This Monday

Devin and Susheem #1: Lavish Celebration

I am now about to begin the impossible task of describe the weddings I went to, in all their ridiculousness amazingness. I am going to focus on the style of each of the couples, as well as the location, because they go hand in hand. And because Devin is making me, once I finish this post, I’ll do an entry on bridesmaids and their dresses, and following that, I’ll describe my favorite moment and my favorite picture from each ceremony.

Follow-up note: Each wedding is getting its own post. These are just getting too long!

Devin and Susheem Wedding #1: Lavish Celebration

Devin and Susheem decided that they would honor both their families by having two wedding ceremonies. On a Friday, they had the Hindu ceremony since Susheem’s family is Hindu. Now, from what I understand, full Hindu ceremonies take a few days, involve a horse, and the actual marriage ceremony is 3 hours long. Because it was part of Devin and Susheem’s two-day ceremony, they cut it down to on evening, and the wedding ceremony was only an hour long.

A cozy 300 of us or so gathered in a banquet hall in the south bay.
I was very excited to wear the sari that I had bought, with Devin’s approval, for the occasion. I sat down with friends… and waited. What were we supposed to do? None of us had been to a Hindu ceremony before. Eventually we figured out that the bride’s friends were supposed to sit, and Susheem’s family waited in the hallway outside the banquet room. Lots of shouting happened, and then Susheem followed by his family came into the banquet hall, after passing through Devin’s family, which offered I blessing, I think, as he came into the room. Susheem walked up to the stage, where the man who was performing the ceremony was waiting. Susheem stepped up on the stage, after taking off his shoes, and the ceremony began. And Devin wasn’t even there yet. Basically, the man marrying them talked to Susheem, said some prayers to the gods, and then finally Devin walked very slowly and prettily down the aisle, by herself. She joined Susheem up on the stage, after taking of her shoes, and the ceremony continued. Everything that was discussed was symbolic and beautiful. And, there was a coconut involved. How cool is that. In the picture, you can see the coconut.

After the ceremony, they both changed, because obviously you can’t have only one outfit at your own wedding! We ate lots of India food, and then began the performances.
Friends and family of Devin and Susheem performed dances or sang songs, all to honor the bride and groom. Then, Devin and Susheem’s parents told stories about what wonderful children they had, and how happy they were that they were getting married. Toward the end of the night, the dancing began. Since this was an Indian crowd, the second the music started playing EVERYONE was on the dance floor. There almost wasn’t enough room to dance! It was crazy. I think I only danced a couple of songs because I was intimidated by how good a dancer everyone was, and I was really really hot.

I don’t know Susheem’s family very well, but from what I can tell of wedding #1, they wanted everyone to have a good time, eat good food, and having a party they wouldn’t forget. The Hindu wedding ceremony was also totally amazing, and made me think of what is really important in sharing a life with someone.

posted by This Monday Morning @ 5:28 PM