Take your engagement seriously: Mistakes to avoid! | Maharashtrian Wedding Series

Maharashtrian Wedding: the engagement, Maharashtrian bride

Blog 2: Maharashtrian Wedding Series

This is the stage when the parents and relatives have met each other and have accepted the rishta graciously. Formal and informal meetings have been done. Now, the engagement date is decided after taking into consideration what suits best for both sides of the family. This should be the ideal situation, right? Yeah, mine wasn’t this! I mean it was sort of this but with a lot of chaos! 😛

So, here I share with you a few big mistakes I made before and during the engagement ceremony that I could have certainly avoided, had I taken it a little more seriously and been a little more aware. I am sharing this with the sole intention of helping the readers who probably are brides-to-be or are brothers/sisters or close relatives of the brides and grooms.

Read it without judgement (please) or okay, judge! Whatever! 😛 But, please, avoid making these mistakes that I made and that most brides do (at least a few of these) and have a ‘happy and a stress-free engagement’!

Take the initiative in deciding the date:

Well, I do not know why I was so passive about this in the beginning but it wasn’t a very good idea to leave it solely to the elders. I mean, we all have grown up watching Bollywood right? These things are taken care of by the ‘papas’ and ‘bhaiyas’, I thought! Wrong! Well, now my mom and I laugh about this because my engagement date was changed twice or thrice probably! Because the pandit that was consulted (I won’t tell by who 😛 ) was following some other Panchang (book/page idk). His date was mentioned as “Ghatak” or dangerous in the regular panchang and the calendar. This means a couple should not marry on that date as it is considered bad as per astrology.

Learning:  Please be super active in the process since the very beginning and NOT after things go wrong! Decide what suits your family and the groom’s family first, then consult a good, trustworthy pandit if you guys believe in astrology. Re-check/ confirm it with another pandit just to be sure 😛

Maharashtrian Wedding: the engagement, Maharashtrian bride

Please try the outfit before the ceremony:

Girls, hmm, while I write this I literally am sighing! *deep breath in* *breath out* This was for me and yes for you to know how important this is! Let me put it out straight. I am super extremely fantabulously* (this is not a word) lazy when it comes to dressing up. And during regular days it’s totally fine but I cannot believe I did this for my engagement as well. While I laugh as I type this, I was super annoyed and upset on my engagement day.

I purchased the saree in like 20 minutes without any research. Honestly, mostly because I was clueless and had both my mom and Swapnil’s mom with me. I was petrified. I did not think of the blouse design. Got a badly stitched blouse. Tried the saree 2 days prior to the event only to find out it looks horrible on me. No jewellery was finalised till the last day and it was all messed up. I was lucky than a new green saree was arranged last-minute. God has been kind to me!

Learning: Please do your research and don’t take these things lightly as all the eyes will be on you. And not just that, you yourself will feel 100 times more confident and happy if you are comfortable with the outfit. Like for example: For a Maharashtrian wedding, wearing a green saree (for the bride) in the engagement ceremony is compulsory. I could have researched a few sarees and blouse patterns. Got a perfect drape, tried it in advance and got the blouse stitched as per my comfort well in advance. Then jewellery selection and taking care of other details could have been so much easier. It would save me from so much stress, confusion, anxiety and panic that I suffered for the last few days and even on the event day!

Maharashtrian Wedding: the engagement, Maharashtrian bride
P.S. Bad Hair, Weird Jai-mala, terrible makeup (even after editing the picture), badly stitched blouse, jewellery that is not matching my outfit uffff 😛
A good point: I still managed to accept everything and smile!

Please get a make-up trial:

Many girls opt for a proper make-up trial for their wedding day but avoid taking it for the engagement ceremony considering it a small event. It may seem a little expensive but it will be worth it. You totally do not want to get surprised or rather shocked on your engagement day like how I was!

I shared the complete story on my Instagram: @meghanazexpress check it out for a good laugh!

Learning: GET A HAIR AND MAKEUP TRIAL. Decide how you want to look. Take control. PERIOD.

Pro tip: Invest in a good Mehendi Artist. You will need to flaunt your hands a lot. Don’t overspend but choose your design beforehand and plan how are you going to take care of yourself while that Mehendi is on your hands for a good 7-9 hours. Please wear a hairband/ tie your hair while you go for the Mehendi art.

Maharashtrian Wedding: the engagement, Maharashtrian bride
There were a few things that did go right! 🙂 #Grateful

Take extra care about the venue, its amenities and décor prior to the event:

Okay, so as I said, we did not have a big budget for this event. Our homes are really small for us to even sleep let alone have any events like this 😛 (I guess I should stop making dark jokes like these, hain na?) Also, I just do not remember why or from what mental state I was operating that I failed to look into these details because generally, I am a very responsible and an organised person. I am personally impressed with the way I handle my work and my responsibilities. So, I don’t know why I was being so shy here. Probably because it was all so sensitive and I did not want my dad or his family members to get hurt or whatever. So I let them mess it all up 😛 God!

My mental state back home prior to my wedding wasn’t very healthy, so I can’t blame myself completely. But bhaisahab…Galti toh hui hai!

Learning: Even if you do not have a big budget, please get a venue that is decent, well ventilated, and spacious. Plan the décor in advance. Plan the food in advance, select the menu and ensure the food guys deliver on time. You may think, this is so basic but oh my god, people can go wrong with this as well. Get involved personally and ensure everything is organised well to avoid last-minute chaos.

Pro Tip: Book a good photographer and plan your poses in advance. Thank me later!

Despite all these mistakes and the chaos, I have some fond memories. Thanks to ‘some’ people around and ‘some’ things that I did right! ‘some’ is the keyword here|! Haha

Maharashtrian Wedding: the engagement, Maharashtrian bride
One of the things that I planned and that went right was to take these ful-jaris for the picture. It was 25th Oct, the first day of Diwali. This cracker wala photoshoot diverted my mind from all the chaos happening inside the venue and I finally stopped crying!

Hope you found these points helpful and entertaining. 😉 I genuinely hope you certainly will take care of all these things and have a blast! If you have any such fun incident/ tips to share please do it in the comments below and help a homie out!

The first article from the Maharashtrian Wedding series: An open letter to all the brides & brides-to-be!

Blog 2: Take your engagement seriously: Mistakes to avoid! | Maharashtrian Wedding Series | Maharashtrian Wedding Series

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