Indian Wedding Madness 2007! So i finally made it home and to my friend's big fat Indian wedding. i spent the first week and a half trying to find an approprite dress to wear (finally settled an a greenish black number $200 off the rack at Macy's after trying on about a million others) and trying to unwind after a packed 2 weeks before heading home. the bf flew in from the east coast and stayed with me. he held up like a trooper for most of it though the 0-60 thing is really not my style.
the first event went down on the evening of the second. it was the mahendi (where the bride gets henna tattooed on her hands and feet). the venue had changed from what was on the invitation so we showed up on time to the wrong place. after getting the correct info we made it to this little restaurant called the punjab palace. we got to feast on very yummy samosas and tandori chicken and various curries and breads. i even got my hands done with the henna and got the chance to catch p with some college friends that i hadn't seen in forever. we also got to make new friends and instantly got attached to a few of the aunties and uncles that sat at our table with us. here's a few pix:
At noon on the second day, we went to her house (the compound) for the Mangol Prasango. it was a ceremony where the bride and her family prepare for her to leave her father's home. they sat on the floor in their living room and the cleric performed various rituals. at the end of it the women rubbed all this yellow paste stuff on her. Rashmi said it's like an exfoliant to make her clean.
After that, we shared a light lunch and the bf and i checked into the hotel for a bit of R&R and pool time before getting ready for the Sanji, the evening event. the Sanji was like a huge dance. there was a live band and in the begining, there was a ceremony involving the lighting of some candles on these huge candlesticks. everyone danced in a big circle to a never ending song. after for chinese food, we hit the dance floor again and got to do a dance with some sticks.
Here's the bride and groom dancing:
And the bride dancing with her dad:
the bf and i got to try it too. we were actually having a great time even though i broke my sticks once and he fractured his. clearly "gentle" is not in our vocabulary.
August 4th, the day of the wedding! it was a huge ordeal starting with getting her all dolled up:
The friends taking photos:
Then the groom riding in a horse:
here are some of the aunties and the unvles we got to meet. there were the lovliest people in the world:
While the groom slowly walked his orse in, the bride's mother and grandmother waited in a neaby tent with sweets and ceremonial powders and paints:
While the sisters waited for the groom with pots of somethings on their heads:
after he finally got off the horse, rashmi's mom gave him some of the sweets and she did a few rituals to him and he had to smash soem kind of a ceramic box to prove his strength. Then they all headed towards the gazebo:
he entered the gazebo and did a few rituals on his own, then they brought in the sheet so he couldn't see the bride:
when they lowerd the sheet, they saw each other for the first time that day and they threw something at each other. then there was a 2 hour ceremony with lots of chanting and them throwing stuff into a fire:
then they held hands and walked around the fire 7 times then they made their vows. then they got this red shroud put over them:
then we all gave our blessing:
and then it was official!
it was dancing, and food after that. we had a great time (lots of yummy food despite there being no meat and no booze) and we made some new friends.
