Indian Wedding Blog providing planning advice, tips and ideas on wedding colors, themes, decor, ettiquette, latest fashion news, jewelry, stationary and much more to Indian brides – Marigold Events

Decor is the one of the most important elements of your wedding. The look of your wedding leaves a lasting impression on the guest’s mind. There are so many extensions to decor that are not just limited to look and feel. You also need a number of things for the ceremony, which a decorator provides. Here is a checklist of decor items you must discuss with your decorator.

1. Flowers for the hair: A lot of the brides like to adorn their hair with fresh flowers. Be it gajra made of tuberoses, roses or even orchids – these can really add a great accent to your hairdo.
2. Bouquet for the bride: Bridal bouquets can be as simple or elaborate as you want. Recently I saw a bouquet of roses with rhinestone accents, which looked absolutely gorgeous!
3. Bouquet for the bridesmaids: The bridesmaids bouquets would be simpler that the bridal bouquet, but at the same time should match in terms of the colors and flowers with the bride’s bouquet.
4. Milni Garlands: A lot of the families have the tradition of “milni” right after baraat, where the male members of the bride’s family greet the male members of the groom’s side. Its a real fun and joyous tradition, where they garland each other.
5. Flower petals for Puja Thalis and Aashirwaad: Flower petals are needed for Aarti thaali, when the mother does aarti to the groom, for various offerings during the ceremony as well as for Aashirwaad, when the bride and groom are showered with flower petals by family and guests. This element can be overlooked sometimes, and it’s always nice to remind your decorator to bring extra flower petals.
6. Trays for Jai Mala, Milni Garlands and Puja Supplies: Its always nice if your decorator can provide nice trays for this stuff.
7. Ganesha statue(s): This can be used to decorate the entrance of your ceremony or reception area, as well as many of these can be used in Aisle Decor.
8. Diyas or Lamps: You might want to incorporate diyas or oil lamps in your decor.
9. Jaimala: These are the garlands used during the wedding ceremony by the bride and groom.
10. Aisle Decor: This includes pillars, fabric swags, floral arrangements and flower petals.
11. Ribbon to block the Aisle: This is crucial to prevent your guests from walking along the aisle.
12. Mandap: This includes the mandap structure/pillars/draperie, mandap florals, mandap chairs, cushions and the fire pit or the havan kund (Very important!).
13. Doli/Palanquin: This is totally optional, but definitely adds a nice touch to the ceremony.
14. Decor for the ceremony and reception chairs: This could be pomanders, sashes, bows or chair covers.
15. Boutonnieres and Corsages: These are again optional. But often times, the groom and groomsmen would wear boutonnieres for the reception.
16. Gift box/ Birdcage: You might ask the decorator to provide and/ or decorate these.
17. Centerpieces: You will need these for guest tables, sweetheart table/ head table, cocktail tables, place card table and guestbook/pictures table.
18. Tealights/ Votives: You will need these to accent all your centerpieces.
19. Sweet heart table Set up: These days more and more couples are going for sweet heart tables with very creative set ups. Discuss the different options with your decorator.
20. Flowers for the cake: Fresh flowers look gorgeous on the cake.
21. Special Linen or overlays: You can order specialty linen or overlays for the guest tables, buffet tables etc.
22. Rose bud or a flower for each place setting: Again a beautiful touch!

Planning an Indian Wedding just got easier! When I was planning my wedding, I hunted and hunted for a wedding planning website for South Asians. I was looking for a resource, where the wedding planning tools and forums were customized for Indian brides. Well guess what – now that resource is here. It’s called Indian American Weddings, and has been launched by Neha, owner of Marigold Events & Launching Frog (that’s me!) and Payal, owner of Intell Marketing.

Indian American Weddings began as a vision aspiring to make an Indian Bride’s wedding planning experience easy and enjoyable. The inspiration and ideas have stemmed from Payal and my personal experiences, when we were planning our own weddings and discovered a lack of planning resources for Indian Weddings in the US. We envision brides benefiting from a social network that would enable them to share thoughts and ideas with each other and communicate interactively with vendors.

