Yesterday I got to attend my first Indian wedding. It was very interesting; I've just never been to anything like it before. I didn't really take a lot of pictures since I didn't know most of the people there I didn't want to be the weird one up taking pictures of everything. I took a few with my cell phone in the morning (sorry for the bad quality) and then just a few of the decorations and such in the evening.
It started at 10am when the groom arrived. Everyone moved outside to greet him, they played music as he got out of the car, and everyone clustered around him and had a mini dance party. How fun! He then walked inside and stopped in front of this arch that was set up. The bride's family was on the other side of the arch and they had a mini ceremony to welcome him into their family (complete with some joke about trying to take his shoes, which I wasn't really sure about, but was a lot of fun to watch. He later had to buy them back or something like that?).
Once that was complete, everyone made their way into the room set up for the ceremony. The entire ceremony lasted about 2 1/2 hours. That might have been a very long time (seeing as how it was hard to be actively engaged when you don't understand the language), but apparently it is okay to move around and talk to people during this time. At first I thought the people around me were being rude by talking so loudly, but I quickly realized that just about everyone around the room was chatting with their neighbors while the ceremony went on up on the stage. In the back of the room they even had a table set up with coffee, tea, water, and cookies for you to go and snack on.
After about the first hour, someone came around and passed out mini ice cream cups to all the guests. Ice cream! I was sitting with something like 20 people from my school, and we were all pretty excited about that. hehe
The room looked incredibly beautiful! The decorations really made it stand out. I had a great time admiring all the women's sarees as well. I LOVE all colors and how different they all are. Sure wish I had an excuse to buy and wear one hehe. And, of course, the bride looked absolutely stunning! She really looked so beautiful, and I loved how sparkly her outfit was! After the ceremony was complete, everyone filed out into the foyer area where they had set up a buffet for lunch. I skipped out on lunch and came home though, because to be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Indian food (as some of my family member readers may know haha).
One thing I really appreciated was the wedding program. In it they had described each part of the ceremony, telling guests what would be happening, and what the meaning behind it was. Not being able to understand the language, this was incredibly helpful in keeping up with what was going on.
I spent my afternoon lounging around the house for awhile and then I headed back for the reception at 7pm. During the ceremony, a lady near us was giving us information about what was going on in the ceremony, and what the reception would be like later. She told us everyone goes home and changes into their "party clothes". We asked what "party clothes" meant and she said, "you have to put your bling on!". Not so sure I have a whole lot of "bling" haha I think the dress I had was "party clothes" enough.
The reception was a lot of fun! It was very similar to a western wedding reception like all the other ones I've been too. It started with drinks and appetizers in the foyer, then we were led into the ballroom so they could announce the family and bride and groom.
They cut the cake, and then the groom's 3 nieces did some dances for the couple. Those kids have rhythm! After that the some of the bride's friends did sort of a recap of her life through music. It was cute! They would read a statement, such as "she has an incredibly big hear and has always been there to help out her friends" and then music would play to match what they said (in that case it was the friends theme song). Then they had something called the bride's dance, which was a number of her friends and family members who had prepared these choreographed dances. Very fun! I loved how the groom's tie was a perfect match for the brides outfit, and the cake was in the same color scheme! Obviously well thought out.
Then there were speeches, and thank yous, and then they opened up the buffet. I pretty much passed on the food again (not such a fan, and it's really spicy, remember?), but I actually tried a few things. So, we ate dinner and wedding cake, the bride and groom had their first dance, the bride and her father danced, and then they opened up the dance floor to everyone. Let's just say this, the people there knew how to party! It was like a crazy dance party up there. Literally, in a room with what we estimated was 350-400 guests, there were only like 20 people still sitting at their tables! It was crazy! I decided I sort of like Indian music, it has a really fun beat to it! So, we took to the dance floor for awhile until we were totally worn out, and then called it a night around 11:40.
I imagine the bride must have been exhausted! What an incredibly long day! Her mother told us she had gotten up at 6am, and the wedding stuff was nonstop until after midnight! I would have been dead tired by that point haha. It was really a lot of fun though, and a really cool cultural experience. I'm really glad I got to go :)
This turned out MUCH longer than I intended; props to you if you actually read all this!
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