Wedding Blog
In the late 1990s, Indian culture exploded onto the mainstream American pop culture scene. Madonna was rocking henna designs on her hands and Gwen Stefani sported a pink bindhi to match her pink hair. I was thrilled to see cultural traditions that I’d grown up with represented on my favorite stars.
It was especially exciting to see the popularization of mehndi (pronounced men-thee or main-thee). Mehndi is the application of henna paste in beautiful, intricate designs to the body, mainly the hands and feet. It’s typically applied in celebration of special occasions, particularly weddings. The henna paste is applied using a cone (much like a cone you would use to decorate a cake). You wait several hours for the mehndi to dry– during that time, you are basically completely incapacitated, which could be good or bad depending on your perspective. Forced relaxation! Then you wash off the paste and a reddish-brown design remains on your skin. It typically lasts several weeks until it fades completely.
In the Indian/Pakistani culture, the application of mehndi is so important that it becomes its own wedding event! Our mehndi celebration will be held the night before the wedding. Different cultures in India and Pakistan celebrate the mehndi in different ways. Some cultures have women-only mehndis which are more like bridal showers. At our mehndi celebration, everyone is invited for what I’m hoping will be a really fun and joyous occasion. As is traditional in Indian weddings, we’re going to string up lights all over the outside of our house. We’ll have some delicious Indian food catered, great bhangra and bollywood music, and two mehndi artists to apply henna designs to the hands and feet of our female guests. I’m going to have my mehndi done early that morning because the bride’s application is so detailed and precise. The mehndi celebration is a really exciting way to begin the wedding festivities and get everyone in the spirit.
Tell me about your pre-wedding festivities!
all images courtesy of andrena photo
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Share this post: My Mehndi
I’m Sri Lankan and always wanted Mehndi, maybe we’ll just do it anyways ;). You’re party sounds like it’s going to be so fun!
i flew to india to go to one of my closest friend’s wedding. the mehndi “party” was so fun~! it took pretty much 9 hours to do the bride’s mehndi on her hands and feet, and in the mean time, 3 other girls did the rest of the female relatives. she told me that it’s a superstition that the darker the bride’s mehndi is, the more her groom loves her. so apparently in the past, weddings would be called off if the bride’s mehndi wasn’t dark enough~! my friend did everything to make hers darker. she left the mehndi on all night (pretty much what you said, she was incapacitated) and they put like lemon juice something over it and everything. it was pretty crazy, but a fun experience~!
Aw! Mehndi is so cool! One of my friends went to an Indian wedding and had it done and I couldn’t believe how awesomely intricate it was.
Can’t wait to see how yours turns out! 
(P.S. As for being unable to do anything while it’s drying, just pop in some awesome Bollywood musicals and sing along!)
Mendhi is hands down my favorite part of Indian/Pakistani wedding culture (among *a lot* of things to love!). So pretty!
Heh. “Hands down.” I didn’t even realize the pun! =)
Henna ceremonies are also common in sepharidic Jewish weddings. While I am ashkenazi and won’t be having one, a cousin of mine married an orthodox Sephardic Jewish woman from Morocco, and so they incorporated the henna ceremony into their wedding the weekend before the wedding (they were married on a Tuesday).
Everyone always seems so surprised to learn that it is a part of Jewish tradition, too!
julieulie: that is *so* cool– i never knew that, so thank you for sharing!
ooh that sounds like a lot of fun. i’ve always admired the mehndi…the designs are out of the world. i can’t wait to see how yours turn out!
I wish mehndi was part of my culture…or anything that stunning! I really looking forward to seeing your wedding–how special and unique all your details will be (at least to all of us). 
wsukarebear, don’t worry that you weren’t born into a henna-using culture. You can still participate in the art. As a professional henna artist only about half the women I do wedding mehndi for come from such cultures! Besides even Indian and Pakistani wedding mehndi traditions are relatively new compared to those of Sephardic Jews and especially North African and Arabic cultures.
Oh, wow. I can’t wait to see pictures of that. Looks so beautiful.
[...] Vía weddingbee [...]
I had Mehndi done for my wedding. It was a last minute decision and the “artist” I hired was totally amateur. My mehndi never developed in color even though I waited 10 hours before picking it off. So at the wedding I looked like I had some skin disease. It also faded in like 3 days. Also, this is no one’s fault really, but I got a Mehndi “tan.” It was totally weird but kind of funny. At least that stuck around longer than the actual mehndi.
I am 1/2 Indian, 1/2 Pakistani and think your posts are great! I love that you are incorporating a lot of tradition in your festivities. I have just started wedding planning and am planning on having a Mahendi the night/afternoon before the wedding too.
My sister had some untraditional Mehndi done for her senior prom. The theme was masquerade, and she went as a woodland fairy with henna wings on her back. I was beautiful!
[...] we have our mehndi the night before our wedding, which will be held at my parents’ home in Los Angeles. The mehndi [...]
[...] wedding celebration was to begin the Friday before the wedding with a mehndi at my parents’ house in Los Angeles. The Thursday before, I met my coordinator Angel for lunch [...]
Hello,
The team from “Dulhania Bazaar” is organizing the South Asian Bridal
Expo at the Midwest Conference Center in Northlake, IL for the Chicago
South Asian community on Sunday February 22, 2009.
We are writing to see if you would be interested in taking part in
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advertise (half or full color page ad) in our brochure (booklet),
sponsor a gift package (an overseas or any travel package, etc.), or
any other way possible. Please note that part of the proceedings from
this Expo will be donated to a local charity.
‘Dulhania Bazaar’ Bridal Expo was conceived with the modern
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sponsors can count on being part of an upscale premier event. The
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Given the sizable South Asian community in the greater Chicago area,
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and any remaining brochures will be distributed to the
businesses/community all over Chicago after the Expo. Deadline to add
your company’s logo on our flyers and posters is November 15, 2008. We
will also be advertising this Bridal Expo through TV commercials,
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Please let us know if you are interested and we will be happy to
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Regards,
Shy Khan
602-770-4066
DulhaniaBazaar@gmail.com
http://mehndicollection.co.cc brings you the latest mehndi designs in our gallery. Browse through our mehndi pictures and find the perfect bridal, arabic, pakistani, glittered mehndi design for your wedding and learn how to put mehndi on your hands.
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Mrs. Jasmine, Chicago/LA
Age and Occupation: 25, Attorney
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Attorney
Engagement Date: March 24, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: September 20, 2007
Venue: Hotel on the westside of Los Angeles
About Me: I'm a happy-go-lucky, imaginative spirit trapped in the body of a lawyer. I love reading, shopping, dining out, and exploring my beloved adopted city of Chicago with my fiance. We're planning the wedding of our dreams in my hometown of Los Angeles and we're excited to incorporate our cherished Indian/Pakistani customs and traditions.
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