An Indian Wedding

This last weekend, the five of us rented a hotel in Patiela to attend a wedding. Weddings here last for days and we were invited to the last two days which include a night of dancing on each side of the family and then the ceremony the next night. Saturday night we celebrated with the bride’s side of the family at a beautiful home lit up with bright lights, colorful saris, dazzling jewelry and some of the best food I’ve had here so far. So while everyone back at home was out celebrating Halloween, I danced the night away to Punjab music while enjoying endless Indian food, oh and a full open bar J The next night was the actual ceremony and it was hands down the most spectacular display I’ve seen since being here. You’ll have to check out the pictures because it’s way too much to explain in writing. Family flew in from all over the world and the guest list was probably around 500. The catering tables literally lined the entire perimeter of the huge courtyard while tons of servers meandered throughout the party with endless amounts of appetizers and drinks. There is a gathering/celebration when the groom arrives and then the bride and groom sit and take pictures with anyone who wants them for 3 hours! I was dragged onto the dance floor by some of the party goers and had one of the most insane experiences of my life. A huge group of men and women started dancing in a circle around me and suddenly the men started throwing money up in the air above me. It was literally reigning money on me for a good 5 minutes! I thought this was kind of hookerish, but I was informed later it was normal and for fun. Ask me about it when I get home, it was straight up the craziest thing ever. The actual ceremony didn’t start until 1:00am and we left around 3. Check out the pics on my picassa page.