Wedding Extravaganza

A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united together in a bond or in a relation that will go through their entire life.

Weddings in Pakistan

In Pakistan weddings are not only meant or made to develop a relation between a man or woman but also it creates a bond between their respective families. Here in Pakistan weddings are celebrated at a huge excitement with respect to their customs and traditions,nowadays more functions means more fun and enjoyment not only the relatives are involved in the ceremony but the whole surroundings that are linked with bride and groom their families,relatives,friends,neighbours and everyone around them.
    Pakistani weddings are composed of many functions nowadays but mostly practised functions are;

• Dholki
• Mayon
• Mehandi
• Shadi
• Valima or reception

Dholki:  

           A function that is celebrated before mayon or the first function that start the wedding. Dholki is a popular ceremony of singing traditional wedding & popular songs accompanied by two or three instruments Dholak being the main.Everyone take part in the dance performances which create more fun and enjoyment to the whole function, relatives of both bride and groom's family prepare proper performances for the next event or function that is mostly  mayon or mehandi.

Mayon:

        Mayon is basically celebrated at bride's place in which the family follows customs and traditions of their religion and belonging of a society that they are living in.Ordinarily bride's friends and relatives get unitedly at her home and they celebrate this happening event by singing songs and other fun stuffs. In this function the bride is dressed in a yellow traditional dress.The day also includes the henna where the women put mehandi designs on each others hand.

Mehandi: 

        This ceremony is typically takes place one or two days prior to the main wedding day. The event is traditionally held separately for the bride and the groom, and henna is placed on the couple's hands. The groom's friends and family bring along sweets and henna for the bride, and the bride's family does the same for the groom. On the bride's ceremony the groom normally does not participate and similarly, on the groom's event the bride stays at home.

 

Shadi:

     The main day of the wedding is called shadi, which is the bride's reception. The bride's family is responsible for the reception and arrangements on this day. It is an event when two souls are unite together as one. The bride's get rukhsat from her home and they both start a new life after getting married. The guests are invited to the event to show their presence in the happiness of  newly married couple. People bless the couple with their prayers and best wishes.

 

 Valima / Reception:

         This is the final day of the wedding held by couple as they host their first dinner as husband and wife. The groom's family invites all of the guests for a feast at their place or a marriage hall.
The bride wears a heavily decorated dress with gold jewellery provided by the groom's family.Typical colour palettes are pastel shades.The Western equivalent to the walima would be the reception, though walima's are held the day after the shadi.