MaharaniWeddings.com » Pre-Wedding Ceremonies

Goa, India Indian Wedding by Memories Photography

Shawna — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Welcome back, Maharanis! Today I have a beachfront treat for you, courtesy of Memories Photography and The LaLit Resort and Spa in Goa, India! This Maharani kicks off her wedding festivities with a poolside mehndi party complete with foam machine and tables for lunching set under gorgeous blue tents. After a quick wardrobe change and hair an makeup update, guests head inside for the traditional sangeet, where guests were entertained with dancers and speeches from family and friends. For more of these traditional Indian pre-wedding parties, and a ocean side portrait session, visit the gallery!

Up next, this Maharani gets ready for an otherworldly night time oceanfront ceremony!

Boca Raton, Florida Indian Wedding by Focused on Forever Studio

Shawna — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:00:50 +0000

Welcome back, Maharanis! This celebration is a classic example of Indian wedding traditions and customs, beginning with the fun-filled gaye holud! Focused On Forever Studio catches every exquisite detail, including the bride’s traditional red and cream bangles and her glowing hair and makeup look by Christie Lopez. The traditional Indian jewelry is set off by the glow of her skin from the turmeric ceremony. With a few final touches, this bride is ready to meet her groom under the mandap! For more of this bride to be, check out the full gallery!

See you soon for the palace inspired ceremony in a peacock plume palette!

Picturesque Indian Wedding + Garba by Erin Shimazu Photography, San Diego, California

Shawna — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:00:56 +0000

Festive and full of color, this garba brought to us by Erin Shimazu Photography includes a custom art piece made from rice and flower (how bright and beautiful is that tangerine orange!?) as well as a splendid assortment of delicious foods for guests to enjoy. I am a total fan of those miniature grilled cheese sandwiches paired with tiny glasses of tomato soup—so clever! This Maharani also incorporates spectacular illuminated dancers from the lighting experts at Kumba Entertainment on the ballroom walls of the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines. Just sensational! With Imagique close at hand to create a once-in-a-lifetime wedding video, this gorgeous event is sure to be relived again and again! I’m going to start now by making my way to the gallery!

Come back soon to check out the getting-ready pics, including elaborate mehndi by Henna San Diego!

Maryland Engagement Party by Chris Baltazar Studios

Shawna — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:09:50 +0000

We are at our final post of the day, and I am feeling totally inspired by this Maryland Indian engagement party by Chris Baltazar Studios. If the charming images of the bride and groom didn’t have you positively swooning in the last post, well then wait until you lay your peepers on what we have in store. Partyland Flowers & Decor and Working Brides teamed up to bring together this elegant and sophisticated pink party to life. For anyone who thinks that pink parties are for mini Maharanis, think again. This one is glamourous and grown up and has me wondering…is there anything this duo can’t do?!

I can’t wait to see their wedding! We will see you all tomorrow for Film-y Friday….toodles!

Adorable Ring Ceremony by Chris Baltazar Studios

Shawna — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:15:16 +0000

We rarely feature engagement celebrations on Maharani Weddings, but when a bride and groom get to go ALL out like this one, there is no way we could pass it up! Trisha Cranor and the ladies at Working Brides planned this one to perfection, while Sachi Sood from Partyland Flowers & Decor worked her magic. The results? One of the sweetest ring ceremonies we have seen in a while. Good thing that Chris Baltazar Studios was on hand to create his signature timeless images, I mean I absolutely melted when I saw the one of the two lovebirds giggling with delight! Take a look.

More of this fabulous party on the way!

Lady Like Bridal Shower by Fotolicious

Shawna — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:03:33 +0000

Parties, parties, parties, I have parties on the brain. I just landed in Los Angeles, and am super pumped up for the Lover.ly Launch party tomorrow in sunny Manhattan Beach. So, while I was putting together tomorrow’s super fabulous Indian wedding feature, I couldn’t take my eyes off this lady-like bridal shower. I hope that one of my friends gets engaged right away so I can throw a party just like this one. Hats, gloves, and food filled the afternoon and I love the game that they played. For anyone Mahrani hosting a shower {baby or bridal} put the Maharani of the hour in the hot seat by asking her tough-y questions about her Maharaja! After a few bottles of bubbly, it will be hard to contain the all the laughter!

