How to Make Your Honeymoon Unforgettable

The honeymoon is often ignored by newly married couples, but there’s reason why you should not omit it for saving on costs or time. Marriage is a new venture for the bride and the groom, and honeymoon is the time when they can spend quality time with each other alone without thinking about work, relatives and other matters. This time of togetherness will help newly-wedded couples develop a stronger bond and know each other better. Remember even if you were in love with each other before you got married, there are several things that only a wife and a husband gets to know about each other.

Do something interesting and worth remembering for the rest of your lives

It is fun to go a little out of the way and do something adventurous, wild or highly interesting together. For instance, if you are at a hill station, you may try trekking, camping or something else that you did not do before. If it’s a beach, you may try paragliding, snorkeling, a camel ride, or anything. It does not matter what you do, but it should be fun for you both.

Get clicked every now and then

Make several fond memories on your honeymoon and remember to have lots of photos to capture those moments for a lifetime. If you are hesitant to ask strangers for clicking pictures of you with your partner, be sure to carry a tripod so that you can click as many pictures as and when you wish without having to be dependent on others.

Eat, drink and be merry

You no longer have to fit into your wedding dress, so it’s okay if you eat whatever you want and drink and be happy within. The mantra is to be with each other, find happiness and grab enough of it.

Have more and more of sex

At your honeymoon, your mind is free from stress, relaxed and happy. Therefore, it is the best time to get intimate with each other and enjoy sex. This will help you attain heightened bliss.

Take pleasure in life’s simple offerings

You may both sit together and enjoy a sunrise or sunset among romantic talks. Do things that interest you both together; you might do some reading, sing and dance together, enjoy a candle light dinner, horse riding, play some games, or visit the spa for a massage together.

The honeymoon is the time for showering each other with love, coming closer to each other, and strengthening the bond of the knot that you made on your wedding day. Laugh and love a lot; be silly, no one told you that you have to be serious; have fun; make memories.

If you can think of better things to do on your honeymoon, share those ideas with us. 

Tips for men to steal the show on their marriage day

Hey all you men nearing your wedding day, it’s time you do something to make people say on your wedding day, Gosh! The bride’s so lucky. It’s good if you are getting a pretty bride and taking pride in it, but wouldn’t it be great if you could make yourself look equally good beside her?

There are ways to achieve the look you want on your D-day. You just have to show some dedication on your part, that’s it.

Start with a clear complexion

Use a good face scrub and get rid of the blackheads, dead skin cells and blocked pores. You must also start to clean your face with a good face wash religiously, so that by the time your wedding day arrives, you have a fresh glow to your face. If you have an oily skin it’s all the more important to clean the face with some cleanser for oily skin 2-3 times a day.

Be essentially careful with the shaving

If you are not too careful when shaving, you may get cuts and might end up carrying those scars on a clean shaven face to the mandap on the wedding day. Also use a gentle after-shave balm to soothe your face each time you get a shave in the couple of months before the wedding day.

Visit the parlor

You may visit a parlor/spa at least thrice in the last two months before the wedding. This will help you attain a striking glow and you yourself can note the difference these sessions make to your face.

Do not neglect your hair

Even if grooms take care of their face, they often tend to ignore their hair. If you do not have naturally beautiful hair that you can run your fingers through, remember that your wife will also not be able to run her fingers through your hair. So, try to do something for that dry hair or oily hair problem. Use the right shampoo and conditioners for your hair type. A beauty care professional could help you in knowing your hair type and suggesting the right hair products for you.

Take care of your hands too

Give your bride something good to hold on the wedding day. If you have very rough hands, she might not feel like holding them. Before the wedding day arrives, keep using a nice hand cream generously to make the smooth and supple. Your hands need to look good when the cameraman focuses on the ring on your finger.

With all the beauty treatments, you should be looking awesome on your wedding day. A wedding is a once in a lifetime moment, so why not give your bride the best of you?

So what say, would-be grooms, would you like to look great on your wedding? Share with us your plans to get a makeover. 

How to Handle an Interfaith Marriage

When you meet a guy or a girl and have a good feeling inside, and start liking the person, you do not know which caste or religion the person belongs to. At first glance, all you may like in the person is his/her looks, mannerisms, personality, attitude or a certain behavior. Note that it’s important to love a person for what he/she is; if you are in love with a person from another faith, do not let the religion factor affect your relationship adversely.

Often people meet on online matrimony sites and even social networking sites and fall in love; it might also happen that at first the difference in caste or religion is negligible, but as the relationship advances or when marriage happens, the differences widen making the marriage fail.

It is important for the couple of different religions to come to a mutual consent on certain factors. They must decide before marriage, whether they will be free to follow their own faiths even after marriage; in what faith they will be bringing up their children in future; in no way should the differences in faith come in the way of marriage.

Marriage is a sacred commitment and it’s a commitment for a lifetime, no matter whether the differences are in opinion, in caste or in religion.

Keys to Make Arranged Marriages a Success

Arranged marriages are not that simple, as in these situations majority of the people do not know their would-be partner too well. However, there are certain factors that should be taken care of before you proceed toward marrying a person, even if he/she has been chosen by your parents/relatives.

Age

When selecting a bride/groom through an online matrimony site, or newspaper classifieds, it is important to keep the age factor in mind. The age gap between the bride and the groom should not be too wide. Ideally, it is best that the bride is about 23-27 years of age and the groom is within 30 years.

Qualities

Keep a list of the qualities you expect your future husband/wife to have and share the list with the individual chosen to be your life partner. The individual should know your expectations before marriage and should proceed only if both of your wavelengths match.

Expectations

Keep a check on your expectations. While it is necessary to let your partner know what qualities you need in him/her, it is also better not to expect that all those requirements will be fulfilled. It is very unlikely that a single person will have all the virtues you ask for.

Financial security and looks

Though the economic stature of the family you are getting married in counts a lot for arranged marriages, it will be better not to look upon it as the most important thing. The looks of the individual you are getting married to should also be a secondary factor. Do not give it a lot of attention.

Background research

It is vital to do a thorough background research on the person you are going to marry, before saying a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the marriage proposal.

Work your brain

No matter how much your parents/relatives praise a match, always rely on your own instincts. Observe the person chosen for you closely and if you feel confused regarding any behavior, talk to your friends and siblings for helping you out. Let your decision be the final one.

Note that marriage is for life. Just because your parents say a guy/girl is the best match for you, do not go ahead blindly. Study the person as much as possible and only then give your consent. After all, it is your life.

Don’t Use Facebook to the Extent of Ruining Your Marriage

Today, a major chunk of the urban young population use Facebook and other social media sites and a large portion of them are addicted. It is important for married couples to indulge in healthy social networking and not let it be the reason for a divorce.

Recently, a woman in West Bengal was on the verge of a divorce owing to spending a lot of time on Facebook. She had no job and spent the whole day on the social networking site and kept stalking her friends; everything used to bother her and she used to compare her lifestyle with her friends’ lifestyles. What someone cooked, which new dress a girl bought, where a friend went for vacation, how happy her friends are; she followed everything closely and got frustrated with her life which was not so happening.

She started venting her frustrations on her husband to the amount of abusing him verbally as well as physically. Her husband got tired of it all and filed for a divorce.

You see, what happens when you let the virtual world gain control over your life.

Follow certain golden rules

• It is important to set your priorities right. You must remember that your husband/wife is your first priority and the amount of time you spend on Facebook should not come between you and your life partner.
• Often spouses check each other’s profiles to find out the comments made by their partners on people of the opposite sex’s photos and what comments friends of the opposite sex have made on their partner’s status and photos. This often leads to suspicion, jealousy and misunderstandings among couples. 
• If you have your ex-girlfriend/boyfriend on your friend list and your spouse knows about that, it may lead to unnecessary tensions and problems that might result in breaking your bonding with each other. 
• Do not say or do anything on Facebook that you wouldn't want your life partner to know about. 

Ensure that you are spending quality time with your spouse and not being busy on Facebook when your spouse is trying to talk with you. You must make your spouse believe that he/she is most important to you through your actions.

Mangalsutra and Hindu Marriages

Among Hindus, mangalsutra is more than just an ornament. It is the object that stays with the wife since the day she gets married and a woman only ceases to wear it when her husband is no more. For several Hindu communities, a marriage is not complete until the husband ties the mangalsutra around the bride’s neck.

The pendant and the black beads

Just as a necklace with a pendant, the mangalsutra (mangal meaning auspicious and sutra meaning thread) may also come with a pendant. Differing from an ordinary pendant, the mangalsutra’s pendant has certain significance. The pendant might be a peacock design or any other design and is an important component of the mangalsutra. The peacock pendant especially symbolizes the love a wife has for her husband.

The string of black beads is considered to keep away evil from the lives of the wedded couple. The main belief is that when a mangalsutra is worn by the bride, the husband is protected from dangers and mishaps.

Types

Gold pendant mangalsutras are considered to be superior than others owing to the fact that gold as a metal symbolizes prosperity and is believed to increase energy levels in the body. People who cannot afford gold, may have mangalsutras having silver pendants.

Several South Indians will also wear mangalsutras that are usually yellow cotton threads with gold pendant(s). Several North Indians also wear mangalsutras made of plastic thread. The mangalsutra’s type and form differs according to different regions, caste subdivisions and also depends on the amount a couple/the family can afford to spend for the mangalsutra.

Apart from the black bead mangalsutra and the yellow thread one, there is also the full gold mangalsutra.

No matter what the type, the importance of the mangalsutra is same for all married women who wear it. The mangalsutra is the equivalent of the wedding ring in the western world. Some women do not open it even for a second, while there are others who may open it while sleeping at night. All married women wearing the mangalsutra revere it as a holy object that wards off all evils from her married life.

Do you women think that the mangalsutra should be made compulsory for married women? Tell us what you feel.

Say NO to Dowry Demands

All the young girls out there, if your marriage is near, keep your eyes and ears open for any talks/demands of dowry from your would-be in-laws. Remember that expensive gifts like cars, refrigerators, furniture, etc. given by your parents to your in-laws may be seen as dowry, regardless of the fact that your in-laws demanded it or not.

Be strong enough to stop your parents from offering any expensive gift, an apartment/house, property, gold, etc. to your in-laws. If there is any demand for dowry from your in-laws, raise a voice against it. Also report to the police; these people need to be taught a lesson. You definitely do not want to move into a family of rich beggars who see your family as a source of income.

Parents having daughters often think that giving dowry will ensure the well-being of their daughters, but that is a myth. This way the parents only end up making their daughters’ lives miserable, as the in-laws see their daughter’s family as a means of income and keep demanding gift items, gold and money at regular intervals. A time comes when the girl’s family is no longer able to pay for the gifts, and then starts the physical assault of the daughter-in-law. According to a Hindustan Times report, 8391 deaths for dowry were reported all over India in 2010.

Young women of India should understand that giving dowry cannot stop crimes from happening; on the contrary, it will give rise to a plethora of social evils, like female foeticide, denial of education for the girl child, dowry deaths, and many other wrongs towards women. Women should have the courage to take a stand against the dowry system. Once the giving ends, the taking will also have to end. Marry a man who does not depend on his wife’s riches for living; marry the one who is interested in you and not on your family’s wealth.


Did you or your family face a dowry demand? How did you cope with it? Share with us.