Stylish wedding arrangements for an Indian wedding

Traditional Indian Hindu weddings are grand affairs that take place over several days. The numbers of ceremonies are all so colorful and fun that if you plan it with the right decorations, lighting, food and other accessories, it can be truly memorable.

Apart from the bride's costume and jewelry, there are a lot of related arrangements for weddings that can add luster and drama to an Indian wedding. Take for instance, the lighting. Any lighting

Lighting at Indian weddings: Red is a very auspicious color at wedding time, because it symbolizes prosperity. So, not only is the bride's clothes made in red, but the drapes, umbrellas and carpets too. Add gold--a symbol of wealth--to that and you've got a rich wedding setting.

Very often, the lights too are in red and gold. If you want to blend these colors into the lighting arrangements, then its best that you use clear white lights or the shades of red will clash with your lighting. Just so that you don't go overboard with the room settings and the lighting, often people opt for simple wedding lighting, such as uplights, globe string lights and spotlights.

The wedding mandap too can be done up beautifully with flowers and lights. Lights can be arranged inside the mandap so that people can see the ceremonies take place. It's a good idea to have spotlights trained on the mandap or have several string lights across it.

For a wedding, venue uplighting works beautifully as you can use it to throw light on a certain part of the wedding mandap or its backdrop. It gives a soft glow and heightens attention to a part of a busy wedding scene. Uplighting also helps with providing a certain amount of intimacy to the setting with uplighting aranged at floor level.

Depending on the kind of wedding venue you choose, the lighting you have in mind can either make a small place look big or vice versa. So, if you choose to get married at a historic site like a palace or a fort, the lighting would have to be soft and focus on the architectural aspects of the venue. Or the entertainment area would call for dynamic lighting with smoke effects that would set the tone for the evening ahead.

Scented candles are also a wonderful idea if placed as centerpieces with flowers or tea-lights in water bowls. Another recent innovation is the use of LED lighting that is particularly effective for the dance floor.

So much for lighting. Equally important is the decoration of the wedding venue. For a knockout wedding venue, you have to concentrate on getting the venue draping right as they give substance to your overall decorations. You can use draping for your wedding and reception carefully to evoke feelings of warmth by bringing the ceiling and walls together, particularly in a large hall. Or you can use meters and meters of dreamy satiny material so that you’re wedding room is swathed in style and luxury.

Or you can go completely dramatic by transforming a bare room into something magical with flowers, colored satin drapery and cut glass lamps on each table--all in red and gold. Using complementary colors, draping backdrops and adding style to it makes for a wonderful day for everyone.