The Velvet Knot Journal
Wedding planning,
demystified.
Honest guides on cost, timelines, traditions, and what really happens behind a well-planned Indian wedding.
Kashi Yatra: The Ritual Where the Groom Pretends to Renounce the Wedding
By Team Velvet Knot · Reviewed by senior planners · Updated for 2026 In the Kashi Yatra, the groom announces that he is abandoning worldly life to study in Kashi, and walks out carrying an umbrella and a walking stick. The bride’s father intercepts him and persuades him to marry instead. It is a staged […]
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Griha Pravesh for a New Bride: The Rice Pot, the Right Foot and What It Means
By Team Velvet Knot · Reviewed by senior planners · Updated for 2026 Griha pravesh is the bride’s first entry into her marital home. She is welcomed with an aarti at the threshold, then tips over a small vessel of rice with her right foot before stepping inside, a gesture read as prosperity entering the […]
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Muh Dikhai: The Face Showing Ceremony at the Groom’s Home
By Team Velvet Knot · Reviewed by senior planners · Updated for 2026 Muh dikhai is the post-wedding ceremony at the groom’s home where the bride’s veil is lifted and the women of his family see her face for the first time. Each relative who looks gives her a gift, and it is her formal […]
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Joota Chupai: The Shoe Stealing Ritual, and How to Keep It Fun
By Team Velvet Knot · Reviewed by senior planners · Updated for 2026 Joota chupai is the ritual in which the bride’s sisters and cousins steal the groom’s shoes when he removes them to enter the mandap, then refuse to return them until he pays a ransom. It is the most theatrical piece of comedy […]
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Sehrabandi: The Groom’s Ceremony Before the Baraat Leaves
By Team Velvet Knot · Reviewed by senior planners · Updated for 2026 Sehrabandi is the ceremony at the groom’s home in which a veil of flowers or beads, the sehra, is tied to his turban just before the baraat departs. It is the groom’s equivalent of the bride’s chooda ceremony, and it marks the […]
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Chooda and Kalire: The Punjabi Bride’s Bangle Ceremony Explained
By Team Velvet Knot · Reviewed by senior planners · Updated for 2026 The chooda ceremony is the Punjabi ritual in which the bride’s maternal uncle gifts her a set of red and ivory bangles on the morning of her wedding. Kalire, the golden umbrella-shaped ornaments, are then tied to them by her sisters and […]
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Mehndi Ceremony: Meaning, Rituals, Regional Styles and What Actually Happens
By Team Velvet Knot · Reviewed by senior planners · Updated for 2026 The mehndi ceremony is the henna function held one to two days before an Indian wedding, where the bride’s hands and feet are decorated in intricate patterns. It is part ritual, part celebration, and in most families the most relaxed event of […]
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NRI Wedding Venue Selection in India: How to Choose and Contract a Venue You Have Never Seen
By Team Velvet Knot · Reviewed by senior planners · Updated for 2026 Never book an Indian wedding venue off a gallery. Run a live video walkthrough on your shot list, send a trusted proxy, verify capacity by seated dinner rather than the brochure number, and get vendor policy, closing time, wet-weather plan and room […]
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Planning an Indian Wedding on a Short Trip: The NRI Two to Three Week Execution Plan
By Team Velvet Knot · Reviewed by senior planners · Updated for 2026 Budget 16 to 21 days on the ground, and treat that trip as execution, not planning. Venue, date, planner, guest list and the big four vendors should all be contracted from abroad 6 to 12 months earlier. Only four things truly need […]
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NRI Wedding Trousseau Shopping in India: The Logistics and Money Guide
By Team Velvet Knot · Reviewed by senior planners · Updated for 2026 A bespoke bridal lehenga usually needs three to six months and two or three fittings, longer than any NRI shopping trip. So decide first: commission early with remote fittings, buy off the rack and alter, or use an overseas stockist. Budget Rs […]
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