doing household chores. Thus brides try to k

e bride's mehndi is said to signify the strength of love in the marriage: The darker the mehndi, the deeper the love. Also, as long as the mehndi doesn't fade, the new bride is excused from doing household chores. Thus brides try to keep the mehndi fresh and vibrant for as long as
Pithi refers to a cleansing ceremony generally held the evening before the wedding, in which the bride and groom are rubbed with tumeric paste in a beautification process. It is believed that tumeric softens and whitens the skin, so the purpose of this ceremony is to help the bride and groom to be radiant for their wedding. Family members and friends often times have fun getting the bride and groom completely covered in the paste.
As a part of the pithi, family and friends also bless the couple with good luck (by dabbing their forehead with saffron), shiny hair (by anointing them with oil), prosperity (by giving money), abundance (by showering them with rice), and sweetness (by feeding them sugar).
The bride and groom's ceremonies are traditionally held separately at their respective homes, but for our purposes, we hav