After their first wedding, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra shared photos from their pre-wedding ceremony.
On December 1, Nick Jonas and former Miss World Priyanka Chopra held their first Western-style wedding, and are scheduled to have another traditional Indian wedding the following day. After holding their first wedding, the couple shared on social media photos taken during the traditional Mehendi (or Mehndi) ceremony that took place earlier.
The couple wrote along with the photos: “One of the most special things about our relationship is the combination of two families who love and respect each other’s cultures and beliefs. Organizing a wedding with the blend of two cultures is a wonderful thing.”
“A very important part of an Indian wedding is the Mehendi ceremony. We once again had our own version of the ceremony, an afternoon that started off the day of wedding celebrations. It turned out exactly how we had dreamed.”
During the ceremony, the bride-to-be wore an Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla outfit, while “Game of Thrones” actress Sophie Turner – Joe Jonas’s fiancée – wore an Anita Dongre outfit.
In Indian tradition, this is a ceremony held just before the wedding, where the bride and other women in attendance are tattooed with henna. The bride usually has elaborate designs painted on her hands and feet. The guests have their hands painted, while single guests attend this ritual in the hope of finding a future husband.
The ceremony is also known as Mehndi, which comes from the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit and refers to the crushed henna leaves. The henna tattoo stays on the person for several days. The ritual is popular in India, Pakistan, and Arabic-speaking countries.
Brides perform this ceremony to prepare themselves mentally before the wedding. Henna tattoos are also believed to help cool the body.
Men often have tattoos painted on their palms. They also participate in singing and dancing during the ceremony.