow, often if the bride to be wishes to tease her future groom she will make him wear purple. The groom usually wears jutti instead of western footwear.