A glossary of Indian wedding terms.
41 ceremonies, rituals, roles and modern terms — defined plainly, across Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and regional traditions. Written for anyone attending an Indian wedding for the first time, and for families explaining theirs to guests who are.
Last updated 2 August 2026 · Baraati LLP, Pune
An Indian wedding is not one event. It is a sequence of three to five days and five or more distinct ceremonies, each with its own time, venue, dress code and often its own guest list. The vocabulary below is what those ceremonies are called and what happens at each.
Regional variation is the rule, not the exception. India has dozens of wedding traditions that differ by region, community, caste and faith. The definitions here describe the most widely shared forms — chiefly North Indian Hindu practice, with Sikh, Muslim, Bengali, Gujarati and South Indian variants noted where they differ most. Your family's version may reasonably differ from any of them.
The wedding itself
Shaadi
The everyday Hindi word for a wedding. Used interchangeably with vivah (the more formal, Sanskrit-derived term) and byah in some regions. An Indian shaadi is normally not a single event but a sequence of ceremonies spread over three to five days.
Baraat
The groom's wedding procession — the groom travelling to the wedding venue accompanied by his family and friends, traditionally on a decorated horse (ghodi), now often in a car, with a dhol or brass band and dancing along the way. The baraat's arrival at the venue is one of the loudest, most photographed moments of an Indian wedding.
Baraati
A member of the baraat — one of the groom's party in the procession. Loosely, any guest who arrives with the groom's side. Baraati is also the name of this app, which is built for everyone in the wedding party, on both sides.
Muhurat
An auspicious window of time, calculated from the couple's birth charts by a priest or astrologer, during which a ceremony should take place. Muhurats are why Indian weddings so often begin at unusual hours — a 3:40 AM phera is not unheard of — and why dates cluster in particular months.
Mandap
The canopied structure, usually four-pillared and decorated with flowers, under which the Hindu wedding ceremony is performed. The sacred fire (agni) burns at its centre.
Panditji / Pujari
The Hindu priest who officiates the ceremony, recites the Sanskrit mantras, and guides the couple and their families through each ritual.
Pre-wedding ceremonies
Roka
Usually the first formal ceremony, marking the two families' agreement to the match. Literally 'to stop' — the couple is now spoken for. Typically small and family-only.
Sagai / Mangni
The engagement ceremony, where the couple exchange rings in front of both families. In some communities the roka and sagai are combined into one event.
Tilak
A ceremony held at the groom's home in which the bride's father and male relatives apply a tilak (a mark of vermilion or sandalwood paste) to the groom's forehead, formally accepting him as their son-in-law, and present gifts.
Mehendi / Mehndi
The ceremony at which intricate henna designs are applied to the bride's hands and feet, and usually to the other women in the family too. It is an all-day, music-filled event; a common tradition holds that the groom's name is hidden in the bride's design for him to find. Typically one to two days before the wedding.
Haldi
A ceremony in which a paste of turmeric, sandalwood and rose water is applied to the bride and groom — separately, at their own homes — by family members, for auspiciousness and a glow on the wedding day. Guests wear yellow, and it usually ends with everyone covered in turmeric. Known as pithi in Gujarati weddings and gaye holud in Bengali ones.
Sangeet
The music-and-dance night, historically the women of both families singing traditional wedding songs, now typically a choreographed performance evening where both sides dance, roast each other affectionately, and the families meet properly for the first time. Often the largest and longest pre-wedding event.
Chooda / Chura
A Punjabi ceremony in which the bride's maternal uncle (mama) presents her with a set of red and white ivory or plastic bangles, which she wears from the wedding day for a period afterwards. Kalire — ornate umbrella-shaped danglers — are then tied to the chooda by her sisters and friends.
Ganesh Puja / Grah Shanti
A prayer to Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, performed at the start of the wedding proceedings at each family's home to invoke a smooth celebration.
Mameru / Bhaat
A Gujarati and Rajasthani ceremony in which the bride's or groom's maternal uncle arrives with gifts — clothes, jewellery and sweets — for his sister's family, honouring the maternal line's role in the wedding.
The wedding day
Sehra
The veil of flowers or beads tied to the groom's turban, covering his face during the baraat. The sehrabandi is the small ceremony at which it is tied.
Ghodi
The decorated mare the groom traditionally rides to the wedding venue at the head of the baraat.
Milni
The formal meeting of the two families at the venue gate as the baraat arrives — corresponding relatives from each side (the fathers, the maternal uncles, the brothers) greet each other, exchange garlands, and are introduced pair by pair.
Varmala / Jaimala
The exchange of flower garlands between bride and groom, marking their acceptance of each other. Traditionally accompanied by good-natured chaos, with each side lifting their own so the other cannot reach.
