Mehandi designs for bride

      Indian weddings, which are traditionally multi-day affairs, involve many intricate ceremonies, such as “medhndi”, the practice of painting intricate patterns on the bride’s hands and feet.
The idea is to make the bride feel like a princess as she is about to start a new life.

Underwater Wedding.

   Scuba weddings are safe, fun and exciting.  Your underwater marriage will be a memorable experience--uniquely yours.  The sea embraces you both.  Underneath the waves there are no distractions, you hear each other breaths and the beating of your hearts.   

  Getting married underwater is a romantic and unique way to start your life together.  Under the waves, silence embraces you both and the majesty of the marine world becomes a witness to your commitment.

 An each time you descend in the magic of inner space  you will remember your oath of friendship and love.

Decide whether to get married underwater?

History of Marriage

Most ancient societies needed a secure environment for the perpetuation of the species,a system of rules to handle the granting of property rights, and the protection of bloodlines. The institution of marriage handled these needs. For instance, ancient Hebrew law required a man to become the husband of a deceased brother's widow.

Different periods of time and different cultures have very different histories when it comes to women. Ancient Egypt in theory, gave women equal rights, but it wasn't always practiced. Medieval women faced dual responsibilities to religion and marriage.

Throughout history, and even today, families arranged marriages for couples. The people involved didn't and don't have much to say about the decision. Most couples didn't marry because they were in love but for economic liasons.

Some marriages were by proxy, some involved a dowry (bride's family giving money or presents to the groom or his family), some required a bride price (the groom or his family giving money or a present to the bride's family), few had any sort of courtship or dating, but most had traditions.

One nearly universal tradition is that of the engagement ring. This custom can be dated back to the ancient Romans. It is believed that the roundness of the ring represents eternity. Therefore, the wearing of wedding rings symbolizes a union that is to last forever. It was once thought that a vein or nerve ran directly from the "ring" finger of the left hand to the heart.

The notion of marriage as a sacrament and not just a contract can be traced St. Paul who compared the relationship of a husband and wife to that of Christ and his church (Eph. v, 23-32).
Joseph Campbell, in the Power of Myth, mentions that the Twelfth century troubadours were the first ones who thought of courtly love in the same way we do now. The whole notion of romance apparently didn't exist until medieval times, and the troubadours.

The statement of Pope Nicholas I in which he declared in 866, "If the consent be lacking in a marriage, all other celebrations, even should the union be consummated, are rendered void", shows the importance of a couple's consent to marriage. It has remained an important part of church teaching through the years.
There appeared to be many marriages taking place without witness or ceremony in the 1500's. The Council of Trent was so disturbed by this, that they decreed in 1563 that marriages should be celebrated in the presence of a priest and at least two witnesses. Marriage took on a new role of saving men and women from being sinful, and of procreation. Love wasn't a necessary ingredient for marriage during this era.
Years later, the Puritans viewed marriage as a very blessed relationship that gave marital partners an opportunity to not only love, but also to forgive.

Many people hold the view that regardless of how people enter into matrimony, marriage is a bond between two people that involves responsibility and legalities, as well as commitment and challenge. That concept of marriage hasn't changed through the ages.

Wedding cakes

World Most Expensive Weddings.

Donald Trump and Melania Knauss (January 22, 2005, Cost: $1 million)

    Although it costs just a measly million dollars, the Palm Beach wedding of Donald Trump and Melania Knauss in 2005 was quite an opulent affair. The Grand Mariner cake weighed 200 lbs and the bride's Dior dress cost $200,000 with a 13-foot train, 1500 rhinestones and pearls, and weighing 60 lbs. Performances by Tony Bennett and Billy Joel entertained the guests, consisting of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Shaquille O'Neal and Rudy Giulaini. So far, this one has lasted, not costing the Donald more in the long run like many of his prior marriages.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (November 18, 2006,Cost: $2 million)

   Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' 2006 wedding at Italys 15th-century Odescalchi Castle was another spectacle of extravagance, to the tune of $2 million. The bridal party attire was designed by Giorgio Armani. Andrea Boccelli performed at the ceremony. And getting married at a castle, for God's sake makes your own fire hall reception seem a bit drab, doesn't it? The TomKat wedding ranks on Forbes' list of the most expensive, lavish weddings of any celebrity.

