Our Hindu Wedding: The Big Day Part 1
On the day of the wedding, before the actual wedding ceremony, there is another little ceremony where I get to dress up and then I have my first meal of the day (sweet rice and puri) with little girls. My mum's brother is then supposed to come to the Mandap with mango leaves and take away any evil wishes or bad luck before I begin the wedding ceremony.
I wanted to start this ceremony early to ensure that there is enough time afterwards to start getting ready for the actual wedding. My mum had the sweet rice and puri ready in the morning but we were short of some little girls for the ceremony!! Then they arrived....but the mango leaves were missing! They had somehow been forgotten!
So we waited around for a bit until the mango leaves arrived (after my morning sweet rice and puri), then the rest of the ceremony continued.
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My parents chose the blue sari and the matching jewellery. I liked the colour very much 😄
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Here is my mum bringing me outside for the ceremony
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The little girls that ate breakfast with me 😄
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After breakfast, Sharlene put a red colouring on my feet - to beautify it. It was made of water, food colouring and some other things.
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It was quite fun and Sharlene enjoyed decorating my feet haha
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This aunty decorated Mum's feet. Traditionally, it is supposed to be mum's sister-in-law who would do this but she didn't have any sister-in-law present at the wedding.
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It was so nice and warm outside on this day...somewhere in the 40's (degrees celcius), which suited me perfectly, although the red food colouring began to run and got smudged!
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The aunty was given money for decorating Mum's feet.
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Then we waiting for the mango leaves to arrive....
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Yay, they were here! This uncle did the part of Mum's brother. He had to circle the mango leaves around me 7 times (or was it 6?) and take away all evil wishes and bad luck. After each round I had to take a bite of the leaves (but not to swallow it!) At the end, I spit it back into my mum's hands (hahahaha)
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My henna the day after the mehndi night!
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...and the feet
Here are some pictures of the Mandap and decorations for the wedding day:
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The Hawan Kund, where the fire will be lit in.
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The bride and groom's seats
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This is where the legal marriage documents will be signed
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Table decorations, chosen by my parents