Since the inception of a civil society, marriage as an institution has been in existence in all cultures. While it is hard to locate when the first official wedding took place, one can say without a doubt that weddings have had a significant position in human society. While there may be various trends and traditions in different parts of the world, India has had its own set of popular trends which have traversed the geographical boundaries, and found a place in all communities. While regional and cultural disparities may exist, certain trends continue to exist across all cultures, as if they were laid down in a list of commandments. Of course it would be naive to claim that trends have not experienced any changes, as the society around us has changed. Why we see peculiarly booming changing Indian Wedding trends in the last 3 decades is because of a change in the millennium, as the 90s crossed over to the 2000s. Additionally, the introduction of advanced technology, affordability of the internet, and an accessibility to the global world has particularly contributed to the vociferous change in wedding trends in India. From the type of wedding venue, to the style of dressing, from the techniques of photography, to the menu of food, there is barely any element of the wedding market that has not seen a remarkable change in trends, over the last 30 years. Ofcourse, this does not mean that older trends have completely vanished. But in fact, the present Indian culture is witnessing a heterogeneous culture, where one can find a blend of the older trends, remixed with the newer, upcoming trends. In such a case it would be interesting to compare and contrast, how the trends have unfolded themselves over the years, and how they have replaced the trends of the past. We have curated a list of changes in Indian Wedding Trends over the last 3 Decades for you. If you are planning to get married soon, you may want to learn more about the latest trends. This blog will help you understand which trends most suit your personality, whether you are a 90s kid at heart, or you are a millennial couple, these trends will give you an idea to pick and choose the elements that you want your weddings to have. This could also be a mix of trends that appeared over the last few years. So let's go!
The very first element that goes into making a wedding into a successful event is the planning of the wedding. The concept of wedding planners gained most limelight with the release of the bollywood movie "Band Baaja Bride'. While Indian audiences were mesmerized by the idea of hiring a wedding planner, it is only in the last decade and a half that the masses have been able to afford a wedding planner. If one goes back to the times of their parent's weddings, which took place during the 70s and 80s, one can easily see how the entire market of wedding planning has changed drastically over the years. Traditionally weddings were a full family engagement, and relatives from far across places would take special ten- fifteen days before the wedding to come to the house of the bride/ groom, and make arrangements for the wedding. One uncle would be busy coordinating with the Tent walas and the Halwais, while another uncle would be making arrangements for the mattresses and accommodation of the guests. One family member would be simply handed over a camera to take pictures, while another family member would take care of the invitations. And if the families could not afford a halwai, the women folk of the house would gather together, days before the wedding to prepare for the food making. They would sit together in circles peeling and cutting vegetables, or rounding up laddoos for the guests. Over time people started realizing that while they spent so much energy in making the arrangements for the wedding, and worrying about the proper planning, they hardly had the time or the energy to enjoy the wedding festivities themselves. This is why the entire concept of hiring a wedding planner gained popularity in India. While initially it was only a select few elite families, or the royals and the nobles, who could afford to have a team of planners, take care of their wedding planning; over a period of time people from the middle classes were also welcome in the wedding planning club of vendors. As more and more people realised the boom in the wedding planning industry, more and more people turned to form businesses that offered affordable wedding vendors to people who wanted budget weddings. With the rise in competition amongst wedding planners, and amongst wedding vendors, the rates for their services started to become more and more competitive. This meant that now a large number of the masses could easily afford to hire a wedding planner. Gradually as people got busier in their lives, most people started to opt for handing over the burden of wedding planning on professional planners. In the present time, there are a rare few people who make their own wedding arrangements, single handedly without any professional help. Though people in smaller cities, and villages still prefer the personal touch that comes with organizing a wedding by your own hands, people in bigger cities, and particularly metros, are not shy of spending a few extra bucks in exchange of time for enjoyment and relaxation.
