vidaai ceremony-bride bids adieu

In Indian weddings, vidaai is the moment of saying goodbye. The bride bids adieu to her family members and friends with teary eyes and a heavy heart. All the parents prepare themselves to be strong for this very moment but aren’t able to control their tears.

The bride's father gives her hand to her husband and tells him to take care and protect her loving daughter.

 During the Vidaai ceremony, the sisters of the bride ask for money from the groom, for the shoes they had stolen, prior to when the wedding rituals started in the mandap. After much argument (in a good sense), the sisters are presented with either gold/silver ring or cash money.

Thereafter, the bride finally takes steps ahead, leaving her house and embracing her friends and family members. According to the Hindu tradition, as the bride steps out of the house, she throws back five handfuls of rice over her head, in a way that it falls on the person standing behind her, as a symbol of prosperity and wealth.

The custom of throwing rice signifies that the bride is paying back or returning, whatever her parents have given her in all these years of her stay with them and wishes for prosperity to always flourish in the house she is leaving behind. Just when the bride and the groom sit in the car and its starts, the bride's brothers and cousins pushes the car from behind, signifying that they have given her a push ahead to start a new life with her husband. After the last car starts, money is thrown on the road to discard the evil. Mostly younger sister accompanies the bride to her new home to give her moral support.