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Opinion: Upstaging the bride

 Wedding season is about to begin. In the event of enthusiasm and glamour, nowadays I am seeing various social media posts featuring the bride, groom, and the whole ceremony. While most of these are wholesome posts, I am seeing a plethora of disheartening posts. Not only the social media posts but I have heard stories from friends and colleagues about how a specific guest was trying to upstage the bride.

These posts/stories specifically discuss the following, where the bride is upset because:

  • a wedding guest is wearing their own wedding outfits
  • a wedding guest is wearing the outfit in the same colour or similar to that of the bride
  • a wedding guest is wearing a bright colour which is drawing the attention away from the bride
  • a wedding guest is prettier than the bride
  • a wedding guest is wearing a designer outfits or a designer inspired outfit
Most of these outfits could be inappropriate for the western weddings. In western weddings, most of the brides are dressed in white, beige, or ivory. In western weddings, the guests are forbidden to wear these colours. With neutral colour scheme for the bride, I understand that one could easily "upstage the bride". However, all the posts and stories I mentioned above are from the Indian weddings.

Indian weddings are bright and colourful. Indian brides do not traditionally wear neutral colours. In Indian weddings, brides are required to wear specific colours during certain ceremonies. Each colour symbolises an important aspect of the wedding ritual. Hence, upstaging the bride by wearing a colour is completely out of scope for the Indian weddings. Additionally, it is common to wear bright colours, bold patterns, and rich textures for the Indian weddings. I remember that it was a norm to wear own wedding outfit to the close relatives' weddings. It was not to steal the thunder, but to show how important the ceremony is to the wedding guest. Wedding guests were encouraged to wear the best and grandest of the outfits from their wardrobes. 

When it comes to the Indian bride, I believe that on the day of the wedding, the bride glows differently. The glow could be attributed to the love from the dear ones; happiness and bliss; enthusiasm for the new beginning; and overall from the ceremonial rituals. The Indian bride will have an ethereal glow which can never go unnoticed. An Indian bride will always be the prettiest woman in the ceremony irrespective of her outfit, jewellery, or makeup. NOBODY can outshine her, nobody can steal her spotlight even if they want to.

So Indian brides, don't get swayed by the western concept of "upstaging the bride" and don't feel insecure. Even if a celebrity is a wedding guest, your spotlight will stay with you. You will still be the STAR of the ceremony.

[Note: The image is AI generated]

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