Kanyadaan
The ritual in which the bride's father gives her hand to the groom, entrusting her to him. One of the most emotionally charged moments of a Hindu wedding.
Saat Phere / Saptapadi
The seven circuits the couple take around the sacred fire, each accompanied by a vow — for nourishment, strength, prosperity, happiness, progeny, health and lifelong friendship. The marriage is considered solemnised on completion of the seventh. This is the ritual heart of a Hindu wedding.
Sindoor
The vermilion powder the groom applies to the parting of the bride's hair, marking her as married.
Mangalsutra
The sacred necklace, usually of black beads with a gold pendant, that the groom ties around the bride's neck. Its form varies widely by region and community.
Joota Chupai
The tradition in which the bride's sisters and cousins steal the groom's shoes when he removes them to enter the mandap, and negotiate a cash ransom for their return. Reliably one of the funniest negotiations of the day.
After the wedding
Vidaai / Bidaai
The farewell ceremony as the bride leaves her parents' home for her husband's. She traditionally throws handfuls of rice over her shoulder as she goes, a gesture of repaying what her parents gave her. Almost always the most tearful moment of the wedding.
Griha Pravesh
The bride's first entry into her new home, welcomed with an aarti and a ritual in which she gently tips over a vessel of rice with her right foot, symbolising the prosperity she brings.
Reception
The formal party hosted after the wedding, typically by the groom's family, where the couple are introduced to the wider circle of friends, colleagues and extended family who were not at the ceremonies.
Shagun / Neg
Ceremonial money or gifts given as a blessing — shagun is the auspicious gift from elders to the couple, neg the customary payments and gifts claimed by specific relatives at specific moments.
Faith and regional variants
Anand Karaj
The Sikh wedding ceremony — literally 'blissful union' — performed in a gurdwara before the Guru Granth Sahib. The couple circle the scripture four times (the laavan) as its four hymns are sung. There is no sacred fire and no kanyadaan.
Nikah
The Muslim marriage contract, officiated by a qazi or imam, in which the couple's consent is sought and given publicly and the contract is signed before witnesses.
Mehr
The mandatory gift or payment from the groom to the bride, specified in the nikah contract, which is her exclusive property.
Walima
The reception banquet hosted by the groom's family after the nikah, marking the public celebration of the marriage.
Gaye Holud
The Bengali equivalent of the haldi ceremony, in which turmeric paste is carried from the groom's house to the bride's and applied to her.
Pithi
The Gujarati haldi ceremony, in which a turmeric and chickpea-flour paste is applied to the bride and groom.
Muhurtham
The auspicious moment of the South Indian wedding ceremony, and by extension the ceremony itself. Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayali weddings have their own distinct ritual sequences — a Tamil wedding centres on the tying of the thaali, the South Indian equivalent of the mangalsutra.
Modern wedding vocabulary
Destination wedding
A wedding held away from where the families live — commonly Udaipur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Goa, Rishikesh or Kerala within India, or Thailand, Dubai and Italy abroad. Guests travel and stay for the full three-to-five-day sequence, which turns travel schedules, hotel rooms and ID documents into the host's problem. See destination wedding guest app.
Wedding guest app
A private mobile app for one wedding, giving guests the invitation, RSVP, schedule, venue and travel details, and shared photos in one place instead of across group chats, PDFs and phone calls. See what a wedding guest app is.
Digital wedding invitation
An invitation delivered as a link or in-app screen rather than on paper — increasingly with RSVP built in, so replies are countable rather than scattered across messages. See digital wedding invitations.
RSVP
From the French répondez s'il vous plaît — 'please reply'. In an Indian wedding context, the persistent problem is that a reply in a group chat is not a number a caterer can use. See wedding RSVP apps.
Trousseau
The clothes, jewellery and household goods a bride brings with her to her new home, traditionally assembled over months and displayed before the wedding.
Wedding planner
A professional who coordinates vendors, budget, timeline and logistics on the family's behalf. In India, planners increasingly run multi-day, multi-city events with hundreds of travelling guests. Planners use Baraati Planner for budget, tasks, vendors and guests on a full screen.
Putting the sequence into an app
Every ceremony above is its own event, with its own time, venue, dress code and — often — its own subset of guests. That is exactly the structure a group chat cannot hold, and the reason Baraati is built around multi-day, multi-ceremony weddings rather than a single date.
Hosts add each function as its own entry with a venue and map link; guests see the whole week laid out in order and get a push when anything changes. If it helps to see the shape of it, the wedding itinerary page shows how a five-day sequence looks in practice, and the planning checklist works backwards from the wedding date.
Your ceremonies, in your guests' pockets.
Free for weddings up to 10 guests. Every guest joins free, on every plan.