 Elizabeth Hurley and Arun Nayar. (March 2, 2007,Cost: 2.5 million)

     Actress and model Elizabeth Hurley wed Indian textile heir Arun Nayar in 2007 in a $2.5 million, eight-day celebration spanning Europe and Asia. The couple was married in Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, Britain for Hurley's family and friends, then again in Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur, India for Nayar's people. Elton John gave Hurley away. Other guests at these lavish ceremonies included Elle Macpherson, Donatella Versace, and Evelyn Lauder. Guess Hurley put some of that Estee Lauder money to good use! Think Hugh Grant would have shelled out that much to marry her? 

  

Paul McCartney and Heather Mills (June 11, 2002, Cost: $3 million)

   Former Beatle Paul McCartney spent $3 million to say  Love me do to Heather Mills in 2002 in Glaslough, Ireland. Three hundred guests witnessed the ceremony, which included fireworks, a pageant, and a grand feast. Traditional Indian dancers performed for the couple, who spent their wedding night on a $20 million yacht. Unfortunately, all of this extravagance didn't carry over into the marriage, which ended in 2008. The wedding ended up being  A Hard Day's Night for McCartney, who shelled out that much and still had to pay Mills a whopping $50 million in the divorce.

Liza Minelli and David Gest (March 16, 2002 Cost: $3.5 million)

   In one of the most flamboyant and strangest wedding ceremonies of recent memory, David Gest married Liza Minelli on March 16, 2002 at Manhattan's Collegiate Church, to the tune of $3.5 million. Over 850 guests attended, including Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, and Natalie Cole. The 6 foot tall, 12 tier cakes was spectacular, at a cost of $40,000. More than $700,000 was spent on flowers alone. Sadly, the wedding didn't last more than a year, as this odd couple divorced in 2003.

Delphine Arnault and Alessandro Vallarino Gancia (September 24, 2005, Cost: Over $7 million)

    Delphine Arnault, the daughter of French businessman Bernard Arnault, married Alessandro Vallarino Gancia, of the Gancia wine dynasty, in 2005 at the Cote d'Azur, France. This affair is said to have cost over $7 million. Her gown wasn't bought off the rack at David's Bridal  it was created by famed fashion designer ohn Galliano. The wedding venue was decorated with 5000 white roses. Famous wedding guests included Elizabeth Hurley and Karl Lagerfeld. Harper's Bazaar called this spectacular wedding 2005's Wedding of the Year.

Wayne Rooney and Colleen McLaughlin (June 12, 2008 Cost: $15 million)

     The wedding of television presenter/product endorser Colleen McLaughlin and Manchester United/England football star Wayne Rooney took place in Portofino, Italy on June 12, 2008. Although their wedding was quite expensive, at 10 million, the couple was reportedly able to recoup 5 million of that amount through a deal with Britain's OK! Magazine, allowing them to publish exclusive wedding information and pictures. The festivities turned into a four-day celebration on a yacht, with 64 guests flown in on five private jets. Whats really odd about this wedding is that the couple had a simple civil ceremony and served pizza at the reception...but all the accoutrements (like the dress, designed by Georgia Chapman's Marchesa label which cost a reported 3 million itself) added up.

Vikram Chatwal and Priya Sachdev (February 18, 2006, Cost: $20 million)

    The son of a New York hotelier, Vikram Chatwal married model/actress Priya Sachdev in February 2006 during a 10-day celebration spread across three Indian cities (Mumbai, Udaipur, and Delhi), costing an estimated $20 million. Six hundred guests from 26 countries attended the nuptials, and were flown in on private chartered jets. Guests included Bill Clinton, Naomi Campbell, and P. Diddy. Makes your own guest list of 150 seem tiny in comparison, doesn't it?