We will be back tomorrow with the rest of the this awesome Atlanta Indian Wedding. See you then Maharanis!

Charming Garba by Tara Sharma Photography

Shawna — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:11:32 +0000

Any Gujurati bride, or any Indian bride having a Garba for that matter, is in luck because this one by Tara Sharma Photography is sending the cute meter off the charts! This adorable bride mastered the delicate balance of looking completely striking and timeless all at the same time. I am in love with her yellow lengha, gold necklace and swept up bun. Finished with a yellow flower, I can’t think of a better way to wear your hair for a Garba.

More Indian wedding inspiration coming right up!

Featured Indian Wedding : Divya & Gaurav

Shawna — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 06:48:48 +0000

I am a traditional girl at heart, so what makes Indian weddings so delightfully fun to me are the plethora of the tradition, customs, and parties that come along with it. The wedding celebration officially kicks off with the tikka ceremony, (also called the Sagai) and is held a week-ish before the wedding. Jade Studio Productions was on hand to capture Divya and Gaurva’s beautiful tikka, that took place at the Fairmont Hotel, in San Jose, California.

So here is what happens in the tikka ceremony. The Maharanis side visits the grooms side and bring beautifully wrapped gifts and the items for the tikka. The bride’s father applies 'tikka' to his son-in-law's forehead and gives him his blessings and some money. In return for the father’s blessing, the bride’s family receives baskets of seven dried fruits: almonds, cashew nuts, chuahara, coconut pieces, raisins, khurman (dried apricots) and phoolmakhana. For modern Indian brides, it is common to combine the tikka ceremony and the engagement. First, the bride to be is draped with an ornate chunni. She is then presented with jewelry, which her mother and sister-in-law help her wear. Next, a tiny dot of mehndi is applied to the bride’s palm for good luck, and the ceremony ends with the exchange of rings.

Everyone at the party offers their congratulations to the couple feeding them sweets! It’s official…there will be an Indian wedding!

Featured South Asian Wedding : Saima & Neeshal II

Shawna — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:30:00 +0000

I absolutely love themes for parties, not costume parties, but theme parties. And, according to Martha, they just happen to be totally in style these days. There are so many fun Indian ones to choose from….Rajasthani, Mughal, lotus flowers…anything can be turned into a charming theme. The one thing aside from movies (and weddings!) the one thing that Indian people love is food, so this Bombay Street Food theme was an awesome choice for this garba….

Images by Studio 9

More from Shetal Vyas, owner Number 29 Events:

Guests were transported to a surprise location for the garba party via chartered busses through dirt roads! Once they arrived they walked a path that lead them to a covered pavilion area set with tiki huts to serve Bombay style street food and shaved ice cones throughout the night. They enjoyed Indian cultural festivities of Garba/Raas. The evening ended with some very special performances by the bride and grooms friends and families. The inspiration was the rainforest with it’s vibrant colors and sounds! To add to the natural surroundings, it actually rained all night, so we felt like we were in a Bollywood movie. We could not have prayed for a better natural setting!

More yummy-ness on the way!

Featured Indian Wedding : Jennifer & Ashish

Shawna — Tue, 04 May 2010 01:28:00 +0000

Today’s featured wedding is going to start off a little differently than we normally do things around here. Just to mix it up we are going to start with the bride & groom’s Maiya ceremony. We almost never feature them on the site, but I simply couldn’t wait to share charming, homemade décor idea that one of Jennifer’s bridesmaids came up with. Priya, the brains behind this creativity, made all the rice decorations for the event! It’s a traditional, Indian DIY idea that is a modern twist on Rangoli.

Adorable, isn’t it?! This can be done very simply in any bright color combo using food dye and some imagination. Whether you are using it for your Mehdni, Sangeet, or Haldi, this idea will be a hit. Plus, the rice can be made a week in advance and layed out a day ahead of time, weather permitting of course!

So, for all our readers who didn't know….The Maiya ceremony is a traditional pre wedding Indian wedding ceremony where the bride and groom are blessed with a mixture of turmeric powder and yogurt to give them glowing skin for their wedding day.

Coming up tomorrow their irresistibly sweet ceremony photographs, by Cosmin Danila, and many more ideas for you Indian wedding!