Indian American Weddings is a unique wedding planning community for engaged couples and their families. It is the first interactive site to enable brides to network with other brides and vendors all over the country. It is, in essence, a virtual wedding expo, where brides can virtually see vendors’ products and services, communicate with them, and network with other brides – all without shelling the expenses of travel or time to a wedding expo.

In addition to the social networking aspect, the website offers to brides and couples all the tools and resources needed to help design, organize and plan the perfect unique Indian Wedding. The word “Indian” is the key – not only do we help you customize your planning to include all the Indian glamor and nuances of an Indian wedding ceremony, but we can also help you customize any other Indian event you may want to include like Engagement Party, Mehendi, Sangeet, etc.

Website’s Highlights for brides:

• Your Personal Profile Page with Photogallery: Create a detailed personalized profile of yourself and your upcoming wedding. Upload photos, and write about yourself. The wedding planning tools are linked to your profile. Your wedding planning research can be accessed by you through your username and secure password from any computer.
• Planning Checklist: Manage your wedding planning tasks and track the important details so you don’t miss a single step.
• Create your Budget: Set up your wedding budget and track all your spending to keep your wedding expenses in line.
• Create your Guestlist: It’s a Guest Database! Manage Guests, input their addresses, track Guest info (invitations, RSVPs, gifts, seating, thank you’s) – all with our Guest List Manager.
• Appointment Book: A handy tool to record all your appointments and reminders so you are perfectly scheduled for each day of your wedding planning
• Create Events and Invitations: Send out your save the dates for each of your wedding events with a click of the button and manage the RSVP’s from here.
• Planning Calendar: Your wedding planning is a calendar view and organizes all your appointments, upcoming events and due checklist items in one place.
• Research Binder: Your Wedding Planning Notebook where you can save notes, links, images of products and services you are considering but haven’t yet finalized.
• Guestbook: Post on your buddies’ walls and keep them up to date with your wedding planning. Post on a vendors wall to make inquiries or contacts.
• Get advice from other brides on the forum: Network with other brides, share tips and ideas, post questions. It’s amazing how much you can learn and share with others just like you.
• Add buddies: Friend other members of the site and them to your buddylist. See where other brides are in their planning process. Look at the profiles of your bride and vendor friends, check out their photogallery and write on their guestbooks.

There is a plethora of Indian vendors offering products and services to meet the Indian wedding market needs, however, they have always competed with families traveling to India to fulfill these needs. To these vendors, we offer a revolutionary new channel to market their products and services to a targeted customer base and form affiliations with other vendors in the business.

Website’s Highlights for Vendors:

• Free Business Page and Listing: Design your personalized business page highlighting your products & services and offering exclusive promotions and sales.
• Guestbook: Post on your buddies’ walls and keep them up to date with your services.
• Photogallery: A picture is worth a thousand words. Showcase your products and services with a collection of photos and images.
• Appointment Book: A handy calendar with customer appointments and reminders so you are perfectly scheduled for each day.
• Planning Calendar: View all your appointments in a calendar view.
• Manage Clients: A client database that manages client names, profiles, addresses, interests.
• Interact with other brides on forum: An Online vendor expo – interact with brides interested in your products and services. Make customer contact online!

The website has been beta launched, and we would really appreciate your feedback!

The following post is by our guest blogger, Sunny Mathur of Photographick Studios. Check out the lovely pictures taken by him at The Thomas Jefferson Memorial during the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C.

It seemed like the photography gods were against us (yes, there are photography gods), every time we zigged, they zagged to catch us in our tracks, mind you we are nimble on our feet, but these guys were faster. The gods were playing with everything they could, the weather, our time lines and our allergies. I guess before I get into my 300 (greatest movie ever) speech a little background is in order.