One of the key elements that has changed over the decades is the duration of wedding events. Traditionally wedding events ranged over a long period of time where all the wedding guests and relatives would gather at the hosts' homes, days in advance, to not only part take in various wedding events that were spread sporadically over a period of 10 to 15 days; but also helped in making arrangements for the final wedding day. People took time out from their work schedules and enjoyed a long duration of merriment, rituals, community bonding, along with singing, dancing and games, that involved each and every family member. As the lives of the modern individual became more and more stressful with time, particularly owing to the pressures of work, and the invention of fast paced technology, people found it cumbersome, and even unnecessary to host wedding events that lasted for such a long duration. While slowly the duration of wedding festivities had come to be limited to a span of 3 to four days, wherein only important rituals took place, and relatives didn't necessarily have to make arrangements for the wedding setup; the onset of the trend of Destination weddings and the Pandemic has further shortened the wedding duration. While people who plan destination weddings are on a budget crunch, as they need to make arrangements for travel and accommodation of their guests, at their desired destination; it seems wise to fit two or three events within the span of one day. Many couples who are opting for destination weddings are ensuring that the wedding festivities are compactly completed within two days, where the first day includes events like the Haldi, Mehendi, and the Sangeet, and the second day includes the engagement, and the wedding ceremony. This style of fast paced wedding not only saves a lot of time for the guests and the hosts, but also helps one utilize the rented venues optimally. This also reduces the cost of various wedding related arrangements. Moreover with the onset of the Pandemic, people are scared to go out again and again, and expose themselves to the fear of being infected. Thus planning shorter wedding events has proved to be efficient for the weddings that have particularly taken place in the last two years.
Another interesting change in trends over the last 3 decades is the style of weddings. If one goes back a decade or two , it was a common phenomenon to invite guests and relatives, no matter how distant they may be in our relationship. Even if you haven't been in touch with them for many years, it was considered rude to miss out on inviting any relatives to your wedding functions. One could see that people felt obligated to invite all their distant relatives, and barely known acquaintances to their weddings. One of the reasons for holding weddings with a big guest list in the years preceding us was the fact that one's wedding was an occasion of public declaration of a union. If one goes back even further, to say their grandparents' generations, one would find that it was common for individuals to invite their whole village to their weddings. This was done to ensure that a grand display of the wedding is made public, so as to prove the authenticity of a marriage (as marriage registration was a later day addition in our country). A huge guest list, and pictures with each relative who attended the wedding events, was meant to prove that a wedding had taken place. Moreover, the absence of technology that could aid in easy communication about a wedding, was another reason why physical presence of many relatives was considered a must. Over time as people migrated to bigger cities for work, and as sources of communication improved, the intent of holding a big fat Indian wedding, almost lost its significance. With the introduction of social media, particularly forums like Facebook, have made it easier for people to declare their union to a large number of people through the means of one click, one post, one picture. This did decrease the list of guests in every Indian wedding, however the obsession of holding a grand, lavish style wedding did not really diminish in India till we were struck by the restrictions of the Pandemic. The onset of the Pandemic introduced Indians to the concept of intimate weddings. While celebrities, and elite individuals have been practicing intimate style weddings for a while now, this style of wedding has become more popular only recently among the masses. Intimate weddings either ensure that the guest list is limited on one's wedding festivities; or they help segregate different guest lists for different functions, to encourage a smaller gathering at any given time. Millennial couples are taking to this trend, as it not only offers them an opportunity to limit their celebrations to individuals, whose presence they truly enjoy; but also, ensures that the cost of the wedding is cut down drastically. This trend, though, has become more popular only in the last two years, it can be predicted that this one is here to stay for a long time. While intimate style weddings have been in vogue for a couple of decades in the western countries, they seem to be gaining more prominence amongst Indians only recently.
