The Best Engagement Gift from a Mom to her Daughter

To say Indian weddings are grand is an understatement. India has a plethora of communities following unique traditions. I'm from Tamilnadu, South India. In my circle, the wedding traditions last for three days. The Engagement ceremony is one of the pre-wedding ceremonies. Nonetheless, it is a grand gathering. How grand? A gathering of 600 people!. That's how important the Engagement ceremony is in our culture. It is a mini wedding in itself. Many of the families from both the boy's and the girl's side meet for the first time. (Now don't ask me how many people came to my wedding. Well.. We served 2700 servings of food for a total of three days!).

One of the events in the Engagement ceremony is the Seer Varisai(which literally translates to Sequence). The girl's family displays the Seer Varisai in the ceremony hall at a noticeable corner for the guests to look at.

What is a Seer Varisai?

A Seer Varisai is a sequence of items, given as gifts from the girl's family to the boy's family. It consists of all good things such as a box of sweets, almonds, raisins, chocolates, fruits, and such. These are the usual gifts displayed as part of the Seer Varisai.

My mom being the awesome creative person she is, put a little twist on the Seer Varisai. She put her creative mind to work and worked on her unique ideas. Yes. She made gifts on her own with her crafting techniques. The moment we fixed the date for the Engagement ceremony, she started working on her ideas for the Seer Varisai. If it is to be displayed and appreciated by a gathering of 600 people, it needs a lot of planning. And planning plus execution is what she did for a month to come up with her creations.

The Process:

Now that I think back on the memories, the first memory that comes to me when I think of my Engagement is the Seer Varisai. It was so creative and well appreciated by the guests and was the talk of the ceremony. But, flashback to a month before the actual ceremony. When I came home every day from work, I would see my mother sitting at our dining table with the table full of all the crafty stuff. Glitters, beads and stones, a hot glue gun, quilling papers, a pair of scissors were some of the items to be seen on the table. Every time I asked her what she was doing, she said she was preparing the gifts for the Engagement. Being the highly non-creative person I am in the world of crafts, that would be the end of the conversation related to what she was doing.

After a week of seeing the same scene every day, I got curious. I looked closely at the table. That's when I saw a doll. It was a doll wrapped with chocolates instead of a gown. I shrieked a little at the sheer awesomeness of the level of creativity that idea exhibited. So that's what she was doing all this time. And she said there were more to come.

She gave me engagement vibes every day through her crafts. Here's another one she prepared. It is a designer miniature kolam. Kolam is a decorative art drawn on the floor using rice flour which is believed to bring prosperity to the family. My mom took the traditional kolam and turned that into a designer art. My mind was blown at the intricacies of the design. Take a look for yourself. (I'm sorry I don't have a better picture of the kolam. These were giveaways so I couldn't take a better picture for this article.)

And there's more. With my mother, there are always more gifts coming. She made eye-catching silk thread earrings(These were giveaway gifts too!). These are sold in the market for a good amount of money. But to give them away as a gift after spending all your time on it needs a different kind of dedication and a giving heart.

Ok. What about the engagement rings? Those gold rings had the best display on the platform created by my mom. Made with lace, satin, cardboard, and everything nice, the rings sure attracted the guests' attention. Here's a beautiful picture of it.

Now the usual gifts that I talked about. Box of chocolates, almonds, raisins, etc. She didn't just keep them on the table. She wrapped them nicely, decorated, and kept them. Talk about love and dedication.

The list doesn't end here. There was more creativity overflowing from her which resulted in more items. Instead of listing the items one by one, why don't I just make the reveal? Are you ready for it?

The Reveal:

So with all these gifts and more, what did the Seer Varisai table look like? Waaait for it.... Waaait for it.... Here it is. Ta-Da..

What did the guests say?

My mom couldn't help but beam with pride that her daughter was getting engaged that day. She wanted to make the day extra special, and she made it happen. Everyone who passed by came close to the table and appreciated all the hard work done by my mom. They took photos of individual items so that they could try to replicate them for their own ceremonies. After all, Seer Varisai is a common tradition across various ceremonies throughout South India. I couldn't help but smile ear to ear when the guests complimented my mom's handiwork.

"Your mom is so creative. How does she have the patience to do so many items?"

"Your mom's handiwork has made the ceremony extra grand."

"She has put so much time and effort into creating these crafts."

At the end of the day, her efforts for the past one month paid off. She was content that her daughter and son-in-law's engagement was a grand success.

As for me, when I reminisce now, I can clearly see in my mind the passion with which my mom toiled for a month. Just for her daughter. Just to make her daughter happy. Money can indeed buy you all the items my mom had made. But those would not be made with love. Those would not let your daughter know how much you love her.

"The greatest gift you can give someone is your time. Because when you give your time, you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back."

Below is craftwork from me as a tribute to my mom. (I know I said I'm not creative, but hey, my mom's blood runs in me too).

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Author's Note:

Wanna see more creativity from the most awesome person ever? Here are my mom's latest works. (What can this woman not do?)

Top - Miniature bags, Bottom left - Medium-sized bag (Good alternative for single-use plastic bags)

Bottom right - A complete set of ornaments made by my mother for her granddaughter (Necklace, bracelets, ring, anklets, earrings)