Marriage-Traditions on Late Blooms

Mehndi Memories

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I haven’t blogged for a while and began to feel the urge to blog today. I decided that I could blog about anything really - so here I am blogging about Mehndi. In my colouring book , “The Colours of Nature,” there was a page with intricate patterns on a hand. You can see the hand in the above collage and the colours that I used. When I was in India several years ago, I fondly remember having henna body art done on the palms of my hands. This was done by two young boys sitting on boxes under a tree. It was evening and the light in which they did this work was not very good. They were good artists though and it was very cheap. The art of applying henna to the hands and feet is known as Mehndi, and is traditionally used for celebrations and rites of passage. Every culture and region of the world uses henna tattoos in its own unique way. For Hindu weddings, henna is painted on the bride to symbolize joy, beauty, spiritual awakening and offering, while Moroccans often paint doors with henna to bring prosperity and chase away evil. Depending on where you get henna tattoos, they will look different. Indian tattoos feature fine lines and floral patterns, while Arabic henna designs tend to be larger in scale and African henna patterns are more bold and geometric. (huffingtonpost.com)

Wedding Decor and Styles

Sat, 04 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

“Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.” (Anonymous)

Every couple wants their wedding to be memorable and to reflect their own tastes, styles, and traditions. While I’m very aware that a wedding is not a marriage, but only the start - these occasions come filled with a promise and hope for love, family, and life, that matches no other earthly celebration. All the images in the collages here were taken at memorable weddings of close family and friends. Enjoy!

The Korovai

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

“Love doesn’t just sit there like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.” (Ursula K. LeGuin)

After attending a beautiful wedding recently at which there was bread instead of a cake, the above quote came to mind. This wedding adhered to Ukrainian tradition. As you can see from the above collage, the “Korovai” is prominently displayed. According to the wedding program, “the Korovai is an intricately woven traditional Ukrainian wedding bread that represents the divine gift of life and prosperity from nature and the gift of love and support for the newly-married couple.”