How different are weddings?

I never thought I would be blogging about a wedding especially after the Royal wedding itself. This blog thankfully has nothing to do with the Will-Kate show in England. This is about the way weddings are conducted in different countries across the world. Now why did I think I should write about? Actually in my office of about 500 people, an astonishing 25 countries are represented and people of some nationalities have a little more to say than the others. Hence I was sitting with a Pakistani and a Dutch and somehow we started to discuss our customs and traditions and all those womany stuff which I never thought I would discuss during office hours.

The Pakistani guy had recently attended a family wedding and was sharing his pictures with us. while seeing the pics the Dutch guy was amazed at the colorful dresses and backgrounds and the jewelry and 1000 dishes for the guests. He commented that it looks like a village fair and quietly asked "what would such a procession cost?" At that we tried explaining to the Dutch guy about the reasons and importance of such color and what great value it holds for people from India and Pakistan. The dutch guy then told me what I already knew about how weddings are done in the West. Both the girl and the boy leave home after 18 and have to fend on their own. When they think its time to marry they inform all their relatives of the date, time and venue and lo! the wedding is done.

If we were to compare the weddings of commoners in India/Pakistan and UK/USA apart from the color and the noise and the celebrations the cost would be a big difference as well. Of course India being such a big country there are vast differences geographically and culturally in the magnitude and the way weddings are done. North Indians (where I come from) are famous for big shot weddings with a lot of dancing, jewelry, fancy dresses, fireworks, lot of dowry (I don't support it) and plenty of egos involved. In the south and eastern India the color and the flavor is the same if not more but the amount of money involved is not as much. 

With the wedding season hitting its peak in India I do have a lots of wedding invitations lined up. Also some of my dearest friends and cousins will be marrying in the coming 2-3 years. It was really interesting to have such a discussion in the places I least expected. I hope I get to attend some European or American wedding as well. Do share your experiences.