This is the sequel from
The Much Awaited.
Yes, the wedding our families have been waiting for. Sindhu a.k.a Aasha akka’s wedding. A simple, down to earth wedding.
We were all in the bride’s place on the 27th afternoon. By the way, the bride is my childhood friend, my dad’s best friends’ daughter and the baby my mum took care of when the bride was a baby. So yeah. Basically we were family friends ☺
Which means, she’s something like my own sister. And I am getting very excited as I have not attended an Indian wedding for so long. Also, non of my family members got married for me to be a part of it. So, I guess you guys can imagine how excited I was!
When we arrived, Nallungu ceremony was going on. My mum immediately joined the ceremony. I forgot the significance of the ceremony but the ceremony is similar to that of the Sadunggu, a ceremony done to celebrate a young girl who have reached her puberty. Even though we have not seen each other for a few years, but the bond is there. Everyone hugged us and welcomed us warmly.
After that ceremony, we cleared the place a little and helped ourselves with some food. We all than sat down for a quick chat, saying hi and all.
The night was pretty exciting for me, Mehendi Night. It wasn’t as grand as the Punjabi’s Mehendi ceremony. This was a small one,mainly for the bride. Her mehendi was awesome! She made her leg’s mehendi design simple, though. We got our chances to get our hands decorated as well :) :) I chose a simple one on the back of my palms.
I, then was honored to do the brides’ nails! Before making our move to Sungai Petani, I painted my nails in Rosewood from Elianto, a vampire-red color. My all time fav! On my way to Sungai Petani, in the car, I painted my nails on top of Rosewood with Indian Red, also by Elianto to match the saree which I will be wearing for the wedding, thus giving my nails a dark,maroon-red color which turns out to be a hit in the wedding. Everyone liked the color,including the bride. At the end of the day, I did quite a number of people’s nails (I can’t remember the exact number), the brides’ fingers as well as the brides’ mothers’ toes. Thank you for your trust, and I believe I have polished my skills as well.
After that, the bride & the bridegrooms’ room decoration! My brothers and one of our aunt took charge of the decorations. My, I never know my brothers can work so hard. Hehe. Proud of them though. The night ended up with chatting again. It was so nice to meet everyone again after so long!
The next day, the wedding day! Since it’s an evening wedding, the morning was a relaxed one until about 12pm. Everyone suddenly became busy to get things ready. The girls, which means Me, Shalini, Kishantini and Banu were shoo-ed to the saloon to get ready. Even if I want to get ready at home, I couldn't as it’s just too busy and hectic and crowded. So, my make-up and my saree tying was done in the saloon. I had my saree to be tied in Gujerati-lehnga style. The stylist adored my saree and she agreed to tie the saree as how I proposed her. I had different ideas on how I want to do my make up, but its too unfortunate. Never mind, there’s always another time :) By the time we came back home, its’ already the time to move to the wedding hall. Thank God we reached on time, or else my Dad would be mad.
Upon reaching the wedding hall, the girls were given the job to receive guests at the entrance. We sprinkled panneer ad offered flowers,kungumam and santhanam to the guest. Then, we were the candle girls! Hehe..it’s something like flower girls in Christian weddings but instead of flowers, we held candles along the terrain to the dais for both the bride and the bridegroom. My first time ever!
The most memorable part is when the bridegroom finally ties the knot around the bride’s neck. I was there on the dais to watch it. That will be the sweetest moment in every Indian bride’s life. I could see the bride smiling. Another ritual which I like is the sindoor application ritual. The bridegroom will have to apply the sindoor on the bride’s forehead by going around the brides’ neck. So sweet! Next, of course the photography session! I did not snap much photos this time, too busy!
I also happen to meet Navin, my classmate in University in the wedding! He’s the bridegroom’s friend I think. Nevertheless, things went smoothly even though we took our dinner quite late.
After the newly married couples had their dinner, it was the time to go back home. We have to be there earlier than the couple to receive them. There’s another exciting part. We girls decided to have some fun by not allowing the couple into their room. We took a cloth, held it across the front door and asked, ‘ money or bride?’ to the groom and guess what the groom said??
He asked us to keep the bride to ourselves! That was so funny! In the end, we allowed them inside after the groom handed us some cash. It wasn’t meant that way, it was a fun game to entertain everyone after a tiring day. In front their room, we asked the groom to choose the key to their room. Pity the groom, he’s confused! But he figured the right one! Everyone cheered! It was so fun!
Of course, next will be the traditional ceremony of feeding the newly wed with drinks and fruit. And that was the end of the wedding. The newly weds then changed into much comfortable dress and came out socializing with the rest of us. The guys had some liquor and the ladies had Bacardi. That’s the first time I have ever heard of Bacardi. It was a long night, and I chose to retire early as the next day we got to move back to Kuala Lumpur.
Seriously, it was an enjoyable and memorable wedding. The only part I regret is that I had to wear my spectacles on. Because of the irritating stye on my left eye :( It's okay, I am going for a surgery next month :D Before leaving, the bride’s father asked me, when’s my turn? Well, mine will come when the time is right :)
P/S: Shalini, love this photo!! ♥
Till then~
Classic yet elegant.
