Curious on attire...tacky?

Jem79

I am going to a reception in a month (wedding was done in Vegas this spring). The bride is American, groom is from India (been in US for years and says he doesn't follow many Indian traditions/beliefs/cultures).  However, I have heard that the bride and bride's mother is wearing Indian attire and getting henna for the reception.  Is this appropriate or insulting?  

nnoble4

I would think that the groom knows what is going on.  At least I hope.  Maybe they discussed what they wanted to do for the reception and thought it would be nice to incorporate some cultural aspects to the reception.  Does he have traditional parents that would want to see some cultural aspects?  It may be a compromise since they seemed to not have a traditional Indian wedding.  I'd say it is hard to say whether it is appropriate or insulting because we have no idea what is going on in their lives. 

glam70s

Are you concerned that it's tacky because an American girl is wearing henna and Indian dress, or because the groom is somewhat antipathic toward Indian tradition?

I don't think it's tacky that an American woman would dress to suit her husband's culture, if that's what everyone involved prefers. I know a (white) guy who married a Japanese girl and her family was much better about welcoming him if he dressed in the Japanese tradition for the wedding, although the bride herself didn't care at all. I'll admit it drives me nuts when white people try to act like they're asian, but in this circumstance I think it made the most sense.

If the groom is not deep into Indian culture, but his family is, I can understand why this woman would want to do whatever she can to ease the discomfort they may feel that he's not marrying a nice Indian girl.

aerinpegadrak

I got hennaed for my wedding, and neither I nor my husband are Indian.  I was worried about it being offensive, but I was assured that it doesn't really hold any spiritual significance in any of the cultures that use bridal henna, it's simply a traditional adornment.  It's not any different than an Indian bride deciding to wear a big white poofy dress.

gottahavashorti

Why would it by tacky?  We figured MIL would wear a pant suit of some sort but she wore a sari.

Actually, all of the women in DH's family wore saris to our wedding while the men all wore suits instead of their traditional shirts.  Women in my mom's family rarely wear their traditional dresses to weddings except maybe the grandmother of the bride, while there are several men who often wear their barongs.  Neither of us is deep into our culture and we invited very few extended family members beyond first cousins, or there probably would have been more traditional clothing sighted at our wedding.

I'm pretty sure it's just an excuse to wear their traditional clothing.  In Americanized families, it's not really something you get to wear every day and I only ever see that clothing come out at weddings.

gottahavashorti

Oh wait, are you concerned because it's someone not of that ethnicity that's getting hennad and wearing saris?  At DH's cousin's wedding, BIL brought a friend and she wore a sari and I believe got henna.  I wasn't able to go but DH had wanted to bring home a sari for me until he saw the price tags, and I'm not from that culture either.  I don't think it's a big deal.

dizzinea

why would that be insulting? it's honoring his culture?