Aman and Gurdeep are the most organized people I know. I personally think they both share a Google calendar synchronized on their PDAs, personal assistants and email. In this calendar they have the next three years of their lives planned out in fifteen minute increments (I only have the next six months planned out in ten minute increments). My case and point would be their initial consultation, we met on a Saturday morning at 8:00 AM, in the same day they were meeting with seven other wedding vendors with their last appointment at 10:00 PM! Aman walked into our meeting with what looked to be a twelve inch wedding planning binder with every detail categorized by color, design and what magazine it was found in. She had what looked to be her own rating system, with backup copies of everything. To say they were prepared was an understatement, as we talked about their wedding, laughed at their stories and got a better sense of each other, I could see Aman taking mental notes to be transferred to the binder later (I wonder how thick the binder is now).

We hit it off wonderfully, connected and were honored to become their wedding photographers. The next piece in the puzzle was to find a location that spoke to both of them and had true place in their hearts. They decided upon having an engagement shoot in Hoboken, NJ. After countless dates in and around Hoboken, Aman and Gurdeep wanted to ensure that their spectacular DC wedding included their native New Jersey roots (Who wouldn’t? I suggested the famous Rutgers Grease Trucks but my idea got shot down).

Right before their engagement session, Neeva and I were traveling from DC to Las Vegas to New Jersey and what seemed across the world. Two days before their scheduled engagement session we got a call from Gurdeep asking
what the contingency plan is if it ‘drizzles.’ What I found out later was that ‘drizzle’ was a code word for class seven thunderstorm with tornadoes, flash floods, and even a state of emergency (I may be exaggerating a
little). Unfortunately we were not able to shoot while it was ‘drizzling’ and had to reschedule, this time in Washington, DC. I am curious what Gurdeep and Aman consider a thunderstorm or for that matter a ‘problem.’

Luckily we were able to take full advantage of the cherry blossom festival, we hung out at the Tidal Basin, walked along the river, rode a carousel and ended up around the Smithsonian. I was able to learn a lot
about our couple like; Aman normally punches when getting tickled, Gurdeep doesn’t like holding purses (neither do I) and these two ALWAYS schedule in time for fun.

Aman and Gurdeep I hope you love your engagement pictures, and we can’t wait for your wedding.

Finding Indian bridesmaid outfits can be a major challenge. You may want the exact same sari or lehenga for your bridesmaids, or if you are having a hard time finding exact outfits, then you may want something that goes well together. I strongly recommend that your bridesmaid saris match the colors of your wedding. I would stay away from buying the same sari in different colors. If you are having trouble finding the exact same sari, I would go with one color with a slight variation in pattern. I strongly believe, that one color looks more elegant. Here is some inspiration for bridesmaid saris:

Magenta Bridesmaid Saris with a turquoise border

Blue bridesmaid outfits - Although the outfits are different, they blend well together

Vermilion Colored Bridesmaid Saris

Orange Bridesmaid Saris

Mustard-Green bridesmaid saris

Maroon bridesmaid saris

Sea green bridesmaid saris

Fucshia bridesmaid saries

Pink bridesmaid saris

Plum bridesmaid saris

Red bridesmaid saris with golden work

Lavendar and pink bridesmaid saris

Purple bridesmaid saris

Keep up with the hottest trends in the Indian Wedding Industry. As you try to find that perfect wedding outfit, here are some designer wedding lehengas for inspiration.

Shilpa Shetty in an absolutely stunning Tarun Tahiliani Wedding Lehenga

Another Tarun Tahiliani

Karishma Kapoor donning a beautiful red Manish Malhotra lehenga

Pink and Green Lehenga by Manish Malhotra

Rakhi Sawant wearing a Neeta Lulla Lehenga

Sabyasachi definitely has his own signature style, which is reflected in this outfit

This lehenga is drop dead gorgeous! Check out the train - love it!

This DIY tutorial will illustrate some unique techniques to create invitations. We will talk about rubber stamping and embossing. I will make some product recommendations, and also go through the steps.

Our end product will look like this:

Pointed Flap Enclosure with Embossed/Rubber Stamped Invited

Supplies:

1. Pointed Flap Enclosure (Chocolate)

◦ 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″

◦ Special Feature = Makes a lovely presentation for wedding invitations and other special occasions.