Wedding Invitations make the first announcement of the betrothal of a couple. Each of your guests come to know about the upcoming nuptials through this piece of announcement. Over the years this little piece of communication has undergone a massive transformation. Before the emergence of technology such as graphic designing, and laser cutting, options for wedding invitations were extremely limited. People would make a list of all the details they would want to incorporate in their invitations, and hand it over to their local printing press. Then they were served with a basic catalogue of generic designs that were most popular among the masses. Usually the designs of the invitations were simple and elegant, and comprised elements of traditional symbols and godly representation. Once invitation designs were finalised, people had to take the printed bundles to their local post office and individually note down the addresses of each guest and then carefully post it through a nearby post box, or send it through courier services. This cumbersome process did not come to an end here. It would take days for people to receive the invitations, and it was extremely difficult to keep track of the relatives who had not received the invitations on time. Add to this the grumpiness of cranky and complaining relatives, you frowned upon not receiving the invitations on time, and thus showed their anger by not attending the wedding functions. This was the general trend for wedding invitations before we were introduced to the digital era. As soon as there was a development in the fields of IT and software technology, along with the introduction of social media like Facebook and Instagram, and new media like Email and Messenger Applications, the invitation market saw an extreme boom. While newer technologies like graphic designing, laser cutting, digital illustration, formatting, font styling, and many other elements of customization led to the introduction of a wide variety of designs for invitations; digital modes of communication made print invitations more and more scarce. The designs soon started to be more customized and themed as per the needs and preferences of the clients. Now one can see that wedding invitations are pretty much available in any design or format that a person desires. Newer artists are creating a wide style of cards ranging from Eco friendly cards, DIY cards, Hand crafted cards, Scroll cards, boxed cards and so on. Moreover most people these days have started ditching physical forms of invitations and have moved on to digital forms of invitations. These compose pictures, animations, reels, and videos that can be simply shared with your friends and relatives across the digital platform. These new trends are not only fast and efficient, but are also cost effective and great for the environment.
One of the prominent aspects of Indian weddings is the wedding venue. The style and trends of wedding venues has undergone a vast change in the last thirty years. Initially wedding festivities were usually hosted by families in their own courtyards, or verandahs. This was because people usually lived in bigger, independent houses that had large in-house areas that could easily accommodate a large number of people. While most of the pre and post wedding events were usually hosted within the house premises, people often opted for Baraat Ghars, community halls, or Garden areas for hosting the main wedding ceremony, which usually included a larger guest list. Over the years as people shifted to smaller homes, usually in apartments or buildings, they lost authority over large in-house spaces. Most of the larger spaces like courtyards, verandahs, or even terraces are now collective shared spaces, and hence people refrain from hosting their events in these spaces. As the culture of renting out hotels and banquet spaces has become more and more popular, people have started opting for these as their wedding venues. In addition to particularly allocated spaces for hosting events, the acceptance of professional wedding planners has enabled the option of renting an outside wedding venue instead of hosting events in one's own spaces. Managing weddings in one's own space requires the host to manage the events by themselves, and creates more burden of wedding management on the hosts themselves. Renting a wedding venue allows for more freedom of enjoyment to the hosts as well as the guests, because all you need to do is tell them your requirements and your budget, and then you can rest assured that you will get the venue organized as per your needs. All the headache is thus taken upon by the management team and staff of the wedding venue. Moreover, another trend that has emerged more recently is the trend of destination weddings. This is one step ahead of your regular wedding venue rentals. Big Havelis, places of Heritage value, beautiful gardens, beach sides, hill tops, and many more destinations are becoming popular wedding venues amongst millennial couples. You name it, and you can have your pick, for a unique venue. Depending on the theme and taste of the wedding party, venues can be booked at a variety of destinations with unique backdrops and scenic settings.
As one notices a change in wedding venues, one is bound to observe the change in wedding decorations. The traditional style of wedding decorations was extremely simple and elegant. People of an older generation usually opted for simple home decorations done by their local phool walas who would make big hangings from orange and yellow Genda Phools and hang them down from the top of the venue terraces (usually the host's homes). One would usually see floral hangings inside the homes as well. Another common accompaniment to the floral decorations was the use of big bulbous lights, that framed the parapets of the houses, or hung down from the terraces along with the flowers. Soon the bulky wedding lights turned into smaller Chinese LED lights, commonly known as the ladi in Indian homes. One could also see use of tents and large hanging clothes as the typical setup for weddings in India during the 90s. With the advent of technology and the emergence of newer flower arrangement techniques the last decade or so has witnessed a great change in wedding decorations. These days floral decorations are a part of a grander theme that has been opted as the backdrop for wedding decorations. From Royal theme, to Bohemian theme, to Rajasthani theme, to South Indian Theme, to themes inspired by movies and TV series , there is nothing off limits when it comes to wedding decorations. Decorations are often matched with the tone of the rituals. For example, often people use yellow themed decorations for Haldi events, or Green themed decorations for Mehendi events. One of the latest trends that has been gaining popularity since the last couple of years is the DIY theme of decoration, where decorative items that are created by hand, or items that can be created from recycled materials, are used to create a unique , and out of the box set up for wedding decorations. Even though the new style of decorations incorporate floral setups, the style of flower decoration has come a long way. Floral canopies have become a popular style of wedding decoration. Newer types of flowers have replaced the traditional use of Genda Phools. Flowers like Orchids, Carnations, Rose, Jasmine, Tuberose (rajnigandha) , and African daisy (gerbera) have started to gain more popularity even in Indian Wedding setups. Additionally use of signage, neon elements, and even eco friendly elements has become extremely common among the newage weddings. People these days are also opting for more minimalistic and sobre setups, than grand and gaudy setups for their wedding decorations. Wedding decorations have come a long, long way in the last three decades.
