11 Things You Encounter In Any Baniya Wedding!

Hai Shaava!

“Marriages are made in heaven”, but they are finally approved by our parents only; and then starts a week-long wedding celebration. That’s how Baniyas roll! Although we are apparently the penny-pinching individuals, but we love to flaunt all our assets on the day of the wedding.

We just love weddings and love the way people take part in it whole-heartedly. So, if you are a part of the Baniya wedding, you definitely can’t avoid all of these things:

1. Longer the Weddings, the Better it is: It is true that Baniyas can’t limit themselves in a short wedding because that’s just not the way it goes with them. Even if we don’t want, their relatives won’t spare us. And for a week’s program, the wedding preparation starts few months back itself.

2. Glitters and more Glitters: You know, the parents start gathering and saving jewelry and money for the wedding right from the day their child is born; especially in the Baniya Biradiri. And those savings and collectibles are finally showcased on the day of the wedding. A Baniya bride is flooded with gold and those who belong to the business class, the girls literally become a “gold factory”. All the cousins, the chachis and mamis and buas and mausis are dripping in glitters.

3. Shor-Sharabba throughout: No Baniya wedding is complete without loads of laughter, singing and screaming for the whole time. And it’s bound to happen that you will suffer from a sore throat or throat blockage after the functions. In every corner of the wedding venue, you will hear somebody bursting out of laughter without any reason or fufas and mausas finding complaints in the food or any ritual. 

4. The Lovely Folk Songs: Every ritual and rasam are accompanied by a folk song and the women of the house assemble in a single place and sing it. Many folk songs are meant to tease the bride and the groom and we dance all night long in the beats of dholak. Especially, during the haldi ceremony, mehendi and sangeet, Bollywood wedding songs are a big hit. 

5. Savoring the Homemade Mithaai: A caterer is booked for the whole 4-day event and they cook those yummy-mouth-watering-traditional foods like kachoris, aloo sabzi, paneer, mathris, jalebis, etc. and served in donas and thermocol plates. A guest in the wedding can never go empty stomach in a wedding house. 

6. All the relatives are Moms and Papas: In a typical Baniya wedding, all the relatives take their responsibilities so seriously that you can’t figure out who is the bride- groom’s actual parents because it’s a biiiiiiiggg family. Everyone is busy preparing for the wedding and everyone joins hand to help the parents.

7. Sarees are Necessary: Sarees are like a default wedding dress. A Baniya beti or bahu must know how to tie a saree because no matter how modern the groom’s family is, they still want their bahus to be in a saree for initial married days. And not only the bride, but all the other ladies are allowed to flaunt their figures in sarees. 

8. The Ultimate Lifafa Decision: The guests in the wedding decide on how much cash to pay to the wedded couple according to the closeness they have with a family. We often hear the dialogue, “Ye lo beta, lifafa”. You won’t see any guest coming empty-handed although in the invitation card it is written that, “No gifts, only Blessings”. 

9. A Perfect Matrimony Destination: A wedding venue is definitely a terminus for other families to choose their prospective brides and grooms. Many bachelor girls are strictly instructed by her parents to behave at her best so that someone notices them and offer a marriage proposal; and so happens with the boys too. 

10. Mehndi on Groom’s hands: The Mehndi is supposed to be a shagun for a bride. But in our Baniya wedding, even the groom has to apply the mehendi. It’s weird though but the guys are also not spared from applying that green henna on his hands and it’s simply too cute to see that both bride and grooms are donning in the same colour. 

11. The Saat phere and Sindoor: After all those non-stop wedding functions, the final time comes when the couple goes around the sacred fire and after that the groom puts the red sindoor on the bride’s temple. It’s so adorable and marks the start of a happy married life. All the sleepy and tired relatives and friends suddenly jump up and shouts again wishing the newlywed couple and we love it! 

Love us or hate us, we are proud to be Baniyas!!

SAABHAAR: khoobsurati.com/11-things-you-encounter-in-any-baniya-wedding.html