Indian weddings are all about flamboyance, glamour and bling. Be it North, South, East or West, no Indian wedding can be complete without a perfect bridal dress, Quality Indian jewellery sets, the gossips of the relatives, the singing, dancing and teasing of the young ones, lights and all gold and sparkling and ofcourse, the bride and groom! The weddings in India usually put a lot of pressure on the bride’s look and style. Owing to the various different cultures and traditions in India, we bring to you some of the bridal looks portrayed by different regions/religions of India:

• Kashmiri Bride– Starting from the extreme Northern part of India, Kashmir is a heavenly place with an even more heavenly looking crowd. Therefore, Kashmiri women make some of the most beautiful brides owing to their smooth white skin tone and sharp features. Kashmiri brides usually wear sarees or lehenga which contains the famous Kashmiri embroidery along with a dupatta worn over a traditional headwear. The headwear – a raffle designed with a hook embroidery called ‘ari’ at the neck, edges and cuffs- is known as a ‘pheran’. The pheran is colored red, pink or yellow. It includes a white colored cloth with a glazed golden paper- the ‘Tarang’.
• Ladakhi/Buddhist brides– The bride wears a very traditional costume called the ‘Goncha’ which made of a thick woolen cloth with a belt to support it around her waist. It gives the exact link with the general clothing style of the hilly regions. A ‘kamarbandh’ is worn along with a loose trouser skirt which has an intricate embroidery. The head gear which the bride wears is a coat of black lamb with turquoise stones and is called the ‘Perak’. It holds a special symbol hidden in it to wish the bride a very good and wonderful married life ahead.
• Punjabi/Sikh Weddings– Perhaps one of the most loud, luxurious and extravagant weddings of the Indian culture, Punjabi and Sikh weddings have a lot of commonality among them but yet have some stark differences. While the ‘chooda’ and ‘kalira’ are the most integral part of the Sikh wedding, the nose ring (or ‘nath’) is very essential for a Punjabi bride’s ‘Shola Sringar’. The choodas are mostly of a white and red shade with golden, pink and peach ensembles as well. Kalira is the silver or gold trinklets which are usually tied to the choodas. Punjabi and Sikh brides are allowed to wear a lot of jewelleries with gemstones. And they can wear lehengas for their ceremonies. But the color should be red or pink.
• Muslim Bride-Some of the most intricate and uniquely designed Indian jewellery sets can be found in Muslim weddings. The ‘jhoomar’ worn by the bride as a head piece, the dark greenish hues of her lehengas, the floral strings supporting the veil covering the bride’s face, and the finesse of her eye-make up are note-worthy.
• Assamese-Coming to the North-eastern part of India, we find Assamese weddings which hold a lot of significance with their customs and traditions. The wears a ‘mekhla chadar’ which is of a cream or off-white color silk saree with golden designs or work. Make-up and jewellery are very minimal with only certain traditional jewellery allowed. They also wear a ‘maang teeka’ whichis meant to be very auspicious.
• Bengali-Bright red or maroon silk ‘Benarasi’ saree with work of golden ‘zari’ that completely complements the vermillion on the bride’s forehead. That is what Bengali weddings are all about. Along with the golden jewellery and the red Alta, applied on the bride’s feet and sometimes even on her palms, the Bengali bride is full of red hues. A ‘maang teeka’ is worn along with a single layer ‘matha patti’ to support the teeka. Her make-up is incomplete without a red bindi with white and red sandalwood dots along her upper eyebrow line.
• Marwari Bride – Marwari brides wear sarees or lehengas with a heavy embellishment of silk and golden works or sometimes even stone studded ones. The jewelleries are also very bulky consisting of a fingerlet called a ‘Borla’, a kundanneckpiece or choker, and gold nath. The ‘bandhni odhni’ acts as a veil to cover the bride’s face or head during ceremony.
• Gujrati Bride- Moving to the Western desert of India, the Gujarati bride wears a saree with its pallu facing the front. This is very uncommon in any other wedding. ‘Panetar’ and ‘Gharchola’ are the two sarees that the bride needs to wear during the wedding. Panetar is basically a handmade saree gifted by her parents, usually with red, golden and green colored while the Gharchola is a gift from the in-laws and is a silk saree with a bright red color with stripes and checked zari patterns. The outfit in itself holds a deep meaning.
• Maharashtrian Bride- A Maharashtrian bride is known for her ‘Mundavalya’, or the string of flowers or pearls that she wears. The traditional ‘nath’ which is half –moon shaped along with a matching crescent bindi is the other noticeable thing of this bride’s attire. She wears a tow-toned silk saree called a Paithani with a golden border and her bun is tied up with mogra or jasmine flowers. She wears her saree in a dhoti style unlike any other Indian bride and her jewellery mostly comprises of white pearls and gold.
• Christian- In India, usually Christian customary weddings are done by Mangalorean Christians, Goan Christians or North-East Christians as well as some Parsis. In India, Christian brides sometimes go a bit unconventional and instead of wearing a white dress, they wear silver or grayish or even beige hued sarees with a more formal look. However, wearing saree also means wearing a veil and a tiara along with simple yet elegant jewellery like a bracelet or a neckpiece in silver platinum or diamond. Some Parsi weddings also incorporate pearl jewelleries.
• Tamilians- Finally we come down to the Southern region of the country where the Tamil brides are known for their heavy gold jewellery and multi-layered neckpieces. The bride usually wears Kanjivaram sarees native to the state.
• Telegu Brides- In Telegu, a bride again has two different wedding attires. She is first brought in a bamboo basket carried by her maternal uncle as part of the tradition where she is seen wearing a silk saree as per traditions. She also wears a kamarbandh. For the other ceremonies, she needs to change herself in a white cotton saree with red border for the final ceremony.
• Malayali Brides- Metal jewelleries are a thing in Malayali weddings. They usually wear a white silk saree with gold border and floral jewelleries which suits their attire and style. They also make a lot of usage of tube-rose and jasmine flowers as a part of their jewellery and gajra for the headgear.

Now that we have seen and know how important and unique jewelleries are in every wedding across India, we can make the best choices and buy the appropriate jewelleries as per the customs and traditions.