“Brides must wear red on their wedding day.”

“The bride has to touch the groom’s feet.”

“You should get married in your early 20s.”

These are some stereotypes and so-called ‘wedding rules’ that couples getting married in India have to adhere to kyun ki riti, rivaz aur parampara se upar kuch nahi hai. 

But hey, it’s the 21st century now so thankfully, the trend is changing for the better. Take these instances for example where couples or families broke stereotypes about what/how marriage should be like?

1. These two adorable grooms broke the conventional rules of marriage and tied the knot in a low-key ceremony, filling our hearts with love. 

Amit Shah and Aditya Madiraju got married at the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in New Jersey in July 2019 and their romantic photoshoot had the internet cheering for them. 

2. This desi bride ditched the traditional lehenga and wore a pantsuit to her wedding. 

On September 2020, Sanjana Rishi from New Delhi opted for a pantsuit for her wedding. Why, so? Because she believes bridal looks don’t necessarily have to fit a mould or cultural. 

3. This Indo-Dutch couple touched each other’s feet at their wedding and also adopted each other’s surnames as a mark of mutual respect for one another. 

Back in 2018, Diipa Khosla and her then-fiance Oleg Buller proved to us that mutual respect is as important as love in a marriage. Now, Oleg calls himself Oleg E.H. Büller-Khosla, Diipa is Diipa Büller-Khosla.

4. This couple met each other at an old age home and decided to get married, proving to us that love can happen anytime and anywhere.

This story of 65 year old Lakshmi Ammal and 66 year old Kochaniyan will prove to you that love is not bound by age. They decided on forever and tied the knot in December 2019 after knowing each other for 20 years.

5. This rule-breaking groom decided to live with his wife and her parents in their house. The couple also had 3 wedding ceremonies.

In 2019, this couple got the priest to tweak their vows since they didn’t believe in the notion that the husband has to be ‘supreme’ to his wife. The groom also stayed at his wife’s house before they bought their own place.

6. This couple fought all odds and finally tied the knot in Hindu and Christian ceremonies, after dating for ten years.

Mekhala, from Maharashtra, India and Tatum from Texas, USA got married in an intimate ceremony in 2019 at the same spot they first met ten years ago, and on the same date as their tenth anniversary.

7. Just minutes after her wedding ceremony, this desi bride rushed to the exam centre after walking down the aisle. 

This multi-tasker bride struck the perfect balance between her professional and personal life. In 2018, Priyanka Kumari from Jharkhand sat for her Bachelor of Education test on the same day that she got married on. 

gulfnews.com

8. Not the groom, this Rajasthani bride rode a horse to make a grand entry at her wedding. 

In 2018, Nehar Khichar, an IIT graduate from Rajasthan broke stereotypes and promoted equality by riding a horse to her wedding venue. 

9. This bride skipped the steps of a bridal make-up and candidly flaunted the #NoMakeUpLook on the day of her wedding.

In 2017, Delara Lalwani decided on a make-up free look for her wedding day after getting inpisred by pictures of her mother from her wedding ceremony.

www.wedmegood.com

10. This desi dad built up the courage and narrated his journey from being homophobic to accepting his son’s sexuality while making a toast on his son’s wedding. 

In his emotional yet, compelling speech this desi dad confessed to his son about how wrong he was when he chose to ignore his son’s sexuality. 

11. This trans couple became a ray of hope for their community after having the ‘first rainbow wedding’ of West Bengal.

In 2019, Tista Das and Dipan Chakraborty, tied the knot in an intimate ceremony. From being friends to life partners, their journey was full of obstacles but their love for each other helped them through it all. 

indianexpress.com

12. This couple from India-Pakistan broke all the societal rules to be with each other for life. 

Bianca Maieli and her wife Saima Ahmad got married in California, in 2019. They both met during an event and that was it. They fell in love and decided on forever.

13. These two Indian-American grooms smashed taboos and expressed their love to the world.

In 2019, Vaibhav Jain and Parag Mehta, held a big fat Indian wedding in Texas. They got married in a traditional Jain ceremony, attended by their family and friends from across the U.S. and India. 

14. In 2019, this gay couple hosted their wedding reception in Mumbai after Section 377 was scrapped. 

Vinodh Philip and Vincent Illaire hosted a wedding celebration in Mumbai after Section 377 was scrapped as one of them saw the city as the place where he finally found his true himself.

mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com

15. This couple fought hard to be with each other despite facing rejection from their family members. 

Despite facing rejections from their respective communities, Aveena and Alissa from Seattle decided to be with one another. Their love for each other was the only constant thing and there was no hurdle they weren’t willing to overcome.

16. This Bengali bride refused to cry while leaving her parents home.

During her bidaai, this Bengali bride broke the internet with her sassy attitude as she refused to cry while leaving her parents home. Instead of crying, she posed for the shutterbugs donning a hearty smile.

17. At this Bengali wedding, the family invited female priests to perform all the rituals and the father of the bride also refused to do kanyadaan

For the very first time, a family invited female priests for their daughther’s wedding to do all the rituals. Taking a progressive stand, the father of the bride also refused to do the kanyadaan of his daughter because she wasn’t a property to give away.

18. In 2019, this couple from Pune hid their surnames during their wedding and replaced the marriage rituals with the constitution principles.

Sachin and Sharvari had a casteless wedding ceremony to eliminate the possibilities of caste-based prejudices. And, their marriage vows were based on the principles of the Indian Constitution like equality, development and mutual respect.

thelogicalindian.com

Modern times call for modern wedding rituals.