Wedding festivities seem inconceivable in the absence of photography. Beautiful moments created during wedding events are stored as precious memories through the means of photography and videography. But the trends in wedding photography and videography have undergone a drastic change, as newer types of cameras, lenses, and photography techniques emerged. A change has also been observed in the type of photography that is considered appropriate and necessary in Indian Weddings. If one is to look back at the images of their parents' wedding, over 30 years ago, one of the unique changes one observes is that those pictures were taken in a more posed and traditional style. There was rarely ever a concept of pre wedding photography, or candid photography. Once the bride was all decked up, she was asked to pose with her hands near her face, showing off the beautiful designs of her mehendi. Post this photo session, a traditional photographer would be placed near the wedding stage, who would one by one take posed and staged photographs of the newly married couple with each guest, as a record of the wedding attendees. Usually a typical coverage of the wedding was done through the means of a camera, where a full length video of the wedding was given to the family post the commencement of wedding ceremonies. The pictures clicked at the weddings were strategically arranged in a photo album, with some borders or designs, to make it look appealing. The video recordings of the weddings were usually replayed amongst family members every time there was a big family gathering. As times changed so did the techniques of photography and videography. Images turned from physical to digital. Videos turned from traditional motion pictures to cinematographic recordings of a couple's wedding. Introduction of newer trends like pre wedding photo shoots, candid photography, and photo journalistic videography replaced the traditional style of wedding coverage. While it would be naive to think that candid pictures have replaced traditional photography, because people still want a record of all their wedding attendees in their photographs. But, new age trends in photography do give more importance to unplanned, non-posey pictures, that capture the realistic elements and moments of the wedding events. Moreover people these days prefer digital copies of their pictures instead of hard copies. Apart from the typical camera man and photography team along with their equipment, the new age trend of drone photography, that covers the whole wedding, from mid air , is also an extremely popular latest photography trend. Live coverage and display of the wedding rituals on large projector screens has also become a common visual in most large sized weddings. Behind the scenes shooting, and making wedding teasers and previews has also become quite a common trend in latest Indian Weddings. In the last thirty years, photography and videography have seen a change in their modes of translation. From physical copies, to copies in CDs, to Pen Drives, to Cloud storage, wedding photography and videography has seen the most dramatic change in trends.
