Glossary
South Asian wedding glossary
Nikkah or nikah, mehndi or mehendi, rukhsati or vidaai. Short, accurate explanations for couples, parents and the friends who have just been invited.
Planning a South Asian wedding comes with its own vocabulary, and two families rarely use exactly the same words. Here are fifteen common terms in plain English, grouped by tradition first, then by stage of the wedding.
Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi
Muslim weddings
Sikh and Punjabi Hindu
Sikh and Punjabi weddings
Muslim, Sikh and Hindu
Shared across traditions
Timeline
By stage of the wedding
Every family's order is different, but this is roughly where each term falls.
| Stage | Muslim | Sikh and Punjabi | Hindu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks and days before | Dholki, mayun, mehndi | Mehndi, sangeet, jaggo | Haldi, mehndi, sangeet |
| The wedding day | Baraat, nikkah, mehr | Baraat, milni, anand karaj | Baraat, milni in Punjabi families, the ceremony at the mandap |
| Leaving home | Rukhsati | Doli | Vidaai |
| After | Walima (valima vs reception) | Reception | Reception |
Families often mix these. A Pakistani wedding may include a sangeet, and a Sikh wedding may call its henna night a mehndi. If you are planning a wedding that brings two traditions together, read both columns.
Sources
How we write these entries
We check each entry against respected sources, such as the BBC's religion guides, the Hindu American Foundation, Cambridge and Merriam-Webster dictionaries, the Law Commission and established newspapers, and we say where a custom is cultural rather than religious. Where practice varies by family or region, we say so. Original script appears only where we are confident it is correct. If you spot something we have wrong, tell us through our contact page.
Next step
Turn the words into a plan
Once you know which events you are holding, the next questions are who to book and what it will cost. Our budget planner splits a total across your events, and our city cost guides for Bradford, Manchester and Leeds show sourced local prices. Nodus is free for couples.
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It depends on the tradition and the family. A common pattern is one or more pre-wedding events such as the mehndi, sangeet or dholki, then the wedding day with the religious ceremony, then a walima or reception. Each entry here explains where it fits.
Both. The nikkah, mehr, walima and anand karaj are religious. Many others, such as the mehndi, dholki, jaggo and vidaai, are cultural customs that families keep in different ways. Each entry says which.
Most terms come from Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic or Bengali and are written in English in several ways. Walima and valima, or mehndi and mehendi, are all correct. We list the common spellings on each page.
Not always on its own. If the legal requirements are not met, a religious marriage may not be recognised. Many couples give notice at their register office and hold a civil ceremony as well. See our nikkah and anand karaj entries.
- Anand karajThe anand karaj is the Sikh wedding ceremony, often translated as the blissful union. The couple walk around the Guru Granth Sahib four times as the four laavan hymns are read and sung, usually at a gurdwara in the morning. The Sikh code of conduct governs it, and it is the religious centre of a Sikh wedding.
- BaraatA baraat (also barat) is the groom's wedding procession: he arrives at the bride's venue with his family and friends, often with dhol drums, dancing and sometimes a horse. Hindu, Sikh and Muslim families all use the word. In Pakistani usage the barat also means the whole wedding-day event, usually hosted by the bride's family.
- DholkiA dholki is an informal pre-wedding gathering of song and dance around the dholak drum, mainly at Pakistani and some Indian Muslim weddings. Women of the family traditionally lead the singing, often teasing the couple. It usually starts days or weeks before the wedding, at home, and can happen over several evenings.
- HaldiHaldi is a pre-wedding ritual where family members apply a turmeric paste to the bride and groom, with blessings, laughter and a lot of yellow. Haldi is the Hindi word for turmeric. It is most associated with Hindu weddings, but Sikh, Pakistani and Bangladeshi families have their own turmeric rituals under other names, such as vatna, mayun and gaye holud.
- JaggoA jaggo (also jago or jaago) is a lively Punjabi pre-wedding night, usually the night before the wedding. Relatives dance through the streets or the venue behind a woman carrying a decorated pot lit with small lamps, singing boliyan and shaking a stick hung with bells. It belongs to Sikh and Punjabi Hindu weddings, and the name means wake up.
- MayunMayun (also mayoun or maiyan) is a pre-wedding ritual at Pakistani and Punjabi weddings. The bride, and often the groom, has a turmeric paste called ubtan or vatna applied by family, usually wearing yellow. Traditionally it also begins a few days of staying at home in simple clothes before the wedding. It usually comes just before the mehndi.
- MehndiMehndi (also mehendi) is henna, and the name of the pre-wedding celebration where the bride's hands and feet are decorated with it. Muslim, Sikh and Hindu families all hold mehndi events, with music, dancing and food. It usually happens a day or a few days before the wedding, and is often the most relaxed event.
- MehrMehr (also mahr or haq mehr) is a gift of money or property that the groom gives the bride in a Muslim marriage. It is agreed before or at the nikkah and belongs to the bride alone, to keep and use as she wishes. It is not a dowry from the bride's family.
- MilniThe milni is the formal meeting of the two families on the wedding day, mainly at Sikh and Punjabi Hindu weddings. Relatives of the same standing on each side, such as the two fathers, greet and embrace, often exchanging garlands or gifts. At a Sikh wedding it comes in the morning, before the anand karaj.
- NikkahA nikkah (also nikah) is the Islamic marriage contract. The couple consent in front of witnesses, a mehr is agreed for the bride, and an imam usually leads a short ceremony with Qur'an recitation. It is the religious ceremony that marries the couple. In England and Wales, most couples also need a civil registration.
- RukhsatiRukhsati is the bride's formal farewell from her parents' home at a Muslim wedding, usually at the end of the baraat. The word means departure or sending off in Urdu. It is often the most emotional moment of the wedding. Some couples hold the nikkah months earlier and the rukhsati later, when the bride moves to her new home.
- SangeetA sangeet is a pre-wedding night of music, songs and dancing, from the Hindi word for music. It is most common at Punjabi and North Indian Hindu and Sikh weddings, where families perform for each other and tease the couple in song. It usually falls in the days before the wedding, sometimes combined with the mehndi.
- Valima vs receptionA valima (walima) is the feast after a Muslim marriage that announces it publicly, usually hosted by the groom's family after the nikkah and rukhsati. A reception is a general wedding party that any couple can hold, often the same day as the ceremony. Many UK Muslim invitations call the valima a reception, but the purpose differs.
- VidaaiVidaai (also vidai or bidaai) is the bride's farewell to her family at the end of a Hindu wedding, as she leaves with her husband for her new home. It is usually tearful and personal. Muslim families call the same moment rukhsati, and Sikh and Punjabi families often call it the doli.
- WalimaA walima (also valima or walimah) is the feast held after a Muslim marriage to announce it publicly. At Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi weddings in the UK it is usually hosted by the groom's family, after the nikkah and rukhsati, often as the last and one of the largest events of the wedding.
Keep going
Where next
- JournalA Muslim wedding timeline for the UKThe order of events at a South Asian Muslim wedding in the UK, what each one needs, the legal step many couples miss, and a 12-month planning timeline.
- JournalPlanning a Sikh wedding in the UKHow to plan a Sikh wedding in the UK: booking the gurdwara, what gurdwaras ask of couples and guests, the order of the day, the jaggo, and the reception.
- JournalPlanning a Hindu wedding in the UKPlan a Hindu wedding in the UK: Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali and South Indian traditions, haldi, sangeet, the mandap, the sacred fire and the legal step.
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