Did you know that approximately 10,000 weddings are held in India each year from late September through January, the time between heavy monsoons and the summer heat. The brides often wear thousands of dollars worth of gold while family and friends offer bullion bars and coins as presents to the newly married couple.

Some of us westerners know Indian weddings from our favorite Bollywood movies. The fact that the invitees can number in the hundreds to thousands and that the event takes place over many consecutive days, is a bit outside our usual thoughts about weddings.  Auspicious dates are specifically chosen based upon astrology and most of the marriages are arranged.

 

Here are a few images of grand weddings.

Along with all the gold, bride’s hands and feet are almost always tattooed with elaborate henna designs.