We have now created a new section of news regarding wedding. Most of the news here you would find interesting and our aim is not to hurt any one but to keep our users inform and entertain them.

Let me share first news with you. 

In Iran a husband has been ordered by the court to give Haq Mahr (under Islamic law it is kind of dowry husband has to pay if they get divorced or if wife demands) to his wife. But guess what the Haq Mahr was??? It was one hundred and twenty four thousand roses!! .  The unhappy wife decided to punish her husband and she demanded her Haq Mahr at their 10^th wedding anniversary.

Sari is a traditional dress for women in south Asia and most of female baratis like to wear sari in weddings. It’s a strip of unstitched cloth of different length and is draped over the body in various styles. The most common style is to wrap it around the waist and then draped over shoulder baring the midriff. The sari is usually worn over petticoat with a blouse. There are different styles of wrapping the sari some of them are Nivi style, North / Indian style and Dravidian style.
In Sri Lanka there are two famous ways to wear the sari: the Indian style and the Kandyan style. In Pakistan the sari has almost been replaced by Shalwar Kameez.

Cheongsam is a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women.  It is called qipao or qipaor in Chinese language and in English it is known as mandarin gown.  The first traditional qipao dress was wide buggy and a bit loose when it was introduced.  It covered most of the woman’s body except head and hands.  Due to its loose buggy nature the traditional qipao conceal the figure of a woman regardless of her age.

The modern version of qipao is especially noted for accentuating the figures of women and due to this reason it is highly popular in high societies.  There are different version of modern qipao such as high-necked sleeveless dresses, bell-like sleeves and the black lace frothing at the edge of a ball gown.

The traditional Chinese divorce process is quite interesting. A Chinese marriage can be dissolve in following three ways.

The first way is No-fault divorce in which the fault of either party does not require and the marriage may be dissolved due to personal incompatibility but a divorce note is required from husband.

The second way of divorce is through a state-mandated annulment of marriage. This way applies when one of spouse commits a serious crime. However it should be based on the seven reasons to give divorce in this method. For example if wife fails to bear a son, she is vulgar or lewd, she is jealous, she has got a vile disease, she is not good with her in-laws, she is gossipy or she commits a theft.

However unilateral divorce can be disallowed under the following conditions.

Wife has no family to return.

She had observed a 3-years mourning for parents in-law.

Her husband was poor at the time of marriage and now he is rich.

Chinese marriage is a ceremonial ritual within Chinese societies which is established by the pre-arrangement between families. In Chinese culture love marriages are allowed.  In some of Chinese traditions people in primitive societies didn’t marry, but had sexual relationship with one indiscriminately.  In Chinese society males should not marry females of the same surname.  This is seen as incest.

A Chinese marriage initiated by a series of three letters.

1)      A formal request letter is sent from groom’s family to bride’s family.

2)      A gift letter sent to groom’s family to the bride’s family shortly before the wedding.

3)      The wedding letter is given to bride’s family officially accepting the bride into the groom’s family.

Wedding ring or band symbolizes the, marriage. A spouse wears it to indicate a marital commitment. In some part of the world wedding ring worn on left ring finger but mostly it is worn on the right ring finger. The metal of the ring is different in different countries. For example in European countries people prefer to wear white gold wedding ring whereas in Asian countries people where wedding ring of pure gold. The interesting thing is that in European countries wedding ring is a very important and essential part and above all is most expensive thing of a wedding but in Asian countries it has got less importance in a wedding.

The last day of wedding called walima equivalent to wedding reception of a western wedding. Basically it is a feast dinner invitation from groom’s family to all their friends and relatives including the bride’s family. On walima day bride wears a heavily decorated dress and jewellery provided by the groom’s family.  As mentioned above it is the last day of a Pakistani wedding however it can be held on Rukhsati day. These days the venue for walima is a marriage hall however it can be held at groom’s house. Walima reflects the financial status of groom and his family. In most cases it is most expensive part of a wedding and one try to his level best to give an extensive dinner to guests on walima.

The nikah (a religious marriage contract) takes place either on Shaadi day or any other day.  It is the most essential part of a Muslim marriage as without nikah it will not be considered as marriage. All other events of the marriage are not essential and there is no value or importance for those events in Islamic point of view and a marriage can be take place without them but without nikah it will not be called marriage. In most cases the venue for nikah is bride’s house however some people do it in a mosque. It is performed by an imam.  During nikah both bride and groom must have their witnesses present just to ensure that the marriage is consensual. In fact nikah can not be performed without the presence of witnesses. Also both bride and groom should be agreeing for it otherwise it will not be called a valid nikah. After nikah groom and bride can be called husband and wife.

On Shaadi day the bride wears red or blue gharara (almost similar to a long skirt and blouse) with heavy gold jewellery. The groom wears a traditional dress such as sherwani (a long coat-like garment) with a sehra (a headdress for groom) however these days in urban areas groom wears a western inspired suit. A dinner is served to all guests from both sides by bride’s family. The bride’s family offer gifts or to groom and his close family members called Salami. Finally groom and his family leave bride’s house with bride. This event called Rukhsati. The Holy book (Quran) is normally held over bride’s head as she walks from stage to exit. This is the most emotional scene of a Pakistani wedding as she says farewell to her parents’ home to start a new married life. In rural areas groom uses a decorated horse to travel to and from bride’s house however in urban areas horse has been placed by cars.

The third and most important day of a Pakistani wedding called Shaadi which means happiness. It is bride’s reception day and therefore it takes place at bride’s house or in a nearby garden or open air place under the large wedding tents. However it can be arranged in a marriage hall or hotel depending upon the number of guests and the social status of bride’s family as it they are the responsible for the reception.

The groom’s friends and family called barat (and an individual called barati). On arrival the barat greeted with flowers garland by the bride’s family. The bride’s sisters and friends stop the barat from entering the arena and ask barat for some cash or any other demand just for fun, between the baratis and bride’s family and friend. [to be continued...]