Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh married as per South Indian traditions (Konkani wedding) in Italy’s Lake Como on Wednesday, 14th November 2018 afternoon in Italy and the couple will be taking their wedding vows according to Sindhi traditions on the next day. Deepika and Ranveer’s extremely private wedding happened in the presence of their families and close friends. Wedding ceremonies serve several purposes and they are often a cherished moment in a couple’s lives. A wedding ceremony is often utilized as a public display of marriage vows and of the couple entering into the marital contract. For most couples, the focus of the wedding ceremony, is on their commitment and love for each other.

The most important part of any wedding ceremony is the words utilized to proclaim never-ending love and appreciation between each unique couple. A wedding ceremony will include other elements, such as an offering of the love and support of family and friends present. In addition, a religious wedding ceremony helps couples commit their relationship to God (in temple, church, mosque).

Hindu marriages are based on age old traditions that have been translated into laws. According to traditions, a Hindu marriage cannot be reversed and is irrevocable. The modern day Hindu Marriage laws prohibit Polygamy or Polyandry. In India as well as most Hindu cultures across the world, arranged marriages are still the most preferred way of getting hitched. Consent and happiness of the families are of utmost important in Hindu culture as the marriage not only union of two souls, but also union of two families!

Even in this age of high-tech living, where life has become like a fast forward movie, wedding is still considered important to many people around the world. Most of the religious sectors view it as a necessary and sacred undertaking in order to adhere to their basic teachings. Christianity for example, has many wedding ceremonies that are practiced in every nation that believes in it. Muslims have their own traditions and practices also in celebrating wedding events. Although polygamous lifestyle is allowed by them, wedding is still an important event in the life of a Muslim believer.

In today’s world, we are witnessing many couples who live together without getting formally married. But, it is still not accepted wholeheartedly by the larger society. Couples say, we have accepted each other and are committed to each other. But, when you participate in a wedding ceremony, you’ll be asked to talk about your commitments. And your answer is always on the confirmatory. There are of course some exceptions like some couples who live under one roof and got married just for the sake of convenience.

You rarely see someone who is not excited about getting married. Most of the people are thrilled with the exception of those under pressure when their wedding was held. Wedding is one of the most important events in life of a person. It’s the start of a process in building a family. Wedding is the symbol of commitment and the foundation of your love to your partner. Building a warm home starts with choosing your partner for life. And this is officiated in a ceremony called wedding. A marriage rite is therefore important because it binds two people in a lifetime commitment.

Let’s look at different styles of wedding rites around the world:

In Congo it seems Congolese brides and grooms must keep their happiness in check; during their entire wedding day, from ceremony to reception, the two are not allowed to smile. If they do, it would mean they weren’t serious about marriage. Well, this is their custom. While most about-to-be married couples brim with excitement and eagerness, in this country the bride and groom have to present serious faces.

In China, a groom will shoot his bride with a bow and arrow several times then collects the arrows and breaks them during the ceremony, to ensure their love lasts forever. What would Cupid do?

In France, brides and grooms traditionally eat chocolate and champagne after the reception. But, do you know that they must consume these treats from a toilet bowl? The point is to give the twosome strength before their wedding night; unfortunately, if the bowls are not clean, it might give them something else.

In Fiji, when a man asks a woman’s father for her hand in marriage, he must present his future father-in-law with a whale’s tooth.

While in many brides-to-be in other countries go on strict diets to lose weight before the wedding. It is not so in Mauritius, where young girls are forced to pack on the pounds before their weddings. The chubbier she is the better for the husband who is thought to be wealthy with such a well-fed wife!

In Germany, the bride and the groom are supposed to do housekeeping ritual together. German brides and grooms clean up piles of porcelain dishes that their guests threw on the ground to ward off any evil spirits. The lesson: when the couple works together, they can face any challenge thrown their way.

Whereas in Scotland, the couple elopes! It seems centuries ago England restricted marriage for couples who were 21 and above. But that didn’t stop young lovers from finding a loophole, or to elope to a nearby Scottish town without such limitations. Today that village, Gretna Green, is still popular for couples who want to elope.

In Guatemalan, as wedding reception hosts, the parents of Guatemalan grooms can do whatever they want, including smash things. When the newlyweds arrive, it’s a tradition that the groom’s mom breaks a white ceramic bell, filled with grains like rice and flour, to bring prosperity to the couple!

So friends, a wedding ritual in any part of the world is performed to state a couple’s wedding vows and the love and support of their family and friends. Guests help to celebrate the couple’s commitment to each other. Wedding ideas and practices are rooted in historical practices. Most couples even today choose to hold a ceremony that is practiced in age-old style, while adding some individualized sentiment to the occasion. The most important part of a wedding ceremony is the vows between the bride and groom. The vows help couples to state publicly their commitment to the relationship.

