We attended our first Indian wedding and it was quite an experience!
Weddings last four days, and the first two days the bride and groom do not see each other. The bride sits with downcast face while she's surrounded by her family, etc. It's not good for her to smile because it shames her family. Here in India, the woman leaves her family to move in with her new husband's family when she gets married. So, the wedding is a time of celebration, and a time of mourning for the bride. Most of the time, however, the sadness that is shown is not actually real, but more a pretending in order to make her family look good. Neal and I think it would stink to have to be sad and not get to do all the celebrating together at the wedding...but that's their tradition.
Weddings are not only long, but they're huge. I was told by a friend that they decided to have a small wedding, and they had 1000 people attend...WHAT? I can't imagine that being a small wedding. In the pictures and videos you can see all the lights and decorations they do, as well as all the tables of food - tons of food. I guess if you have over a 1000 people a you have to have a lot of food.
I love all the lights hanging in the trees and from the bushes! I tried to make the lights at my own wedding reception look similar, so it reminded me of my wedding, and made me very happy.
I'm used to seeing nose rings in the nose of almost all married women here, so that is very normal. However, it's not normal to see one that is so big it hangs below your chin and then connects to a chain that goes to your ear. This however, is what the bride wears on each wedding day. I wonder how much that weighs and if it ever gives her problems. I wonder as well how much her dress weighs. It's probably better that she sits almost the whole wedding because I'm not sure she could walk in that dress.
The groom arrives a few hours after the wedding begins. He comes in with a big group of people mostly made up of his family. Then he is escorted onto a platform on the opposite side of the reception area as the bride. He also comes in with these long pink flowers draped over his head so that the bride can't see his face. - Very interesting
Day 3 - Ceremony and first meeting and well as marriage of the bride and groom
The entrance into this wedding area was even more beautiful than the last!
Because we are white we are very popular and everyone wants to take pictures of us and with us, and especially with Elijah. A good example of this was when Neal and Elijah arrived in the marriage hall where the bride and groom were sitting everyone rushed them to the big cameras so that they could get pictures of them.
When I arrived in the marriage hall the same thing was done to me - rushed to the cameras and the bride and groom. It was neat how the groom got up to offer his chair to me in order for the bride and I to get a picture together. While sitting beside her I had an opportunity to talk with her a little, which was a blessing. (A couple of days later they invited us to visit them at their house)
Here's us with the family we lived with - we love them so much! It's always fun being with them and experiencing things together.
Elijah always being the social bug that he is in the midst of his own little paparazzi.
These three girls are the daughters of the family we lived with - so precious to Elijah and I. The oldest daughter (the one standing beside me and holding Elijah) and I have become good friends. She walked with me everywhere at the wedding, and everywhere we go for that matter, to make sure I was taken care of and that I had a friend at all times. She's learned the foods that I do and do not like so she even made sure that I found the food I liked, and stirred me away from the food I didn't.
I love how much they all love Elijah as well.
At the entrance and exit of the reception guards stood with spears and small shields. Too funny!
And only in India do the men wear jeans to weddings while the women get all dolled up.
No comments:
Post a Comment