The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Select the right venue for the big occasion

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Sunday, Jan 20, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Select the right venue for the big occasion

Choosing the right place to host a wedding is one among the toughest tasks and the organisers should ensure that the chosen venue provides a blend of comfort and efficient services.

Wedding that marks the coming together of two individuals is a not only a bond between two individuals but also between two souls. Indian marriages are always clad with rituals and customs and are ideal occasions for celebration and a grand gala get-t ogether.

Traditional marriage ceremonies still relate us to the ancient customs but the venues have undergone numerous changes over a period of time. Modern day weddings are entirely different from those in yesteryears. Earlier, weddings usually took place at the bride’s house and the ceremony included a series of pre-wedding, wedding and post-wedding events. While the pre-wedding and the main wedding ceremony took place at the bride’s place, the post-wedding functions were held at the groom’s place.

On the main day of the function a mandap was erected and the interior, beautifully decorated with flowers, colourful adornments and decorative items. Mostly the wedding was held on a garden, courtyard of the bride’s house, a blocked-off street or square.

However, orthodox families preferred to conduct the wedding ceremony in temples, churches or mosques followed by a big party at their residences. It was then the marriage hall concept evolved and slowly people started preferring marriage halls to host the auspicious ceremony. Most of the Indian marriages especially Hindu marriages are held in wedding halls and sometimes the ceremony take place at least for three days. The halls are booked for days together to hold the entire wedding event and also to accommodate the guests during the function.

Though Christians and Muslims still prefer to hold their wedding ceremonies at their places of worship, they book wedding halls to host the reception party.

Now the new entrants are the big hotels offering special halls for marriage ceremonies and receptions. These hotel-weddings have paved way for the outdoor reception party, a much preferred venue for reception these days. Many people host reception parties at the hotel lawns with luminous lighting and simple decoration, thus adding a modern touch to the mega event.

Choosing the venues for wedding is a never ending process and over-the-deck weddings, wedding at the sea, underwater weddings have become common across the world. These trends are slowly entering the Indian arena and a few years ago a couple got married on top of Mount Kailash at the Himalayas.

Wedding at the sea has become a common phenomenon even in Puducherry where two on-the-board weddings took place here in the previous year. A Tamil couple from Puducherry’s Kalapet region entered into wedlock in a floating stage erected on many boats on the Puducherry coast and a pair of lovers from Hyderabad also came down to Puducherry and tied the knot over the deck of a ship.

Nanthini Dominique