Is there any particular reason why the wedding dress is traditionally red? I know gora people have the white for purity, innocence, and the virgin bride… so is there any reason ours is red? Thanks 
Re: Symbolism of the red dress
as far as i know its cos indian people wear red on their weddings and since pakistan used to be part of india, its a custom that has travelled over. i think red is meant to be a celebratory color in indian culture whereas white is meant for mourning.
every other muslim culture in the world wears white on their wedding day from the arabs to the persians to the south africans... its only the pakistanis who wear red.
Re: Symbolism of the red dress
Its a Hindu custom.
Red is an auspicious color for Hindus because it represents their goddess of wealth, Laxmi. They believe that the bride 'becomes' Laxmi on her wedding day, so they dress her up in red.
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funny how pakistani people in general are all up in arms about indian/hindu customs otherwise, but then have happily been dressing up brides in red without thinking about where that custom comes from! then again, if laxmi means nothing to us, does it really matter?
Re: Symbolism of the red dress
every other muslim culture in the world wears white on their wedding day from the arabs to the persians to the south africans... its only the pakistanis who wear red.
A lot of those other cultures don't traditionally wear white either...they only do it because they've mostly abandoned their traditional clothes and adopted western customs. I know Afghans are traditionally supposed to wear green dresses at their weddings (both the bride and groom, as far as I know)...and I think Iranian and Turkish brides used to wear colored clothes too till they adopted white, western style dresses.
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then again, if laxmi means nothing to us, does it really matter?
I don't think it matters. Honestly, how many Muslim brides even know what the color red is supposed to mean to Hindus when they dress up in their red joras. It's pretty much a secular custom for us.
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true enough!
i didn't know those other cultures used to wear color... interesting.
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Red is also worn in China and other parts of Asia.
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I'll take our wedding traditions/fashions over American/western any day!
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i kind of wanted both... oh well...
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You know, less than 200 years ago, it wasnt even traditional for Western brides to wear white. They used to wear nice dresses in any color...even black. However, Queen Victoria wore white at her wedding...and it became a status symbol after that (an expensive white dress was something so impractical that only the wealthy could afford it - the idea being that they get soiled so easily that it would be nearly impossible to get any significant use out of the dress after the wedding).
I'll take our wedding traditions/fashions over American/western any day!
definitely :biggthumb
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Afghanis and Pashtuns still wear green today. I heard something about a girl who wears red on her wedding day means shes extremely happy and other colors, not so much. Sounds completely bogus to me.
Re: Symbolism of the red dress
You know, less than 200 years ago, it wasnt even traditional for Western brides to wear white. They used to wear nice dresses in any color...even black. However, Queen Victoria wore white at her wedding...and it became a status symbol after that (an expensive white dress was something so impractical that only the wealthy could afford it - the idea being that they get soiled so easily that it would be nearly impossible to get any significant use out of the dress after the wedding).
Coming from a Pakistani perspective, I find the concept of a western wedding dress to be a waste. Most desis can't afford to buy such an xpensive dress and jewelery item adn only wear it once in their life like goras will. It sounds kinda sad that Arabs/turks etc have abandoned their own cultural traditions/fashions to follow the west.. I'm confident that Pakistan will never give in to that, as long as we're still living next to India, we're going to keep our cultural traditions alive whether gora/arab-wannabes like it or not.
As for red coming from Hindu gods, white wedding dresses traditionally symbolize purity adn most especially virginity. That's why in the past, women who re-married wouldn't wear white, they'd wear a simple off white/beige/etc color rather than pure white dress....So as much as us Muslim Pakistanis don't care what the origin of hte red dress is, I don't think people nowadays care (or follow) what white symbolizes....
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Coming from a Pakistani perspective, I find the concept of a western wedding dress to be a waste. Most desis can't afford to buy such an xpensive dress and jewelery item adn only wear it once in their life like goras will...
andrew and i had this convo too... i was trying to tell him how i couldnt see myself spending $600 on a white wedding dress and not being able to wear it again and how it was such a waste, and he got really upset. he was like how can u call a wedding dress a waste? its our wedding day and thats the dress you are getting married in! its special and symbolic and important to me, in my culture. and if you spend $600 or $1600, thats still ok because its an important and extra-special purchase especially because its something that you won't be buying or wearing again, because hopefully, you won't be marrying again.
its a different perspective on things and i think its kind of nice to not always attach a monetary value to some things and be so practical about spending money... and i have to say, i agree with him- a wedding dress is not a waste! regardless of whether its blue, black, white, red or any other color :)
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Okay, this may be inappropriate -- but you know how girls wear yellow before the wedding, partly to camouflage the stains from ubtan and such. I wonder if the red attire is similar?
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oh ewww... you mean from losing their virginity? yuck :P
on a sidenote- i didnt know thats why girls wore yellow! thats gross. i don't like ubtan.
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Even if a woman were to remarry, she wouldn’t wear her first wedding dress would she? 
As for not attaching monetary value to something, I don’t think that’s possible if you look at Pakistan/India… the majority of people are still very poor or middle class, so they cannot afford to buy something to wear only once. You have to admit, desis tend to be very practical (others might call it being cheap :p) that’s why you’ll c so much re-gifting of “crappy” gifts. because even if they might not be poor, the practicality/not wanting to waste money mentality is there..
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But in that case, wouldn’t the valima dress be red 
To be more inappropriate 
back in the day (and i think even now?) the night after the wedding they’d fly the marital bed sheet to show the blood stains..ewwww
On a sidenote..its nice to know what are the origins of a color or rasam or piece of ejwelery even…however, to actually abide by those rules today would just be so confining!
Re: Symbolism of the red dress
Sahar
Re: Symbolism of the red dress
no, but i think if you were to remarry, you wouldnt wear white a second time, just like you wouldnt wear red again either if you wore it to your first wedding if you were pakistani. so i think he meant, its worth it to spend that money because its a once-in-a-lifetime purchase for a once-in-a-lifetime event.
as for the monetary thing, well we spend enough on our wedding dresses and how do we pay for them? with savings usually, no? so white people save up for their wedding dresses too so that they can have the dress of their dreams. and if you budget for it from the start, and you know you won’t wear it again, then its ok cos you know what you’re getting into. and you can always give your wedding dress to a charity if you wish so someone else can have her dream day in something that maybe she couldnt afford otherwise. these days, you can also rent a wedding dress if you cant afford to, or dont want to, spend 1000’s of dollars on a dress.
plus with the monetary thing, if what you say is true about lower/middle class people not being able to afford to make a pricey dress and only wear it once, then a) why make such a pricey dress, and b) if people were truly so budget conscious, shouldnt it reflect in other aspects of the wedding too? we still have huge 400 people parties with tons of food going to waste at the end, we give lots of jewellery to our brides (whether they wear it or not is another story), theres lots of jaheyz given etc… those things can be considered wasteful too but they’re not. if you’re gonna play the budget card, it has to be played across the board, not just with your dress. especially considering the value of the dress is what, 5% of your total budget? less? you wearing it multiple times isn’t really gonna affect the overall expenditure on the wedding.