The mendhi ceremony is an exciting pre-wedding ceremony attended mainly by the fairer sex – if you like, it is a girls' day out. A lot of emphasis in Indian weddings is put on ceremonies and ritual, and the mendhi is an especially important part of the wedding and usually takes place on the morning before the wedding day itself.
Some mendhi ceremonies are relative quiet affairs, but many families celebrate it with a lot of pomp and show and hire a mendhi stage for the bride to sit on. Mendhi stages hire can be obtained from a number of suppliers who can decorate it according to the wishes of the family. Mendhi stages hire is usually done the afternoon before the ceremony so that everything is in place for the following morning. According to ritual, the bride does not leave the home after the mendhi is applied, until the following day for the wedding itself.
For the mendhi ceremony the venue is decorated with flowers and drapes, and the groom has to bring the henna for the mendhi along with some presents such as dried fruit and sweets. The mendhi itself used to be applied by the bride's aunt or perhaps another female relative, but today that is usually done by a professional mendhi artist. Mendhi designs are very elaborate, but they can be applied as the bride prefers. Usually the designs are on the palms and back of the hands and the forearms to above the elbow. They are also on the feet and up the legs to just below the knee. In addition, it may be that a small amount of mendhi is applied to the groom's hands and feet in a simple design.
Somewhere within the design, the groom's initials are entered, and after the wedding ceremony itself the groom must look for them and find them. If he does so, it is said that he will be the dominant one in the marriage. If not, then the wife will be in charge.
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