Indian Wedding Games

Traditionally Indian weddings were arranged marriages, where the bride and the groom probably hadn’t met before. In order to break the ice between the newly married couple and the family, wedding games were introduced. These games are still played today, they add to the fun and frolic of the wedding.
 
One of the most common games or rather a prank played is “Hide the shoes”. Before getting on the mandap (the canopy under which the wedding rituals are conducted), the groom removes his shoes. The bride’s sisters wait for this moment to hide the shoes away. After the ceremony when the groom looks for his shoes and isn’t able to find them, he is sure to know his sisters-in-law have taken them. They return the shoes only when the groom pays them a ransom. It is usually in the form of money or jewellery.
 
The pillow talk game is another ice breaker for the newly-wed couple. The bride and groom sit back to back with a pillow held between their shoulders. Here the couple are asked questions by different family members and they answer the questions by the nod of their head. Their answers are checked for compatibility.
 
Another Indian wedding game is “fishing the ring” a game where the bride and groom are asked to remove their wedding rings and place it in a bowl of milk. They are then supposed to fish their ring from this bowl. Whoever finds the ring first is said to rule the roost.
 
When Mehendi (henna tattoo) is applied during the mehendi ceremony, the bride’s and groom’s names are hidden in the design. There is a game where in the groom is supposed to find the hidden names. If he cannot find them he is supposed to give the bride a gift.
 
“You touch my heart” is a game that the bride’s friends and sisters enjoy playing as they get an opportunity to tease the groom. Slits are made in a big sheet or sari, big enough for a wrist to go in. The girls including the bride stand behind the sheet with just their wrists out through the slot. The groom has to guess who his bride is by looking at the palm and the wrist.
 
A very common game which involves all family members is antakshri. The gathering is divided into two, either as gents and ladies or as the groom’s family and the bride’s family. The teams compete against each other singing songs usually related to wedding and romance. The ladies team or the bride’s family usually starts with a song. The next team is supposed to sing a song starting with the last letter of the last word in the song sung by the previous team. This could go on for hours till the teams exhaust their collection of songs.
 
Bollywood, the Indian film industry has a huge influence on the games played at the wedding. It is now a trend to have special organisers for the games. Many of the games have now become so popular because they have been shown in the movies.