*And Caragata says.....*

Guju Wedding Stories

So i thought i'd be able to put up this wonderful and colorful photoblog about my friend's wedding...but most of the photos turned out dark and blurry. This was due to the lack of lighting at all the venues. Everything was dark except the stage where the performances or ceremonies took place. I'll put it up anyway, to help you imagine what it was all like...just squint a little ok?

We met up with the bride, for a get together before the big day. She tells us that the ceremonies take a total of up to 7 days! Lots of pantang larangs which had to be followed, just to please the elders.

1. The bride & groom couldn't meet each other until the wedding day. Only during family functions.
2. If they really needed to go somewhere together, then they had to be escorted by one member of each side of the family.
3. Everytime they leave the house, they had to carry a whole piece of lime with them.
4. The bride had a black dot marked with black ink on different spots on her face and body to ward of "evil eyes".
5. The bride needs to be wearing "at least" a chain,earrings,bracelets(in gold) at all times.

and the list goes on and on....

My hsemates and I were invited to attend 4 functions.

Function 1: The Mehndi Ceremony

Us: So do we have to get dressed up for the function?
Bride: Nolaaaa, its just at home. You can wear jeans and come.
Us: Phewwww.....cool!

Walking up to the bride's house, we see the tent...(okay..thats normal...wedding hse needs a tent). As we approach closer, the whole outside is filled by the "men-folk" happily chatting away. They all stop to stare a while at us, pause...and continue with their chit-chat. Then comes the part where we peek into the house, to see whats going on...and whadyaknow...all the ladies are decked up in their colorful sarees, lengga's...with their salon-hairdo's and jewellery.
And here we were, a bunch of us dressed in jeans! Damn!!!!Totally under-dressed. Anyway, since we were the bride's best friends, we got to go into the room and sit down with the rest of em'.

The bride sits on a stool in the middle of the room, while mehndi is being drawn onto her palms and feet. People from her mom and dad's side sit on different sides of the room, and play a "song" game. Something like if one side sings a song which ends with "la", the other side has to reply with a song starting with "la".

Dont have any pics from that night, but i really don't know how the bride managed to sit there for over 5 hours to get her mehndi done.

Function 2: The Gaarbha Ceremony

These ppl can dance!Every function involves dancing!The ladies with their sarees! can jump up and down without a single worry that their saree might just fall out!
The gaarbha is some sort of festive ceremony, organized by the bride's side. It starts out with dinner and then we sit and await the performances in the hall.
Everything is done by her uncles,aunts,cousins and friends.

It starts with "receiving the groom" at the entrance of the hall. Once he gets in, then its time for the bride to make her appearance. She makes a surprise entrance for he waiting groom by coming out of a hugeeeee present-like box dancing with the dhandiya sticks(read on for more info on dhandiya). Then, a presentation was made. It was a mixture of flash video's and also a drama played by the brides young cousins about how the bride and groom met.

Then, the fun part starts. We all got to get on the floor and show off our dance moves! At least, thats what we thought. Didnt know that it was gonna be their "folk-dance" and not us trying out bhangra moves! But we were sporting enough to give it a try (we were actually dragged onto the dance floor).

The dancing was no joke i tell you. I think these ppl have been practicing since they were 2!You gotta clap left then swirl, then clap right and swirl...round-n-round-n-round we goooooo..swirling faster-n-faster-n-fasterrrrrrrrrr.....

After a 5 minute break, the dhandiya starts.

Dhandiya is the pair of sticks used for this particular dance. It also has a certain rhythm to it. Click 1, sway, click 2,sway,click 3, sway and turn left. There are 2, an outer and inner, circles. The outer circle keeps going left, and the inner goes right. So you gotta click the sticks with the partner in front of you, and keep changing as we go round-n-round-n round....

Tiring, tiring...but like i said..these ppl can dance. After the folk-dancing stops, then the dj starts playing all the pop/hip-hop bhangra songs and the hall turns into a clubbing scene (even the grandma starts dancing!)

We managed to pull aside the couple for this shot. Jump-jump-dance-dance-STOP!for the camera to click-jump-jump-dance-dance!

Function 3: The Wedding Ceremony

Check out the wedding car man!Real classic Benz...

For this function, we decided to all dress in saree's. My first ever saree! Man, i was sooooo scared it would just drop off, but thanks to gracie's mom!(thanks aunty!) it didnt. She tied it up real tight with lots of pins all over.

As the groom arrives, he is "received" once again with dancing and firecrackers. Oooo, and police escort too!

Inside, the stage is all set for the ceremonies to take place.

Thats the bride and bridesmaids after she garlands her hubby-to-be and rushes off to change into her wedding saree.

Lots of ceremonies took place. Something similar to the Hindu wedding but we couldnt watch everything up close. We had lunch and that was about it.

Function 4: The Reception

This welcomed us at the reception:

We were seated quite far from the stage, but this is how they made their entrance:

There were massice fireworks, performances by the Temple of Fine Arts and a presentation by the grooms side. It was soooo good. Too bad i couldnt take any shots. It was like a typical hindi movie and i have to say that their youth group is really a whole bunch a talented ppl.

The menu for that night(really interesting names):

Appetizers:
Samosa, Spring Rolls, Vege Pakoras

Soup:
Goochi Shorba

Hot Dishes served in Malay Dome:
Moong Dhall Masala(Yellow Lentil
Aloo Matar (Potato & Green Peas in Mild Curry)
Palak Paneer
Vege Jhal Fraghi(Mixed Veg)
Brinjal MasalaChanna Masala(Chick Peas Masala)
Cucumber Raita

Buttered Naan Bread
Zaffrani Kurma(Saffron Rice) & Papadum

Dessert:
Sweet Temptations

Drinks:
Coke, Sprite, Coffee or Tea

Then as the bride & groom made their way to the exit of the hall to wish everyone, the music starts playing again, and the dancing begins.

All in all, it was a great experience. I never thought weddings were this much fun! Most weddings we attend is one major ceremony then a reception and thats it. These ppl have the time of their lives!Dancing and singing...and i can just imagine the size of their wardrobes. To have a costume for each day of the week!for each function!woahhhhh.....

The happy couple should be roaming around the world right now. They've gone for their honeymoon to Europe. Wishing them all the happiness in the world! Cheers!

posted by cath @ 9:36 AM