INDIAN WEDDING PLANNING

A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Weddings in India vary
according to the region, the religion, the community and the personal preferences of the bride
and groom. They are festive occasions in India, and in most cases celebrated with extensive
decorations, colour, music, dance, costumes and rituals that depend on the community, region
and religion of the bride and the groom, as well as their preferences.[1] India celebrates about
10 million weddings per year,[2] of which about 80% are Hindu weddings.

While there are many festival-related rituals in Hinduism, vivaah (wedding) is the most
extensive personal ritual an adult Hindu undertakes in his or her life.A Hindu wedding,
known as Vivaha (विवाह) in Sanskrit or Lagna (लग्न) or Kalyanam (कल्याणम्) is the
traditional wedding ceremony for Hindus.Typical Hindu families spend significant effort and
financial resources to prepare and celebrate weddings. The rituals and process of a Hindu
wedding vary depending on region of India, local adaptations, resources of the family and
preferences of the bride and the groom. Nevertheless, there are a few key rituals common in
Hindu weddings – Kanyadaan, Panigrahana, and Saptapadi;
Kanyadana – the giving away of his daughter by the father.
Panigrahana – a ritual in presence of fire, where the groom takes the bride's hand as a sign of
their union.
Saptapadi – the crucial ritual. The term means ‘seven steps’, with each step corresponding (in
the Long Form) to a pair of vows: groom to the bride, and bride to groom. The vows are
pronounced in Sanskrit; sometimes also[clarification needed] in the language of the couple.
(For the Short Form see below.) Like Panigrahana, Saptapadi is performed in presence of
fire, and in many weddings, after each of their seven oaths to each other, the groom and bride
perform the ritual of agnipradakshinam: walking around the fire, with hands linked or with
the ends of their garments tied together. The groom usually leads the bride in the walk.[11]
[clarification needed] Fire is the divine witness (to the marriage),[4] and after Saptapadi the
couple are considered husband and wife.

Jain and Buddhist weddings in India, share many themes, but are centered around their
respective religious ideas and texts. Sikhs get married through a ceremony called Anand
Karaj, a ritual started by the third leader of Sikhism, Guru Amar Das. The couple walk
around the holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib four times. Indian Muslims celebrate a
traditional Islamic wedding following customs similar to those practiced in the Middle East.
The rituals include Nikah, payment of financial dower called Mahr by the groom to the bride,
signing of marriage contract, and a reception.[9] Indian Christian weddings follow customs
similar to those practiced in the Christian countries in the West in states like Goa but have
more Indian customs in other states.
The wedding memories are always pristine and beautiful. Every couple has a story to recite,
with million awestruck moments. It can be made worth remembering with careful planning,
oraganising, staffing, directing and co-ordinating. Here are some management functions in a
wedding ceremony:

PLANNING
Planning means looking ahead and chalking out future courses of action to be followed. It is a
preparatory step. It is a systematic activity which determines when, how and who is going to
perform a specific job. Planning is a detailed programme regarding future courses of action.

It is rightly said “Well plan is half done”. Therefore planning takes into consideration
available & prospective human and physical resources so as to get effective co-ordination,
contribution & perfect adjustment. It is the basic management function which includes
formulation of one or more detailed plans to achieve optimum balance of needs or demands
with the available resources.
These will be planned in a wedding ceremony:
 Fix a wedding date
The first most important step in a wedding will be fixing a wedding date. You will
have to select your wedding date as soon as you can. There may be some back and
forth as you will reach out to must-attend family and friends to hash out dates that
work for everyone. But weekends for popular venues will fill up fast, so decide as
early as possible. If you will be planning a weekday wedding (a good option when
your budget is tight), you’ll have more wiggle room.

Pro tip: Have your top-3 wedding dates in mind as you begin your wedding venue
search so you can compare rates at the same venue or expand your options. If you will
be planning 14+ months in advance, include two dates in one season and one date in
another for variety. If you have less than 14 months and have a dream venue in mind,
check what they even have available first before choosing the best dates.

 Set your budget.

People tend to spend a lot without designing a budget. A wedding is not a single day
celebration. It comes with lots of events. Plus, there are equal investments in outfits,
jewellery, gifts and more.

The list is vast so, it is advised to have a budget. Don’t end up messing with all; sit,
relax and understand. This is where you need to get realistic and take a close look at
the funding for your wedding. Budgeting can be stressful, but try to look at it as an
exercise in making wise financial decisions as a team.

Here’s what to do: Look at your savings. How much money do you each have in
savings? What percentage of your savings are you willing to put towards the
wedding? Make note of this early on and try to stick to it.
Start saving now. How much you can set aside will vary depending on the date of
your wedding. Some couples opt to reduce their monthly spending (fewer lunches out,
cancelling the streaming services you barely use, etc.) and put those savings into their
wedding account.

Add it all up. Put the above numbers together and you should have a rough estimate
of your wedding budget.

 Choose your wedding ceremony location.

Decide where you will be holding the ceremony has an impact on where the
reception, and the rest of the wedding events, will be held. Some venues offer both
ceremony and reception space, while others, like many places of worship, may be
ceremony-centric. Use a wedding venue search tool like Wedding Spot to sort venues
by services offered, distance to other venues, and more.

Pro tip: If you’re planning on having live music for your ceremony, make sure your
venue isn’t located in an area with a strict noise ordinance in place, and consider the
needs of neighbouring homes and businesses. You’ll also want to consider any sound
issues your venue has that may interrupt your ceremony, such as nearby roads, gun
ranges, etc.

 Choose your wedding venue.

Wedding Spot will let you explore venues by location, style, budget, number of
guests, and services offered by the site. Popular wedding venue types include:
Barn/farm/ranch
Outdoor
Garden/park
Brewery/winery/vineyard
Rustic/vintage
Beach
Hotel/resort

Once you’ve settled on your top three or four venues, it’s time to find out if they’re
available on your wedding date. If they are, the next step is a site visit, either with
your wedding planner or with your partner — or both.

Pro tip: Narrow down your search by budget first, then aesthetic and scenery.

 Build your guest list.

First things first, commit to keeping this process as stress-free as possible. Pick a
relaxed time on a weekend when you don’t have other demands and sit down with
your partner. Keep your approximate wedding size in mind — building a guest list for
a small wedding is going to be different than choosing who to invite to a large one.
Here are some tips to keep the process smooth:
Write down all of the names of people you’d like to attend — even if they live across
the world or your partner doesn’t know them that well. You will have to track your
guest names in a wedding planning app or a spreadsheet. Manage guest requests from
family. It’s okay to invite some people your parents would love to share your wedding
day with, but try to keep the number reasonable.

 Planning the list of functions and other things

You will have to plan what all functions will be held before or after the wedding
ceremony like haldi, mehendi and sangeet party. So you can invite the guests 2-3 days
prior to the ceremony.

According to the functions outfits, jewellery, makeup artists, caterers, florists,

photographers, cinematographers, pandits etc will be booked and planned in advance.
Organising