Attending My First Indian Wedding

I think we've all had moments where we we've been completely blown away by an experience.  You know, the kind of experience where you've witnessed something truly amazing, that just can't be put into words and a picture, although beautiful photographed just doesn't do it justice.

This how I felt, this past October, when I attended my first Indian wedding.  I mean, I love weddings and I love culture, so I expected to be in my happy place while soaking up all the cultural richness, but as the wedding festivities took place, I began to realize that it was much more than I could have ever anticipated.

So, here are the deets but first, a little background.

The bride is a dear friend of mine, who started off as the funny chick in Zumba class.  Her humor and wit won me over and now she is mine -- but I do share her with a couple of other ladies that were also invited to attend the wedding!  We made a girls trip of it, the wedding was held in Dallas, TX which always consists of an obligatory stop at Buc-ees's -- I love this place!

You are cordially invited...

The wedding invitation arrives and I already have hearts in my eyes.  It is gorgeous!  There is a colorful sketch on the front of a couple sitting, touching each other's head surrounded by family and friends.  This very sketch manifested before my eyes at the ceremony and it all completely made sense.   Indian weddings can last from 2 - 3 days or even up to a week, with different events on each day, so there were also inserts outlining the itineraries.  I was fortunate enough to experience 2 days of events.

 

1st Event, Mehendi - its more than just for style.

"Okay Google, what is a mehedi" because that's where all research begins, right?  Mehendi, also known as henna is traditionally held the day before the wedding.  Its naturally medicinal herbal remedies cool the body, relieving the bride of any stress before her big day. Henna is applied to both the hands and the feet to help cool the nerve-endings of the body, preventing the nerves from tensing up.  Tradition says the more intense/deep the color of the brides henna, the better loving husband!  This ceremony is typically for the female guests and is applied to both palms. 

What to wear:  short sleeved, colorful comfortable clothing, henna is intricate and can take a while to apply and dry.  If you don't have a sari or lehenga just wear or mix and match bright colors and jewelry but don't bring bad luck to the event by wearing your LBD, all other colors are fair game.

The bride's hands

The bride's feet

2nd Event, Sangeet:

Adorned with our beautifully decorated hands, we made our way back to our hotel rooms to ready ourselves for the day's next event, the Sangeet which was described by the bribe as a prom, plus a musical that transitions into a full fledged party with an open dance floor!  This is the event to wear your brightest colors, fanciest jewelry, lehenga and sarees to.  Expect to party and have a good time.  There will be choreographed dance performances from both families and maybe even one by the bride and groom.  Also, come hungry!  There will be lots of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian food for your choosing...but no worries, you will dance it off!

3rd Event, The Ceremony

I am so sad that we missed the Barat, which started at 8:30am Sunday morning .  We were under the impression that we were only invited to the actual ceremony which started at 10:13am.  We walked into the ballroom, early (or so we thought) expecting to grab a few good seats, only to see a full room -- but thankfully no bride or groom yet, the Barat was just finishing up.  We got seated and here is where the magic started for me, music flowed from the nadaswaram and drums, the bride and groom walked in, and the wedding rituals began.

Seeing the traditional Hindu wedding rituals really got to me, in a good way.  Other than "jumping over the broom" I had not personally witnessed such a cultural pledge of love.  One of my friends who accompanied me to the wedding shared and link and we actually followed along with the meaning of each ritual -- everything had a significance.  I am so grateful that I was invited and got the opportunity to expand my cultural horizon.