2. Flat Paper (blue, lavendar, fuschia, white, ivory, cream)

◦ 8.5″ x 11″

3. Outer Envelope

◦ A9 ( (5 3/4″ x 8 3/4″)

4. Rubber Stamps (Same pattern, but in 2 different sizes) – Big Rubber Stamp, Small Rubber Stamp

5. Ink Pad, Clear for Embossing

6. Embossing Powder (We will use gold for this example)

7. Embossing heating tool

8. Paper Cutter

9. Pair of Scissors

10. Pencil

11. Ruler

Steps to create the invitation:

1. Open a word Document in Microsoft Word on your computer. Change the orientation of the document to landscape by going to Page Setup.
2. Make a table with one row and two columns on the document, such that one cell is 5 1/2″ wide and 8 1/2″ long in dimensions.
3. Type out your invitation text in each of the cells using your favorite font. You can use Da Font to find some beautiful fonts that are not available out of the box.
4. Print out the document on the Flat Paper (8 1/2″ X 11″).
5. Using paper cutter, cut out the paper along the edges of the document you created.
6. Now take each individual invitation, rubber stamp and ink pad. Apply clear ink to the smaller rubber stamp and apply it at the top center of the invite.
7. Now we will begin the process of embossing. We will take the gold embossing powder and pour it over the stamped area. The powder will stick to the stamped portion. Now remove the excess powder by pouring it back on another sheet of paper.
8. In order to emboss the stamp, we will use the heating tool. Plug the heating tool and test the temperature on your hand. Once its hot enough, then use it like a hair dryer over the stamped area with the embossing powder on it. You will notice that the stamp area will start getting embossed.
9. Repeat the last three steps on the flap of the pointed envelope with the bigger stamp.
10. Once the embossing has dried out, you can place the invite, along with the enclosures for RSVP, in the pointed inner envelope.
11. Use the outer envelope to address the invitation.
12. Note: Please make a sample or two before you buy supplies in bulk. Also, you can get the printed paper cut in bulk at Kinkos.

Your invitation is now ready! It is simple and elegant. The stamp looks Indian, but contemporary. Get ready to wow your guests!

While you want your wedding shoes to be gorgeous, you also have to be practical. You will be wearing them for a really long time and you have to make sure that they are comfortable. Jewels on wedding shoes look gorgeous, and you can achieve a good combination of gorgeous and comfort. If you want comfort, then you can go for shoes which have jewels on the center or side, as opposed to all over. There are many options to choose from. Here are some inspiration boards which can spark some ideas when selecting the perfect pair of shoes for your wedding day.

Summer is one of the most popular seasons to get married in. Summer weddings look gorgeous as there is an abundance of flowers to choose from. Since most blooms are in season, you don’t have to fly them in from other countries and it is cheaper to get your flowers during this time. In this post we will look at some popular summer flowers.

Asiatic Lilies

• Asiatic Lily: These lilies stand for pride, purity, innocence and beauty. Asiatic Lilies look very welcoming and will definitely warm up the room. They come in white, pink, yellow and orange.

Chrysanthemums

• Chrysanthemum: These flowers represent what every marriage should be filled with: cheerfulness, optimism, truth, long life, joy. Chrysanthemums are very symbolic and definitely a great choice. They come in white, yellow, orange, pink and other colors.

Delphinium

• Delphinium: This flower represents an open heart and are very welcoming. They come in in white and blue.

Lavender Centerpiece with Roses and Chrysanthemum

• English Lavender: This flower denotes purity, and devotion. They are known for their lovely fragrance and therapeutic uses. English Lavender will definitely relax your guests. They come in purple.
• Forget-me-not: This flower symbolizes true love, hope, remembrance, and memories. They Come in the color blue.

Freesia

• Freesia: Freesias mean innocence and thoughtfullness. They come in white, yellow, pink, blue and purple

Gerbera Daisies

• Gerbera daisy: Representing innocence and loyal love, they come in pink, yellow, orange, red and white

Hydrangea

• Hydrangea: This flower stands for understanding and comes in white, blue, purple and pink. They look absolutely stunning because the flower is big and full.

Rose Pomanders

• Rose: Love. One of the most common, but romantic flowers, roses do not need much description.Come in a whole variety of color.