One of the most memorable aspects of a wedding event is the food. People may not remember the venue, the decoration, and even the festivities, but people surely remember the food. Infact most individuals attend wedding functions only to enjoy the wide variety of foods offered. The extensive display of food, and unmatched variety of cuisines that we see in today's weddings, was definitely not the case in the last thirty years. As making wedding food was a part of wedding preparations, in the early 90s it was a common sight to witness the older female members of the family gathering together to make the food arrangements in the shadi wala ghar. From rounding laddoos, to rolling rotis, from grinding spices, to frying puris, all the food related preparations were undertaken by the women folk of the household. People would sit in long queues in the wedding premises, while the men of the house served the food, carrying them around in big buckets, or baskets. This trend soon changed as people started placing food orders with halwais, who would set up camp behind the wedding tent, and with the help of a huge team of caterers made the food at the place of the event. Since the Halwais were trained in Desi food cooking, the foods one found during weddings at this time usually comprised the traditional dishes that were unique to every geographical culture. This style of catering, and the variation of food, soon saw a change as hotels and other individuals companies started offering professional catering services. These services not only included delicious pre cooked food for the wedding events, but also provided service staff, cutlery, and crockery, and display arrangements for the food. The beginning of the buffet culture is what introduced the idea of having unique and contemporary food display setups. These catering services comprised a team of chefs, who were not only adept in making traditional Indian delicacies, but also had great knowledge and experience in preparing global cuisines and food items. With time the Indian taste buds were not easily appeased by traditional Indian foods, and searched for more international variety in wedding festivities. Nowadays the catering services at weddings are so exceptional, and varied, that one may simply die in the dilemma of what to eat, what not to eat. From a dramatic variety of Indian and Global starters that are constantly being served around in the wedding venues, to variations in beverages and soups, one is hardly left with any stomach space to even consider eating the main course. From Live Food Counters serving freshly fried and cooked Rajasthani, and Gujarati delicacies, to Indian Street Food stalls, serving Gol Gappas, Tikkis, Dosas, and Pav Bhaji, there is no dearth of diversity in appetizers. If one is finally able to reach the point of consuming the main course, one is befuddled with the numerous counter setups serving North Indian delicacies, made to order pastas, on the wok Chow Mein, South Indian cuisines, continental bites and so on. Infact one can now opt for theme based catering services, that ensure that your food palette reflects the theme of your entire wedding event. The options are limitless, and it's a great time to be alive, even if you have varied diet restrictions or food preferences. Professional caterers ensure to take care of your choices, be it for gluten free foods, Vegan options, eggless edibles, and onion/ garlic free options, along with low sugar items. The whole face of wedding catering has completely changed as more and more people have started opting for professional catering services.
As the duration of weddings has drastically reduced so have the sources of entertainment in wedding festivities. While traditional weddings upto the 90s were more focussed on having gendered segregations of wedding festivities, particularly because dancing and singing by women, in front of male members of the family was considered a kind of Taboo in India, the introduction of the DJ facility, has given way to a common Sangeet event. From Ladies Sangeet featuring folk songs, folk music, and folk instruments played by women; we moved towards a more inclusive DJ sangeet event, that opened the dance floor to all the family members, and allowed for gender mixing in wedding festivities. In fact, this has gone a few steps further. While in the early 2000s, dancing on the DJ was a great rage among Indian weddings, soon a new trend emerged in the realm of Wedding Entertainment. With influences from various Indian movies, many youngsters started hiring professional dance choreographers, and dance and music performers to take care of their wedding entertainment needs. In the last 15 years or so performing a perfectly choreographed, group dance, or performing an enchanting couple's dance has become almost an acceptable norm. Infact hiring professional performers, stand up comedians, Emcees, and artists, is also something that has gained more popularity in the last decade or so. Calling upon celebrity performers and artists to grace the wedding events has also become an extremely popular trend among the elite families. Even couples belonging to the middle classes are now easily able to afford small time celebrities, like reality TV stars, or TV show artists, to perform in their weddings, as the Indian standard of living has improved over the last 3 decades.
