“The bride has to touch the groom’s feet.”

“You should get married in your early 20s.”

These are some stereotypes and so-called ‘wedding rules’ that couples getting married in India have to adhere to kyun ki riti, rivaz aur parampara se upar kuch nahi hai. 

But hey, it’s the 21st century now so thankfully, the trend is changing for the better. Take these instances for example where couples or families broke stereotypes about what/how marriage should be like?

1. These two adorable grooms broke the conventional rules of marriage and tied the knot in a low-key ceremony, filling our hearts with love. 

Amit Shah and Aditya Madiraju got married at the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in New Jersey in July 2019 and their romantic photoshoot had the internet cheering for them. 

2. This desi bride ditched the traditional lehenga and wore a pantsuit to her wedding. 

3. This Indo-Dutch couple touched each other’s feet at their wedding and also adopted each other’s surnames as a mark of mutual respect for one another. 

4. This couple met each other at an old age home and decided to get married, proving to us that love can happen anytime and anywhere.

5. This rule-breaking groom decided to live with his wife and her parents in their house. The couple also had 3 wedding ceremonies.

In 2019, this couple got the priest to tweak their vows since they didn’t believe in the notion that the husband has to be ‘supreme’ to his wife. The groom also stayed at his wife’s house before they bought their own place.

6. This couple fought all odds and finally tied the knot in Hindu and Christian ceremonies, after dating for ten years.

Mekhala, from Maharashtra, India and Tatum from Texas, USA got married in an intimate ceremony in 2019 at the same spot they first met ten years ago, and on the same date as their tenth anniversary.

7. Just minutes after her wedding ceremony, this desi bride rushed to the exam centre after walking down the aisle. 

8. Not the groom, this Rajasthani bride rode a horse to make a grand entry at her wedding. 

9. This bride skipped the steps of a bridal make-up and candidly flaunted the #NoMakeUpLook on the day of her wedding.

In 2017, Delara Lalwani decided on a make-up free look for her wedding day after getting inpisred by pictures of her mother from her wedding ceremony.

10. This desi dad built up the courage and narrated his journey from being homophobic to accepting his son’s sexuality while making a toast on his son’s wedding. 

In his emotional yet, compelling speech this desi dad confessed to his son about how wrong he was when he chose to ignore his son’s sexuality. 

11. This trans couple became a ray of hope for their community after having the ‘first rainbow wedding’ of West Bengal.

12. This couple from India-Pakistan broke all the societal rules to be with each other for life. 

Bianca Maieli and her wife Saima Ahmad got married in California, in 2019. They both met during an event and that was it. They fell in love and decided on forever.

13. These two Indian-American grooms smashed taboos and expressed their love to the world.

In 2019, Vaibhav Jain and Parag Mehta, held a big fat Indian wedding in Texas. They got married in a traditional Jain ceremony, attended by their family and friends from across the U.S. and India. 

14. In 2019, this gay couple hosted their wedding reception in Mumbai after Section 377 was scrapped. 

Vinodh Philip and Vincent Illaire hosted a wedding celebration in Mumbai after Section 377 was scrapped as one of them saw the city as the place where he finally found his true himself.

15. This couple fought hard to be with each other despite facing rejection from their family members. 

Despite facing rejections from their respective communities, Aveena and Alissa from Seattle decided to be with one another. Their love for each other was the only constant thing and there was no hurdle they weren’t willing to overcome.

16. This Bengali bride refused to cry while leaving her parents home.

17. At this Bengali wedding, the family invited female priests to perform all the rituals and the father of the bride also refused to do kanyadaan. 

For the very first time, a family invited female priests for their daughther’s wedding to do all the rituals. Taking a progressive stand, the father of the bride also refused to do the kanyadaan of his daughter because she wasn’t a property to give away.

18. In 2019, this couple from Pune hid their surnames during their wedding and replaced the marriage rituals with the constitution principles.

Sachin and Sharvari had a casteless wedding ceremony to eliminate the possibilities of caste-based prejudices. And, their marriage vows were based on the principles of the Indian Constitution like equality, development and mutual respect.

Modern times call for modern wedding rituals.