But I Smile Anyway…

I’ve been busy today, mopping up sick, and dealing with a pain-ridden teen, experiencing his first day with braces… Put paid to our plans for the weekend.

You see tomorrow is our anniversary.

However, it’s given me time to reminisce.

If you aren’t aware, Indian weddings are big affairs lasting a good week or so.

My Sikh wedding was no different, and in addition to the length of the build-up, there were at least forty guests who had come from overseas for the occasion too!

I thought it would be an idea to share the build-up with you too, so you can learn a bit about our wedding traditions, (in addition to a silly one my family have too!)

On the Friday before I got married, I had my henna applied by my best friend’s sister.

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Remembering 17 years ago (tomorrow) my henna being done by the talented @sabihamehndi as the rest of the family dressed up as loons! #throwbackthursday #tbt #throwback #mehndi #wedding #anniversarycoming

A post shared by Ritu B (@phantom_giggler) on Nov 15, 2018 at 11:31am PST

Then this is the madcap part. We had a fancy dress night!

Usually, I am in the thick of it, but as I had hands adorned with wet, sticky henna I watched from the sidelines as Batman, the cast of Cinderella, masaai warriors, giant babies, amongst others, joined the fun!

And my Pops, not wanting to be left behind, joined my Red Indian Brother as a Punjabi Pirate!

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Two very special men in my life – my Pops and my Brother. Love them both very much @thefinndian #family #pops #brother #familylove

A post shared by Ritu B (@phantom_giggler) on Nov 15, 2018 at 12:35pm PST

It was a really fun night, full of food, dance and music!

The next day, Saturday, was a day where there were more traditional events.

The Maiyaan was in the morning. This is the haldi, or turmeric ceremony, where the bride (and groom at his place) are blessed and wiped with this sticky goo made from turmeric, supposedly to brighten skin and make you look stunning on your special day!

Oh, and you get fed some sweet rice, which you then go on to feed to at least five other single girls/boys wishing them a speedy marital union too!

The evening was the Chura ceremony, where the bridal bangles are placed on the bride’s arms by the maternal uncles. These are usually worn for an amount of time specified by your in laws, to signify you are a new bride in the family. Some wear them for five weeks, some as long as a whole year!

The next step was the Jago, which was traditionally a ceremony to get everyone in the mood for the wedding. Jago means wake up!

After “waking everyone up” we had a lot of dancing, more food and even some Bollywood karaoke! My family do love a sing-a-long!

Then it was time for bed.

An extremely early start for me was looming… 5am… and an extremely special day ❤