Thursday Thoughts: The Magic of Music

I don’t think I really need to say this out loud because everyone probably feels the same way but I am going to say it anyway otherwise I don’t know how to start this post! What would life be without song and music? BLAND BLAND BLAND! I can’t imagine what I would do if I didn’t have music that I could relate to, sing along with, dance and jump around to. Especially since sometimes when I listen to a particular song, I remember something which I had completely forgotten about. That’s the magic of music. Memories, happy times,sad times, love and fun! Aren’t we blessed to have music in our lives?

Considering how important music is,I am surprised that it is ignored a lot at weddings. In Indian weddings, we rely on our DJ’s to play the most hip and happening Bollywood songs but that could also mean music you absolutely detest being played at your wedding, or if you actually wanted Pink Floyd but you got Himesh Reshamiya instead! Happened to a bride I know recently- she wasn’t happy! I think even if you had one or two songs that are special to you played at your wedding – it could change everything. Then you wouldn’t mind even Daler Mehendi! My point being, include some of YOUR music choices into your wedding.There are so many ways to do it.

First dances have become increasingly popular these days in Indian weddings and is the perfect time to play your favourite tune. Your song as your first dance!

Photo by Kismet

We all know how popular choreographed weddings are at our weddings – another perfect opportunity to include one of your faves.

Via

Another way, which is one of my favourites is to make a cd of all the songs special to the couple and to give everyone attending the wedding a copy! Makes for a perfect reminder of your day and everyone gets to enjoy some very carefully selected music, and of course very special.

Via Magpie Paper Works

Those are just a few ways of including your choice of music in your wedding but I have digressed completely from what I thought this post would be about. I asked a friend who is very knowledgeable about Hindi music for some of her all time favourite songs-love songs to be exact. I just feel strange writing that- favourite love songs.I don’t know why but I do. Anyway, this friend (who is going to be uber famous one day so I shan’t name her incase you bug me terribly just for her autograph or an introduction- unless you are a really cute boy then I will send her your number!) so yeah, this friend sent me such a loooong list of great songs- I don’t know if I can put them all into this one post but I will put a few so you can have a listen and enjoy this Thursday. Maybe I will make Sunday into song day !! So enjoy the music and make sure music plays a big(ger) part in your own wedding!

Here are some real oldies plus some not so oldies but  are pretty outdated now as well and they came out in the early 90′s. Makes me feel….old!!!

P.S. Whenever I listen to old hindi music , I feel like I should be sitting up in the hills somewhere with a hot cup of tea!mmmm

**Fresh Inspiration Every Thursday**

Thursday Thoughts:

There are a hundred, no a thousand ways to get creative at your wedding. Maybe that is not an accurate estimate. There are probably a thousand ways to get creative with ONE aspect at your wedding. Take cake toppers for instance which is what this post is going to be about. Even if you stick to just having a bride and groom figurine for the top of your cake, why stick to the norm? Find something different and fun!

Let’s start with the not -s0-unusual cake topper. You have the bride and the groom all dressed up in their wedding finery looking cute.

Via

What happens if the couple isn’t have a white-dress-walking-down-aisle kinda wedding? Or if it is a same sex wedding? No fear- there are cake toppers for that as well.Got pretty excited to see the little Indian couple cake topper!

Via

The next one is my favourite- simple yet cute! I love the little banner! Via

If you are feeling extra creative- these silhouette toppers are pretty cool, don’t you think? People are so clever. It’s a simple idea but I doubt I’d have thought of it!

Via

How about just having a glittery monogram of your initials ? Again, SO SO easy and looks great too!

Via

See what happens if you think out of the box? You miss out on a gazillion brilliant ideas out there! Don’t be boring, do something different !

Oh! and I am not going to lie that Pinterest is where I found these images,but nowadays isn’t that a given? I LOVE Pinterest.

**Fresh Inspiration Every Thursday!!**

Thursday Thoughts: Colourless Cakes

Do you know how many kinds of cakes are out there? There are single tiered cakes, triple tiered cakes, cupCAKES, cake dresses, cakes of all shapes and sizes to choose from! I should’ve been eating some cake while writing this post because only I know how much I need some right now!!! You will too at the end of this post.

After perusing the internet for hours mainly Pinterest – which has become like Google to me- what did we do without it, I wonder? Like I was saying, after spending a few hours too many on Pinterest and then going on an internet hunt, I decided let’s focus on white cakes. They fascinate me- these white cakes. So minimalistic yet definitely the most beautiful of all the cakes I have seen. Even the ones with a dash of colour are amazing!

