Quick Answer
What is sehrabandi?
Sehrabandi is the ceremony of tying the sehra — a veil of flowers, beads or tinsel — onto the groom’s turban and face before he leaves for the baraat. It is a small ritual at the groom’s home, with an aarti, family blessings and shagun money, usually performed by an elder or the groom’s sister. Common in North Indian Hindu, Punjabi and Muslim weddings, it marks the groom’s send-off to the wedding venue.
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What is sehrabandi?
Also called: sehra bandi, sehra bandhi.
The baraat can’t leave until the groom can barely see. Sehrabandi is the rite where strings of flowers or beads are tied across his face as a veil, just before he mounts the horse and the procession sets off. It happens at the groom’s home — a short, warm ceremony of blessings, an aarti and shagun pressed into his hands — and it is also, in practice, the thing standing between the printed baraat time and the real one. Plan for the gap.
What sehrabandi is and what happens
Before the baraat, the groom is dressed and seated at home, and an elder ties the sehra — strings of flowers, beads or tinsel — onto his turban so they hang down and veil his face. The tying is wrapped in blessings: an aarti, a tilak, shagun money pressed into his hand, and photos with the family. Only once the sehra is tied does the groom mount the horse or car and the procession actually begins.
- •Who ties it — typically an elder, the groom’s sister or brother-in-law, or a respected family member, with the family gathered round.
- •Where and when — at the groom’s home (or his hotel room on the day), just before the baraat departs for the venue.
- •What goes with it — an aarti, a tilak, shagun money and blessings; in many families the groom’s sister is given a gift for tying or fixing the sehra.
- •What it does — veils the groom’s face for the procession and formally marks his send-off; the baraat does not leave before it is done.
Types of sehra and regional forms
A sehra is not one thing. It can be fresh flowers, strung beads or tinsel, and in Muslim weddings “sehra” also means a poem recited in the groom’s praise. Knowing which kind you are dealing with changes the vendor order and the timing.
| Type | Made of | Where you’ll see it |
|---|---|---|
| Floral sehra | Fresh marigold, jasmine or rose strings | Common in North Indian Hindu and Punjabi baraats |
| Beaded / pearl sehra | Beads, pearls and gota | Reused, photographs cleaner, popular for evening weddings |
| Kalgi with sehra | A jewelled crest (kalgi) pinned to the turban above the veil | Across North Indian grooms; the kalgi is the brooch, the sehra the veil |
| Muslim sehra | Floral or tinsel veil, plus a recited sehra (verses) | At Muslim weddings, where a sehra poem praising the groom is read |
A fresh-flower sehra wilts. If the groom’s home ceremony and the venue are hours apart, order the floral sehra for the actual departure time, not the morning, or budget for a beaded one that survives the day.
Tips for event managers
- •Build the sehrabandi into the baraat timeline as its own slot — it routinely runs long, and treating it as instant is how every baraat leaves an hour late.
- •If the sehra is fresh flowers, coordinate the florist’s delivery to the groom’s location and the departure time, not a generic morning drop that leaves marigolds wilting in a car.
- •Have the shagun envelopes and the sister’s gift ready so the rite isn’t paused while someone hunts for cash.
- •Send the baraat guests a real assembly time, not the card’s optimistic one, so they’re not stranded at the venue gate while the sehra is still being tied across town.
Tips for wedding hosts
- •Decide who ties the sehra — often the groom’s sister or an elder — and brief them, since this person is also usually owed a small gift or shagun.
- •Choose floral versus beaded with the day’s logistics in mind: fresh flowers are traditional but wilt; beads survive a long gap between home and venue.
- •Keep the home ceremony tight — aarti, sehra, shagun, a few photos — because every extra ten minutes here pushes the whole baraat and the muhurat back.
- •Tell your baraat guests when to actually gather, because they’ll otherwise key off the printed time and either crowd the house or wait at the venue.
Tell the baraat the time it actually leaves
Sehrabandi always runs long, and the card’s departure time is fiction. Message the whole baraat the real send-off time over WhatsApp — no app for guests to install.
See WhatsApp announcements →Frequently Asked Questions
What is sehrabandi?
Sehrabandi is the ceremony of tying the sehra — a veil of flowers, beads or tinsel — onto the groom’s turban and face before he leaves for the baraat, accompanied by an aarti, blessings and shagun at the groom’s home.
Who ties the groom’s sehra?
Usually an elder, the groom’s sister or brother-in-law, or a respected family member. The person who ties or fixes the sehra is often given a small gift in return.
What is a sehra?
A sehra is the veil of flower strings, beads or tinsel that hangs over the groom’s face during the baraat. In Muslim weddings the word also means a poem recited in the groom’s praise.
When does sehrabandi happen?
At the groom’s home (or hotel) just before the baraat departs — the procession does not set off until the sehra is tied.
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By Mayank JaiswalLast updated