Wedding customs in India date back thousands of years to the writings of the Vedas, Hindu sacred texts. The rituals in Indian family weddings are complex and elaborate. Although there is evidence of some changes occurring in modern times, many of the old customs still prevail today.

The Indian wedding as it has evolved to this day is a marriage between two families rather than of two individuals. This is a major difference between Western Christian traditions, which emphasize the cohabitation of two individual joining together as a new separate family unit.

There are some general patterns in Indian marriages. Firstly, there are many pre-wedding formalities associated with the engagement. Secondly, during the main ceremony, there is one key ritual recognized as signifying the couple is married once the ritual has been completed, like vows in a Christian wedding or ring exchange in a Jewish wedding. The type of ritual differs among ethnic groups or regions. In Punjabi weddings, it is the Satapadi ritual and in Tamil weddings, the Taali ritual is the key ritual that signifies the couples are married. After the ritual is completed, the community congratulates each other.

Wedding rituals vary according to regions [for example Punjab and Tamil], caste system and religious traditions. Therefore, it is important to consult family elders and authentic resources during the initial planning stages of your wedding. Let's take a look at the key differences between the Punjabi weddings of Northern India and the Tamil region of Southern India.

In the Punjabi region of Northern India, the weddings are typically lavish, elaborate and are celebrated with great enthusiasm. The wedding preparation takes place well in advance and the sangeet pre wedding ritual parties are elaborate lasting sometimes for a week. The bridegroom generally enters on a richly decorated mare and his procession [baraat] complete with live band and relatives and friends accompany him all the way to the wedding venue. Weddings usually take place in banquet halls or hotels or under huge tents erected in parks or in backyards of mansions. Bangra and Giddas are the ethnic folkdances at their weddings. The groom enters the wedding grounds on a decorated white female horse and the Satapadi, four steps around the fire is the key ritual in the Punjabi ceremony.

The Tamils [Southern India] believe in simple living, hence their weddings are not usually extravagant affairs. A large wedding hall is booked for the occasion and decorated with flowers and lights. The date for the wedding is fixed after consulting the Hindu calendar. In the Tamil Brahman wedding, the bride sits under a mandap on her father's lap during part of the ceremony. The key ritual is the Thaali, which consists of the groom tying three knots of a special necklace given by the groom's family to the bride, usually in place of a wedding ring. Some thaalis have a unique design engraved on the center amulet, but sometimes the groom's family will request the jeweler to engrave a family design: one that has been created by an ancestor and has been used by each subsequent generation. The Thaali necklace is worn by the bride more frequently by Southern Indian women than women of Northern Indian .