One can see a great distinction in the wedding attire choices of couples from the 90s, to the couples in the early 2000s, to the couples of the present generation. Buying or getting one's wedding wear designed from a showroom or a boutique was a rarity amongst the masses in the 90s. While brides were usually gifted sarees or lehenga pieces by their maternal family or in-laws, which they rarely had a choice in; the groom's cloth pieces were often sent over to him by the bride's family. In the 90s era it was common to see grooms dressed in bulky two or three piece suits, with Double or Triple Breasted Coats, along with Ties and shoes. Brides on the other hand were usually seen in bulky and heavy lehengas or sarees, usually ranging the shades of reds and maroons paired with high heeled footwear. While the groom's wear was accompanied by a simple, traditional pagri, and a heavy floral sehra, the bride's attire was accompanied by heavy, real gold jewellery. Over a period of time a great change is seen in the colour palette, the dressing style, the materials for jewellery, as well as various other accessories worn in weddings. For starters purchasing or selecting one's wedding wear has become a necessity more than a luxury. Brides are pretty sure of the looks they want to recreate for their wedding events. For bridal wear the most intriguing change has appeared in the colour palette. The limitation of the colour red and its shade that was so authoritatively imposed on the bridal wear, seems to have worn off. Slowly the brides moved from the bright and bold reds and maroons to magenta and pink. Further on, many brides have moved from bold colours to pastel shades all together. Breaking the stereotypes on bridal wear, millennial women have taken to colours like peach, lime, lilac, baby blue, etc. for having a more subtle and elegant look for their weddings. Additionally, instead of opting for bulky outfits, they are opting for garments that are made of lighter materials, so that it is easy for them to carry them on their wedding day. Moreover a recent trend has emerged in the wedding market, which is the replication of designer lehengas and wedding wear. More and more brides are opting for recreations of designs that are made by well known fashion designers, to flaunt them on their big day. They are also experimenting with the style of attire by opting for more variations such as Anarkalis, Indo Western Gowns, Princess Gowns , and so on to give their bridal wear a more contemporary feel. While these clothes have an elegant and royal look, through the means of intricate embroidery work, the materials are no more bulky and heavy, like those of an earlier era. Grooms on the other hand have started experimenting with their groomswear, as more and more fashion designers have tried to revamp the traditional Indian outfits, to make them more practical for the modern Indian man. Bandhgalas, Achkans, Sherwanis, and Kurta Pajamas have made a comeback with a unique twist in shapes, fits, cuts, and colours that cater more to the style palette of the men of the current decade. Moreover, the more popular formal shoes of the 90s have been replaced by the contemporary style Indian footwear including Mojaris, and Juttis. Brides too are opting for more comfortable footwear like Juttis, and even bridal sneakers which have become a rage in the market over the last 5 years. The traditional floral Sehra of the Grooms has been replaced by sehras made of pearls, beads, or even diamonds. The women's jewellery has also taken to more experimental materials including items made of pearls, diamonds, platinum, gemstones, precious and semi precious stones, along with the traditional gold jewellery. The idea of a quintessential bridal and groom's look has come a long way in the last 30 years.
One of the most admiral aspects of Indian weddings is the beautiful makeup that the bride does for her special day. It's her day after all, and she is the ultimate centre of attention. Of Course the groom is given equal weightage, each individual waits with a bated breath to catch a glimpse of the beautifully adorned bride. In the last 3 decades there has been a drastic change in the style of makeup as well as the techniques of makeup. There has also been a great change in the trends related to makeup artistry. Let's talk about that first. If the millennial brides have a heart to heart conversation with their mothers or grandmothers, about their weddings, they would come to know that hiring a makeup artist, going to the beauty parlour, or even receiving any form of professional beauty treatments, was seen more like a Taboo. It was usually the most well dressed, and most fashion conscious sibling, cousin or relative of the bride who would be incharge of taking care of the bride's makeup. Simple cosmetics like Kajal, Lipstick, Face powder and bindis were used to adorn the beautiful face of the bride. Since cosmetics were usually not made in India, and foreign cosmetics were expensive products, people preferred to stick to homemade beauty treatments. Application of haldi, ubtan, and other forms of home made cosmetics was a common trend. Over time getting yourself groomed at beauty parlours came in vogue as more and more parlours opened in every locality. With some influence from Bollywood, women started seeking professional help from beauticians and makeup artists, to create their desired looks for their wedding events. This also led to a change in style of bridal makeup that one was used to seeing on Indian brides. While decorating one's forehead with a number of bindis, arranged in synchronized manner to create a unique look, was a common trend in India; application of a bride red or maroon lipstick, and rosey cheeks was also a common trend. As newer makeup trends evolved over time, and many women started to pursue makeup artistry courses in India, newer techniques of bridal makeup have taken a front seat in the Indian Wedding market. Makeup artists have moved from traditional party makeup, to techniques like Airbrush and HD makeup, which are particularly good for capturing flawless wedding images. Additionally, instead of maintaining a bright and bold suhagan look for the brides, these days brides and makeup artists , both are opting to go for more subtle, and natural style makeup looks, to enhance the natural features of the bride. To complement the pastel shades of the wedding attires, this style of makeup is the optimum choice.