Sunflower Inspiration Board

• Sunflower: Sunflowers are bright and bring warmth and cheer. It gets its positive qualities of friendliness, happy thoughts and fuzziness from its resemblance to the sun. The bright yellow colored flower is exuberant.

Tuberose

• Tuberose: These flowers are very fragrant and represent pleasure. They come in white.

Violet Inspiration Board

• Violet: Modesty, faithfulness, innocence, beauty – these are the qualities associated with Violets.

Zinnia

• Zinnia: Lasting Affection, Goodness, Thoughts of Absent Friends, Remembrance are what Zinnias are associated with. Comes in red, orange and pink.

Cymbidium Orchids

• Orchids: Orchids don’t do too well in extreme temperatures. During summer, you may be worried that the orchids will dry out. However, cymbidium orchids are one of the most wilt-resistant flowers that can be used during the summer season.

Candy buffets are the hottest trend in weddings these days. Not only do they satisfy the cravings of that sweet tooth, but also make for great eye candy at your wedding reception. They make a unique alternative to favors and also serve as late night snacks. So how do you go about creating these lovely candy buffets? The key points to remember when creating a candy buffet are: colors, presentation and quantity of candy. Let’s go in more detail.

Image Credit: Things Festive

Colors: Try to pick candy using your wedding color palette. If your colors are pink and white, go with the fairy tale theme for your table, where you go with bubble gum flavored candy, pink and white jelly beans, pink and white chocolate eggs etc. It might require some research, but you can find candy in shades that complements your wedding colors!

Presentation: The display of your candy buffet is equally important as your colors. The whole purpose of having a candy buffet is to add color and another element of decor to your wedding. The options are endless! However, some easy options might be to use similar vases as your centerpieces. Add some unique touches by using huge martini glasses or other shapes of floral vases. Vary the shapes and heights to make it look more dramatic. You could also add some bags of candy, for guests to take away with them. Often times, brides would accessorize the candy buffet with a separate centerpiece, fabric and ribbon.

Quantity: In order to have a perfect display, you need to have the right quantity of candy. One would think to start with the guest count in order to determine the quantity. I would say no! If you have 100 guests at your wedding and you decide to serve 3 ounces of candy to each guest, that is just going to be 18.5 pounds. This is not enough to have a good display! For a presentation of your buffet that will wow your guests, choose from 5 to 10 types of candy and buy around 15 pounds each – even if you don’t need that much. When it comes to candy, the more the merrier!

Gone are the days when there was just one boring style to wear a saree blouse. Today, there are a number of options to choose from. Everything in a saree blouse is customizable from the cut of the neck/back to the style of the sleeves. A saree blouse is a statement! Here are some blouses for inspiration when you are choosing a blouse style for your wedding outfits.

Image Credit: IndianWomenClothing.com

This is a traditional choli style blouse with hooks to secure and a string to tie the blouse at the back.

Image Credit: Indiwo.in

Another choli style blouse, but this time with a very deep back!

Image Credit: indianwonebclothin.com

A halter style net blouse with embroidery.

Image Credit: SareeDreams.com

Looking for a blouse that is more fashionable? Check out this halter blouse which has a collar and is secured by hooks at the back. If you like deep backs, you will love this blouse!

This halter blouse is made of brocade. A brocade blouse goes with almost any sari. If you do not want to wear your matching sari blouse and want something more trendy, then brocade blouses are definitely the way to go.

Check out this gorgeous bikini style blouse! Love the embroidery on the brocade.

Image Credit: SareeDreams.com

Check out this beautiful turquoise net blouse with stone work border on the bottom edge.

Image Credit: Flickr - radhikasarees

Check out the puff sleeved blouse below! Love the work on the blouse.

Long sleeved blouses are in! Whether it was Vidya Balan’s blouses in the movie Paa or Kareen Kapoor’s choli in the Bollywood hit 3 Idiots, long sleeved blouses look very elegant and stylish.

Check out Deepika Padukone donning a long sleeved blouse in Om Shanti Om: