Trends in Wedding Jewelry around the World
The Western World
In the United States and other parts of the western world, less is more is the new mantra when it comes to wedding jewelry but that is not the case in many other parts of the world.
India
In India and other South Asian countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, wedding jewelry is a big affair. Most of the time, in Hindu cultures the brides parents are required to fund all the wedding jewelry as dowry for their daughter and she is require to wear all or mostly all of it on the weeding day to let people know how much jewelry she brought in to the new family.
In Muslim traditions like in Pakistan, both the groom's family and the bride's family give wedding jewelry to the bride and she also wears most of it on the first few days of the wedding ceremonies as the celebrations last a week or so in these regions of the world.
In modern times some of these traditions do remain the same whereas others have become slightly modified. For instance, the bride in Asia still wears a lot of wedding jewelry as compared to her American counterparts but it is still less than what her mother or grandmother wore. Also, nowadays wedding jewelry is more coordinated with the color of clothes the bride is wearing. Unlike the traditional white dress in the West, South Asian brides traditionally wear red on the wedding day even though variations like pink and burgundy are also on the rise. On the days after the wedding, the reception ceremony for instance does not have a specific color for the brides dress so their wedding jewelry can match their blue, green or whatever color ensemble they have chosen to wear.
Arabia
Wedding jewelry is a big part of the bride's attire in Arabian countries like Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the like. More than stones and pearls, gold is the most important element in wedding jewelry in that part of the world. From long hanging chains to gold coins to head pieces and arm full of bangles, gold reigns supreme in the wedding festivities.
Although modern brides have educed the number of pieces they wear, they still wear much chunkier and bolder pieces than western brides who often just wear a stunning pair of earrings and bracelet and leave their neck bare with an off the shoulder gown.