Via Emmaline Bride

This cake tops my list of favourites- how do they do it? How do they make them so perfect? Problem is, I don’t think I could eat this cake! I would want to just sit and stare at it.

Via Sweet and Saucy Shop

Maybe the entire post should’ve been about the Sweet and Saucy shop! Their cakes are amazing as you can see!

{ Real Wedding } N&A Part I

You might think this is a picture of jalebis – those yummy sugary deep fried treats that taste so perfect with a cup of tea or on a rainy day. But I am going to allow my imagination to run wild. To me it is some ancient script which all the priests read from in their sing song nasal voices . It could very well be that because I never ever got a word of what those priests are saying anyway! But, that’s just me and yes, those ARE jalebis. I would eat them all the time if they weren’t so sweet and oily and uhmm, dare I say it, unhealthy! The only time I would sneak one would be at a wedding which is exactly where I took this picture.

This wedding should’ve been posted a few months ago but since my favourite thing to do is to not do, it has taken me 4 months to post it. To be honest, I didn’t know where to start with this wedding, the decor, the clothes, the bride or the ceremony?! That’s the thing with Indian weddings- they are so intricate and carry on for a couple of days so you come away with so many photographs and I want to share them all but that isn’t possible, right?

After mulling over it,I finally decided I will show you some of the decor – and tease you before I show you the bride and groom! There were two days of celebration and they took place in the bride’s gorgeous farm house

 

The mehendi ceremony happened under a beautiful canopy decorated by pink and green cloth , strings of flowers and kaleeras hanging off the roof like little chandeliers!

Fuchsia pink and bright green(I am not great with colour names so if I have got them wrong-go ahead and correct me!) were the colours of the day and right from the tent to the chairs to the cushions were all draped in these colours. Though these are super bright colours and you could go quite wrong with them, they were in just right the doses and on that bright wintery morning, nothing would’ve looked better! I loved how they used the marigold flowers – very unusual and it was the first time I have seen them being used like this.

Can you spot the bride getting her mehendi done? She moved to the main tent area to be closer to the rest of the party.

Thursday Thoughts: Under my Parapluie

True story: My cousin meticulously planned her wedding at her parent’s gorgeous country home about two years ago. Everything right from the flowers to her gown to the thousands of lanterns that had been ordered and everything else you can think of was taken care of. Nothing escapes this lady, trust me! Did she check what the weather was going to be on that special Saturday? OFCOURSE she did! (Didn’t I just say nothing escapes her? Pay attention people!)

The weather reports had  said it would be sunny and an absolute gorgeous day – perfect for a wedding. Trust the rain gods to decide otherwise. Literally, an hour before the wedding ceremony- it started raining. Out came the umbrellas- all colour coordinated and put into a basket at the gate for the guests (not sure where they came from but then my Uncle is prepared for anything, isn’t he? So I never asked!). Plastic sheets were pulled out and the tents were covered as best they could at such short notice. Luckily, it was only drizzling when the bride and the groom walked out to the altar but by the time we had to move from one end of the garden to the other tent where the dinner was- it was pouring!

Was the wedding a wash out??? Certainly not!!! We had mud till our knees- umbrellas in one hand, drinks in the other and we danced till the wee hours of the morning! I did have to change out of my sari though- it was hard wading through the slush in a sari- I can’t even walk straight in one on a dry day! Oh, and there were bets who would slip on what part of the dance floor first. My brother made some lucky guy pretty rich that night!

Suffice to say it was an epic wedding and the rain was just an unwanted guest that night who we all pretty much ignored. My point? You can never tell if the weather is going to go all nutso on you. So the best thing is to be prepared and have some umbrellas lying around, just in case. If they are pretty and pink or colour coordinated (or not)- it would be nice. Just saying.

Top , Bottom 

 Apart from the practical advise, how about the fact that there is something so magical about umbrellas?

Maybe it’s memories of Mary Poppin’s umbrella. Or maybe it’s just because. Either way, they are so pretty and can a real fun element to your wedding? Right from just being props (like hanging upside down over your dance floor) or part of your engagement session- they look lovely!

Top, Bottom

Top, Bottom

These photos definitely have some Mary Poppins influence- all of them are trying fly away , aren’t they?

Left , Right

 Via or Via StyleMePretty, Polka Dot Bride, 100LayerCake

And if you haven’t noticed, we love umbrellas here at The Unreal Bride as well!!

Left, Right

*Fresh Ideas Every Thursday*