We were invited by the family we lived with to go with them to a wedding of a friend. We were so excited because we've heard the music from weddings, seen the procession going down the street, and seen pictures of everyone all dressed up, but we'd never experience one. However, when attending a wedding here in India, the women need nice party wear clothing, which is not something I (Kristen) owned. So, on a Friday morning the dad, mom, son, Neal, Elijah, and I all went into the old city to find some outfits. The mom informed me that I needed two because we would be attending two wedding ceremonies...not two different weddings, but two of the four ceremonies. Yes, weddings last four days here, but the bride and groom don't see each other the first two of the days. Very different. The mom decided I needed some frock, which is a fancy knee length dress you wear tight pants under (I don't like frock very much honestly), and a saree, which is what I wanted. Saree's are long pieces of cloth that wrap around your body like a dress. These are very beautiful and very expensive. Every woman desires to wear a saree to anything formal.
After buying both outfits we went to look for shoes. I of course picked a nice pair of heels that would match both outfits. When I'd decided on the heels I wasn't sure why the men kept bringing out more shoes. The mom informed me that I couldn't wear the same pair of shoes to attend the same wedding. I had to get a new pair to match the second outfit. Then she and the dad just laughed...which is something they do often in regards to things we do or say.
Next, the bangles. The women deck their arms out with bracelets - a lot of bracelets! This is something that every married woman wears every day of her life, but for a wedding you wear even more. The owners of the bangle shops always come up with great combinations to go with whatever your attire is. It's interesting to watch them shuffle them around to make the perfect combination.
I wasn't sure how to wrap the saree, so I went to the moms house to have her do a practice run the morning of the wedding. I was hoping to recreate what they'd done that evening, but I wasn't very successful, so I went back to their house to have her wrap me again. I felt like a princess in my saree!
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