Aleksandra Kokotovic and Andrei Melnichenko (September 3, 2005, Cost: $30 million)

   Russian billionaire and founder of MDM Bank Andrei Melnichenko tied the knot with former Miss Yugoslavia and Serbian model Aleksandra Kokotovich in 2005 at Cote D'Azur, France, to the tune of $30 million. Rather than having a church soloist or your cousin Debbie sing at the wedding, this ceremony included performances by Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston, both of whom were flown in on private jets and given an estimated $3.6 million each to perform.

Vanisha Mittal and Amit Bhatia (November 18, 2006 Cost: $78 million)

    The record-holder for the world's most expensive wedding to date is the nuptials of Vanisha Mittal (daughter of billionaire Lakshmi Mittal) and investment banker Amit Bhatia. This wedding took place at Vaux le Vicomte, a 17th-century chateau in France, in 2004. The elaborate, outrageous wedding has been honored by Forbes' Magazine as one of the most expensive weddings, and currently ranks in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most expensive wedding ever recorded, with $78 million spent. The wedding went on for five days, and included extravagances such as invitations sent out in a 20 page silver book, 100 different dishes prepared by a top Calcutta chef, a wine tab of $1.5 million, and 1000 guests on hand to witness the world's most expensive wedding ceremony ever. 

Love Marriage and Arranged Marriage.

www.marrychoice.com

              when we look into the Indian culture and tradition, its mostly arranged marriage that happens, but now things are changing, old customs are just remaining customs. In arranged marriages, usually the parents or some elderly person comes up with a proposal for marriage and then they go through the horoscopes, educational qualifications, physical, chemistry, biology, family backgrounds / history and all kinds of stuffs and then finally the acceptance from the boy and the girl. Acceptance from girl side was not of high priority in most cases earlier, but now things have started changing. Some are really forced to get married according to the wish of their parents or elders. In fact they have to sacrifice their life for the sake of keeping their parents happy.

             In love marriage, when a boy fall in love with a girl who matches his likes or a girl likes a boy and they becomes friend. The friendship may grow more closer and at one stage if they feel comfortable with each other, they may decide to become life partners. In most of the cases, all these happens without the knowledge of their parents. When the stage comes to get married or if a the girl or the boy is forced to get married to another person, these things come out. Some parents may take it positively and may agree to go ahead with the proposal have will end up with a ceremonial wedding. But in most of the cases, they lose the support from their parents and with the help of their friends, they are forced to go for a registered wedding and end up separating from their family.

Advantages of arranged marriage.

   Its not always that arranged marriages are successful or love marriage are successful. When its an arrange marriage, the parents do support the relationship and they try their best to keep the relationship live as it is their responsibility too. Arranged marriages are good, if you believe in astrology and horoscope. I have seen that some really grow good, life changes after getting married and some vise versa. In arranged marriage, the boy and girl will be from the same religion and caste, so they have the life style, food and culture. In arranged marriages, the girl is more protected as the parents care for  a girl who married according to their wish.

Disadvantages of Arranged Marriages

   All of a sudden you start your life with a person with you have hardly spend any time. You don’t know the person or you may even not like the person if you have go married because your parents and elders decided your marriage. Most of the cases the girl is forced to sacrifice their likes and adjust to the reality. Some may just live their life it goes believing its their fate and their parents are happy, but some break up. Some start their love life after the wedding and really enjoy and are happy.

Love Marriage

   Love marriage is a legal right for two individuals who care and love for each other to live together and go ahead with their life. In love marriage, you know each other well, you are not going to be with any stranger or you may not have much problems if you know about the person well before you decide to spend your life together. A love marriage can become un-successful, if you had a very short time time know each other and just decided to get married. If you are knowing each other well and you are sure that you can get along with each other without any problems then you can decide to get married. In short the advantage of going for a love marriage is that you are going to live your life with a person who you know well and you are sure that you can get along well.

