Wedding is a precious and memorable moment of everyone's life that requires the best of attention in all aspects.
No doubt the bride and the bridegroom are the centre of attraction but amongst them the bride appeals the most. And this is not only due to the fact of fairer sex but also due to the way she is adorned with beauty. Everything is exclusive in her.
The costume and the special wedding jewellery are the major ones. There are many designers and brands that exclusively design jewellery for this special occasion and brand it as wedding jewellery Collection. They are normally unique and really exotic
The finger rings, chain and bracelets are the only part of wedding jewellery that is worn by both the sex while the rest all are exclusively for the females. The composition of these wedding jewelleries varies according to culture. In India it has the greatest significance and gold ornaments play the major role in Indian wedding.
The status of the bride and her family is judged by the amount of these gold ornaments that she wears during the wedding. Apart from this how much her parents give her and how much she gets as gifts from relatives and friends is eagerly looked upon by her in-laws. The weight of the ornaments is taken into account for judging this.
Unlike the western culture, in which simple and elegance is more stressed upon, in Indian culture the hefty and robust the wedding jewellery are, the more influence it carries with it. Though there may be many different types of ornaments like thick bangles (Kangan), broad necklaces, long chains, earrings, finger rings, anklets and toe rings, the mandatory one is the Mangal Sutra. It is the symbol which indicates that a woman has entered into wedlock.
Just like the Sesterners exchange rings as a symbol of a successful marriage, the bridegroom puts this Mangalsutra on the bride's neck. This is considered to be a very auspicious one that needs to be treasured for a life time and forms the most important part of the wedding jewellery. A woman may sell or exchange any of her jewellery for a newer design, but she is not supposed to do so with the Mangal Sutra unless and until it is worn out.
These Mangalsutras vary depending upon the region. In North India the design comprises of black beads with interlocked golden designs and a golden pendant, In Central India the pendants come in the design that looks like tiny bowls beaded together.
Most of the wedding jewellery comes in the most traditional designs and metals like gold. But contemporary lifestyle has shown its effect on Indian weddings too. Brides now prefer to go for costume jewellery during the wedding so that they can wear the best matching jewellery that would compliment their wedding costume. And there are also others who are replacing the gold jewellery with diamond and platinum jewellery for their wedding. But this doesn't stop them from taking loads of gold jewelleries as gifts from parents while they go to their in-laws house. Robert Fogarty
