Indian Accessories

A wedding is celebrated in all parts and cultures of the world with fun and festivity. Wedding traditions and customs are different for different cultures, religions, countries, ethnic groups and social classes. A bride is usually

donned with customary outfits followed by subsequent generations on her wedding day. As Pakistan was a part of India before 1947 the bridal costumes of various religions in these two countries are almost the same. As a multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual nation, different parts of India follow different styles of wedding dresses in accordance with their traditions.
Sari, the national dress of Indian women, is worn by most of the Hindu brides as their wedding costume. South Indian brides generally wear very expensive Kanjeevaram silk saris with elaborate zari works while their North Indian counter parts go for too costly Banarasi silk or some other richly embroidered and stone-studded expensive saris. Usually bridal saris come in popular traditional colors like maroon, magenta, pink and red.
In some parts of North India brides wear “Ghagra Choli as their wedding attire. Ghagra choli is available in three pieces, a long skirt, a short top choli/blouse and a long scarf known as “dupatta” to drape over the shoulders. In Punjab and Haryana this outfit is known as “Lehenga Choli”. The bridal ghagra choli is usually found in the popular traditional colors of maroon, burgundy, pink, red or wine red. In addition to the lehenga choli, Punjabi brides prefer to wear salwar-kameez, popularly called Punjabi Suits. You can see the dominance of red shades in the Punjabi bridal dresses. These bridal dresses are made up of costly silk or some superior variety of fabrics.
Lehanga or ghagra cholis are very much favored by Pakistani brides whereas Pakistani Punjabi brides’ choice goes with Punjabi suit. But some of the conservative Muslim brides in Pakistani Punjab do wear ‘burkahs’ or purdah instead of dupatta. Kurti is another costume worn by some Pakistani brides. Kurti, worn by women in North India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, is a traditional piece of attire, similar to male kurta. Traditional Pakistani brides hide their face with a veil while North Indian brides cover their head with dupatta or an end of the sari and the South Indians leave their head and face uncovered.
Both Indian and Pakistani bridal costumes are adorned with magnificent embroidery works at neckline and front hems. Some bridal dresses have even rich embroidery works done with gold or silver threads. These dresses are sometimes embellished with embroidery using colored beads and glittering stones or mirrors. Above all, certain well-to-do families in India and Pakistan use expensive jewelry in the making of bridal costumes.