          Its not easy to go for a love marriage. You need to first fall in love with someone and that person should like you as well. It takes time to know each other and both of you should feel comfortable with each other. Decide to get married to a person who loves you more than you love that person. In many cases I have seen that one person is badly in love with the other person, but not vise versa. Never force somebody to love you and get married, you should give sufficient time to the other person whom you love to know you more and you should take sufficient time to learn your partner well before you both come to a decision to live together.

          In my opinion, nobody can be sure that he or she will fall in love with a person and even if he or she falls in love with somebody, that person will fall in love in return. If you don’t fall in love or not get a right person, then you can think of arranged marriages. Even in arranged marriages you can know the person well before you decide to get married. You should make sure that your proposed partner likes you as well and is not agreeing for the wedding because of any pressure from her / his parents or any other reasons.

What’s your opinion? Should you go for a love marriage or a arranged?
 

Height difference between husband and wife for marriage.

Height is a major factor for choosing a mate - if its not love marriage. So whats the ideal height.

For 5 feet 6 inch guy the ideal height is approx 5 feet 1 to 5 feet 2.
For 5 feed 10 inch guy the ideal height is approx 5 feet 4 inch and above - yes only 5 feet is too less - the couple might not look good. 

Generally 4-5 inche difference between male and female is great!. 

Generally in the world girls fall in the range 4 feet 9 inch to 5 feet 7 inches while men fall in the range 5 feet to 6 feet 1 inch

Tall wife and short husband combination is quite less common - it might look more awkward as the lady might look more taller if she wears a  heel.  In such as situation its recommended to wear a shoe with a heel.
  

Reception Seating Arrangements

    

Wedding planning comes with two hugely yucky tasks: creating the guest list and arranging the reception seating. Hopefully, this article will help you better cope with the latter. With so much family, forming seating charts for South Asian weddings can be a tormenting process. While there is no way to keep everyone happy, hopefully you can maneuver some major pitfalls.

1. Family Run your final seating chart by both families. I’m mentioning this first, because it is incredibly important. South Asian weddings are not ALL about the couple, and family plays a major role. Your parents may be really close to relatives you don’t really know and may want them seated closer to their own tables. Plus, your parents will know the social norms in your community. 2. Back Tables/Tables by DJ/Tables by Kitchen Occupy these tables with people you ‘had’ to invite, but don’t care that much for: coworkers, people you used to be good friends with, neighbors, people that invited your parents to weddings, etc. Chances are these people don’t care that much about you either, and won’t be offended. 3. No Castaways If you have a group of friends and don’t have space to seat them all on one table, don’t castaway just one or two to a table full of strangers. That’s just rude. Instead, divide your friends equally amongst the two tables and fill any extra seats with close cousins. I know a couple that made this mistake last summer, and their castaways were annoyed enough to leave early. 4. Singles Tables Don’t have them. 5. Ego Plays Is there an aunt or uncle that will alarm the guards if not placed next to the head table? Definitely check with your parents to see whose ego needs to be assigned where. The last thing you want is for a crazy uncle to be expressing his disappointment rather loudly during your reception.   6. Be Respectful Be considerate of the elderly and of people with disabilities. Don’t put an elderly grandmother next to the DJ. 7. Mind the Distance If a guest has traveled the seven seas to witness your wedding, give them a decent seat. 8. Children If you’re inviting children to the wedding, don’t jump to placing them at a ‘kiddie’ table. You’ll need to account for age and personality- will these kids be nervous being away from their parents in such a large setting? 9. Vents Avoid placing tables under vents.  I’ve been seated at tables under vents and was too busy shivering to enjoy the reception. 10. Parents Often, the bride and groom’s parents host their own tables with their own close family and friends. If both sets of parents want to sit together and also want their respective guests at the table, consider having a long rectangular table just for them.