A holud ceremony is undoubtedly one of the main highlights of the wedding festivities! A cosy Gaye Holud or Holud ceremony hosted at home has to be one of the most memorable days of your life. What better way to make the day more special than delving into the decor and preparations for the day with your friends and family?
So with the wedding bells ringing in the background, allow this blog to help you smooth sail through the affair of decorating your Holud ceremony at home!
Lighting
What is a deshi wedding function that is not brightly-lit? Don’t shy away from incorporating a generous amount of lighting in your decor. Whether the holud is indoors, on the terrace or in the backyard – there’s plenty of options to choose from when it comes to lighting. Starting from strings of lights to bulbs, fairy lights and even lanterns – you have an array of options to choose from!
Let fairy lights run parallel to strings of marigold, or simply suspend strings of translucent bulbs from the ceiling.
Candles are a charming addition to the lighting. Place floating candles on a large bowl of water covered in petals as a centre-piece or even several of these bowls to act as a key element of your decor.
To make the ambience nicer, you may decorate backdrops with ‘’curtains of lights’’ by propping the strings of lights on off-white or coloured translucent tulle fabric, allowing it to flow from the ceiling to the ground. Not only will a well-lit decor enhance the mood but it will also make for better photographs!
You can even make a photo booth out of a small corner by combining lighting with some hanging greenery.
Hangings & Drapes
Fabric Drapes
It’s the season of festivities, and ceremonies like these should exude colours and high spirits! To enhance your holud decor, even more, put up colourful drapes along the walls. You may use them to embellish the railings in the stairways, so the whole residence is captivated with the wedding vibes.
Floral hangings
Adorn the surrounding using beautiful flowers. Since the occasion is Gaye Holud, the most fitting flowers would be long strings of yellow and orange marigold! Not only will they create a very dazzling ambience but will also add freshness to the atmosphere. Flower strings may also be wrapped along the staircase railings to add charm to the welcome area.
If you have a theme colour, then you might want to pick flowers of the colours that go well with your theme – as you’d want to create a uniform, tied together decor.
Paper hangings
Colourful craft paper decor takes us back to the good old days of traditional Bengali event decor. Why not bring them back and make your holud stand out with its unique choice of decor?
Paper can be shaped into birds, little rosettes or simply triangle pieces attached from long strings of thread/ropes – the possibilities are endless. Simply get some craft paper and allow your creativity to take over!
Alpona
Allow your holud to bring back the fading tradition of the Alpona and enhance your holud decor with the richness of folk Bengali art. Get your artistic friends to grab their paintbrushes and decorate your floors with Alpona motifs, also known as Rangoli in the subcontinent. An alpona is a great way to accentuate the entranceway of your function, making it strikingly exquisite and showing that you’ve left no stone unturned by pulling together all the elements of traditional Bengali decor.
If you are not too keen on painting your floors (which is totally understandable!) it doesn’t have to mean that you can’t indulge yourself in the joy of making Alpona. Opt for alternatives such as coloured sand or rice, or even dry powdered colours to give life to your designs. Now your event doesn’t have to miss out on the beauty of alpona – which can also be easily removed later.
You may also use chalk to line out the motif patterns and fill the lines in using flowers, petals and leaves. It will look just as capturing, if not more!
Stage
Surely you must have an area in mind where the actual ceremony will take place and where the bride/groom will be seated. Now, this area has to be extra special! You may opt for a traditional divan and decorate it with colourful fabrics in silk, satin or block prints. Throw in a couple of nakshi kantha cushions for that traditional touch! You can also incorporate elements such as flowers, paper hangings and other such ornaments to beautify this platform since this is where the main focus will be. You can further include a colourful patterned (block printed or tie-dyed or chundri) cloth as the backdrop to make sure every photograph looks bright and vibrant!
If a swing, or dolna is available, then use that as the platform for seating for an even grander look! You can adorn the swing in many ways, with key elements being flowers and colourful cushions. Make it look even more elegant with hanging flower balls, like hydrangea pomander balls (spot it in the next picture!) – which you can even DIY!
A quintessential Gaye Holud in true means is incomplete if there isn’t a pati to be spotted on the stage. You can place the pati on the seating platform for the bride/groom to sit on. The traditional craftsmanship of Bengal has gifted us with beautifully weaved rugs – the shital pati and to bring it back is essential in capturing the ethnic elements of a classic Bengali Gaye Holud in present times.
Image: dailyasianage.som
Table set-up
The table that is situated in front of the seating space on the stage is one of the pivotal things in a holud – for this is where all the ceremonial items are placed.
This table has to be eye-catching! Adorn it using fresh banana leaves for a unique look and to also add the charm of greenery and life. Not only will this be a key accent to the arrangement but will act as mats to anchor all the things that will be propped on to the table. You may present the mishti, fruits and pitha in decorated jhuris, big thalas or even kulas! However, if you prefer to stick to conventional serving ware, go for clay bowls and dishes or even bronze kasha serving-ware for full authenticity.
A traditional Bengali holud is known for the variety of pithas that is served. We Bengalis sure do take pride in being able to make so many delicious and artistic pithas, with ones like pakan pithas bearing such exquisite carvings. A homely holud allows us to carry on traditions, too – like our aunts and other members of the family bringing different sorts of pithas.
Coming to the most important piece – the turmeric, or holud itself! Use a clay bowl, or a bronze (kasha) bowl to present the turmeric paste. Add the finishing touch by decorating with some fresh rose petals!
Something still feels missing, right? Oh, yes! We can’t forget the bride and groom amongst the food and other things. Place cute, little dolls of the bride and groom in the center of the table. Of course they’re to be dressed up in wedding attire as a token of the special event!
Photo-booth & Signs
Having a traditional ceremony doesn’t have to call for the abandonment of current trends! How can a holud in recent times feel like it without photo booths and signs/placards? Buy a large photo frame off the rack or make one at home using kites, paper flowers, fans, ribbons, fairy lights etc.! You may even get an Instagram photo frame prop that is undoubtedly going to keep yourself and your guests entertained!
We hope these ideas inspire you to decorate your holud with grandeur and grace even when it’s low-key and shed a glow on the ceremony just as the turmeric is meant to do for your skin!
If you’re planning to renovate your interiors prior to upcoming festivities, get in touch with us at Sheraspace for beautiful interiors for your space!
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