What to Wear to Indian Weddings – 3 Tips

Indian weddings include special rituals, tradition, and lots of color!

I recently experienced this when a couple very special to me tied the knot during a Hindu wedding ceremony in Houston. I would have been lost when it came to my outfit, but my boyfriend’s mother came to my rescue. She was born in India, and she hooked it up!

She picked out my outfit including the accessories, and dropped some knowledge on me along the way. Here’s what I learned about dressing for an Indian wedding.

1. Colors
Bright, colorful outfits are highly encouraged. There are a few colors to avoid, namely black, white and red. That is because black and white are often worn for funerals or mourning. Just like white is reserved for brides in most Christian ceremonies, red is reserved for the bride at Indian weddings.

2. Accessorize
Indian weddings are full of color, detail, and bling! Add some sparkle to your outfit with bangles, gold jewelry, and even a tikka. A tikka is a type of jewelry that is pinned in the hair and drapes on your forehead. (My tikka fell a little in the photo below. It is better positioned on my head in the first picture of this post.) Bindis, the decorative mark worn on the forehead, are also very common. I bought some sparkly shoes from a boutique on Devon street in Chicago for my outfit.

3. Be Conservative
If you can get a sari or traditional Indian dress, now is the time to wear it! Otherwise, keep your look conservative – avoid low cuts, tight fits, or baring your shoulders. For the ceremony, I wore the ornate cardigan over my Indian dress (pictured below on the right), so my shoulders were covered. It was so beautiful that I actually forgot to wear the matching scarf over it. Oops!

At the end of the day, just be mindful of the customs, have fun, and celebrate the happy couple!