The application of Mehendi for weddings has also seen some amount of change with time. Traditionally, in most communities there was a trend of applying full hand mehendi for both the bride and the groom. While the brides Mehendi could go above her elbows, starting from her palms, and upto her knees, starting from her feet; the mehendi designs for grooms were usually restricted to the palms but still were heavy and intricate in nature. As times have changed the mehendi application for brides and grooms have both become quite different. Mehendi was usually applied by female relatives of the bride and groom, traditionally. This has seen a 360 degree change with the onset of a market of professional mehendi artists who are well versed with a variety of mehendi styles , that one can choose depending on their taste and budget. While the brides are now opting for more experimental mehendi designs such as scenes depicting a baraat, or images of the bride and groom, or incorporating the names of the grooms on their palms; Grooms are sticking to mehendi application as a mere symbol of shagun, and are getting small dots in the centre of their palms for symbolic purposes. Brides are also popting for unique experiments in the types of mehendi such as Arabic Mehendi, black mehendi and white mehendi, and some of them are also going for simpler and minimalistic designs that compliment their bohemian personalities. The lengths of mehendi on arms and legs have decreased , as more and more brides are opting for wrist length , and ankle length mehendis.
An interesting aspect of Indian weddings that has seen a unique change is the ways in which brides and grooms make their entries at the wedding venue. While traditionally it was common for the grooms to come along with a wedding procession, stationed on white ghodi, uptil the entrance of the wedding venue, where he was lovingly welcomed by the bridal party, the grooms entry has become more dramatic as times have changed. With the prevalence of the ownership of a car amongst Indian families, which saw a rapid increase in the early late 90s to early 2000s, grooms were seen flaunting their cars in their wedding processions. Many grooms would also hire car rentals to make a grand entry. Infact most recently grooms have been seen making a unique entry in a vintage vehicle. Often the groom's also make an entrance on a chariot or a buggy, which is accompanied by pompous elements like Chattar With Flowers, Jhoomer Lights, Flower Lights and Tasha Parties. While a grand entry by the groom has been a common trend in Indian weddings, with the latest additions only being minor tweaks in the previous methods, the Bridal entry has traditionally been more subtle, and sombre. Traditionally one would see a group of bridesmaids accompanying the bride, towards the stage, while the bride walked with bowed eyelids, and a sense of coyness. This was occasionally accompanied by a group of male relatives holding a dupatta over the bride's head, as a ritualistic symbol. Lately the trends of bridal entrance have changed drastically. One can see brides entering while performing a choreographed dance sequence which is suggestively teasing towards the groom. The modern bride is also seen wearing shades and grooving in with the bridal party in swag. Sometimes the bride is also accompanied by professional dancers, who lead the way upto the stage as the bride is welcomed through their performance. The Dupatta over the head has been replaced by the popular Phoolon ki Chadar, and often instead of the male relatives, even the female relatives are seen holding the Chaddar over the bride's head. The bride has a sense of happiness and giddiness on her face rather than coyness, which depicts how more and more women are breaking the stereotypes around what a typical dulhan should look like on her wedding day. In Fact in some cases, the bride and groom make a common entry on intriguing vehicles like the Jai Veeru Scooter , which gained recognition from the movie Sholey. More and more individuals like personalizing their weddings as per their personal styles.
It is in fact, interesting to note how each and every aspect of Indian Weddings has undergone so many changes over the years, and how we have welcomingly embraced the changing trends with the changing times. The peculiarities of the changes in Indian Wedding Trends, over the last 3 decades, will indeed be the most unique, as this is the only time when we have gone from a completely non technological world, to an extremely technology driven world. Additionally this time also marks the onset of Pandemic, which in itself has given birth to many trends that may be here to stay for a long time in the future. While the millennial couples have a plethora of options to choose from, when it comes to finding the right trends for their wedding ceremonies, there is no denying the fact that newer trends don't simply supersede and replace the older trends. They are mere evolutions of older trends that may not be serving a purpose any longer, or they may be seen as the newer versions of traditional trends, which find unique ways to sustain themselves in an ever changing world.