Weddings are seen as status symbol and people take great pride in declaring how much they spent on their wedding. Weddings are given an industry status; it consists of the providers of services and goods for weddings. In the United States, there are approximately 2.5 million weddings each year, India sees approximately 1,00,00,000 weddings each year, Currently, the Indian wedding industry is over Rs 100,000 crore and is growing at 25 to 30 per cent annually. The wedding industry has greatly expanded over the years, becoming a multi-million dollar industry that most brides and grooms buy into.

Europe has very less number of marriages as in many other Western countries, the average age for marriage is increasing and is almost 30 for men and 28 for women, who on average give birth for the first time at 30.

Among the costliest weddings list in world, Kate and William’s wedding expenses were to the tune of $34 million, William’s parent’s Prince Charles and Diana’s wedding was a rocking wedding costing $48 million and Vanita Mittal (daughter of Laxmi Mittal) and Amit Bhatia’s wedding costliest to the tune of $60 million.

The point is: do we really think sensibly on deeper concept of marriage? Do we really care for the sacred concept of marriage? Instead, we take the opportunity to show off our wealth, that we are marrying our daughter in a wealthy family, that our son is our prince that we are traditional people, and we celebrate so exquisitely that as though the whole world will remember the wedding. Many couples believe that the more money they spend on this event, the more they will be news. Weddings have become events for impressing others, instead of a celebration of the couple’s love.

Stability of marriage: After spending huge money on wedding, one is not sure of its stability; there is an exponential rise in divorce cases. Some couples opt instead for live-in relation. Marriages are increasingly becoming fragile.  The underlying causes of divorce have also been taking a new dimension. Factors such as incompatibility etc. have all existed in the past, but what is new is that the tolerance threshold seems to have moved down while the ego of marital partners has risen significantly. Couples separate on flimsy grounds. People lack patience and commitment. So the conspicuity shown in the grand wedding becomes an elapsed past. Wedding is an event that everyone forgets anyways except the couple.

Details including the bride’s and groom’s dress, the invitations, the venue, the menu, the cake, seating arrangements, entertainment events, celebrity list, choreographer, jewellery, décor, priest, religious ceremonies everything needs to be planned.  Not only is everything perfectly planned, it’s practically staged. Bollywood and Hollywood movies always has an influence on people’s mind in terms of weddings. People see a movie with a wedding sequence and they immediately decide the wedding trousseau, decoration and invites accordingly. Today, people are more prone to adding that ‘personal touch’ to their wedding decor. ‘Out of the box’ ideas flow in the décor, ambience of the wedding sets. People want exotic fruits, flowers, show pieces, lights, candles, props, cloth being used for their wedding stage. You see the entrance of the bridal party and groomsmen, the entrance and introduction of the bride and groom, the first dance, the eventual serving of the food, the toasts, the father/daughter dance, the cake cutting, the bouquet and garter toss, etc., etc. Wedding has become a big entertainment.

These days we see the trend of destination wedding; it is an opportunity for couples to celebrate their marriage at a gorgeous destination of their choice away from home. Couples opt for stunning locations such as the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, Europe, Kashmir etc.

The real meaning of wedding: It’s sad when you really think of it – weddings do not reflect the reality of what they are supposed to mark, which is the beginning of a marriage and the joining and beginning of two people’s lives together surrounded by their closest friends and families. Marriage is about much more than a fancy party, décor, entertainment or a sparkling ring, it is about the understanding the underlying reasons of commitments two people make to each other. A marriage means that the couple should strive to nourish each other. This does not mean only feeding each other but to fulfil each other’s requirements and wishes in a complete way. Two people must be seeded with a desire to grow together in strength; wedding vow inspires the young couple to grow together in all aspects of life together and be pillars of support for each other. The couple must stay in union in all joys and sorrows; it is said that joys are doubled and sorrows are halved when shared. The relationship in a marriage calls for sharing the joys and sorrows between the girl and boy, hence improving the quality of their lives.

Guest list: Whom should you invite for wedding and whom not? When you start compiling a list of all the people that you would possibly want to witness the ceremony, you will notice that you will absolutely need certain people there on the big day while you’ll feel more indifferently towards others. Ranking the priority of each person on your list is important. Although, ranking the people in your life in order of priority may sound rude, but it’s necessary when you need to trim down your guest list to those who are most important to you. Once you have compiled the full list of all the potential guests, you can work your way backwards through the rankings to decide who will receive an invitation and who will not. It is very important to respect each person’s presence in the wedding. Sometimes we see that people aren’t so close but are invited for the wedding and they feel lost. Their presence is not noticed. We see lot of people criticizing the wedding dress of the bride or the groom, the food, the décor and many other things. The unhappy guests want everyone to know how much they are not enjoying the wedding.

Marriage is a private affair, it is a very beautiful and important part of our lives. When two people decide to spend their lives together, marriage is the final step.