{wedding culture & beauty} Mehndi

Many cultures around the world celebrate the rites of marriage in beautiful ways. One of the most beautiful rites for countries like India, Pakistan, and other Asian and some Middle Eastern countries involves adorning the bride’s hands and feet with Mehndi.

Mehndi {henna} is applied as a paste in the most beautiful and intricate patterns on the brides hands and feet. The design details can be simple or elaborate, and vary from country to country. After the Mehndi is applied the hands and feet are sometimes wrapped for a few hours to increase the intensity of the henna’s color. The gorgeous Mehndi designs will last for days sometimes even weeks after its application.

Different countries celebrate the event in a different ways according to the marriage customs, rituals, and culture in that area. Usually, the festive event takes place the eve of the wedding and involves sweet treats, women dancing and singing traditional songs.

A professional Mehndi artist or a relative a is asked to create the Mehndi designs similar to the ones below. Aren’t they beautiful?

{click on image for source}