At every Indian wedding I've seen so far, there are huge signs all over the venue reminding us of why we're there. Groom (insert name) weds bride (insert name)! Suyash and Cheryl were married at a nice conference center, and the board out front announced it to the world. Suyash weds Cheryl! I'm happy to say that things were very tasteful inside.
The truth is that Indian bureaucracy and odd laws about marrying foreigners meant that Suyash and Cheryl weren't officially wed until about a month after the Hindu ceremony, but that's a long and complicated story. Let's just pretend that this is the story of their marriage.
Since I was standing in for Cheryl's mom, Caroline and I arrived at the conference center early to be with Cheryl while she was dressed in her bridal lehenga. A lehenga is a skirt worn with a blouse and huge scarf (dupatta) and sometimes takes the place of a sari. I believe it's more a North Indian tradition, but I could be wrong there. (Suyash's family is originally from the Delhi area.)
It was a long process, though Cheryl made a concerted effort to make everyone keep things simple (which is a lot to ask of excited throngs of aunties, believe me). Here are Cheryl and Evie in their wedding finery.
Here I am pretending to be Cheryl's mom. Before the ceremony began, I was supposed to welcome Suyash to our side of the family by giving him a tika. I'm pretty sure I botched it, but he knows he's welcome anyway.
When Suyash asked us to stand in for Cheryl's parents, we thought we'd be doing a quick "give away the bride" thing, like walking her down the aisle. Wrong! It turns out that the entire ceremony is "giving away the bride." Lucky for us, this wedding was pared down to the bare essentials. Hindu weddings can last for days. This ceremony only went for a little over an hour (about 55 minutes longer than I thought I'd be sitting there). John and I had to help build up the sacred fire using ghee and kindling, and John said a few things in Sanskrit. Then Suyash and Cheryl made their vows and walked circles around the fire.
The strangest thing about this wedding is that of the five people sitting around the fire, only one was Hindu. Can you guess who?
That's right. The priest. The rest of us are Mormons trying to make Suyash's Hindu mother happy. Suyash and Cheryl are planning to be sealed in a Mormon temple (probably the one in Hong Kong) as soon as Indian and U.S. visa laws can handle it. This might be another reason the Hindu ceremony was edited. (Don't quote me on that.)
The big loser in all of this was my long-suffering sister Caroline, who ended up with three kids for the entire time. Samuel did escape her at one point, but the priest took it in stride, slapping a tika on his forehead and carrying right on.
Another thing I found ... different ... was the attitude of the guests. I'm used to weddings in which guests are reverently attending to the ceremony, be it Catholic, Mormon, Anglican or whatever. At this wedding, guests were chatting with each other through the whole thing. Waiters even started serving food somewhere in the middle. Toward the end of the ceremony, when Cheryl was supposed to accept Suyash's promises and agree to be bound to him, a bunch of his cousins gathered behind me and John and started shouting things like "Don't do it, Cheryl! You can still back out of this!" Suyash and Cheryl, while paying attention to what they were supposed to be doing, were laughing through much of it. Let's just say things were pretty lively.
Samuel sat with us for a while, but the food was too big a draw and he went back to Aunt Carrie.
This is what Johnny looks like after polishing off a plate of samosas.
And here's what Samuel looks like toward the end of a long ceremony and with a belly full of yummy food.
After the ceremony, the guests enjoyed a fabulous buffet meal while Suyash and Cheryl had to endure getting their picture taken with EVERY SINGLE PERSON in attendance. Samuel's in quite a few of the photos, because he kept escaping from me and going to sit in Suyash's lap. Suyash is quite the favorite with Sam.
This was yet another once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. If you had told me a couple of years ago that I'd be sitting around a sacred fire or even in attendance at a Hindu wedding ceremony, I probably would have laughed at you. Here's our photo with the bride and groom ... part of the family now.
The truth is that Indian bureaucracy and odd laws about marrying foreigners meant that Suyash and Cheryl weren't officially wed until about a month after the Hindu ceremony, but that's a long and complicated story. Let's just pretend that this is the story of their marriage.
Since I was standing in for Cheryl's mom, Caroline and I arrived at the conference center early to be with Cheryl while she was dressed in her bridal lehenga. A lehenga is a skirt worn with a blouse and huge scarf (dupatta) and sometimes takes the place of a sari. I believe it's more a North Indian tradition, but I could be wrong there. (Suyash's family is originally from the Delhi area.)
It was a long process, though Cheryl made a concerted effort to make everyone keep things simple (which is a lot to ask of excited throngs of aunties, believe me). Here are Cheryl and Evie in their wedding finery.
Here I am pretending to be Cheryl's mom. Before the ceremony began, I was supposed to welcome Suyash to our side of the family by giving him a tika. I'm pretty sure I botched it, but he knows he's welcome anyway.
When Suyash asked us to stand in for Cheryl's parents, we thought we'd be doing a quick "give away the bride" thing, like walking her down the aisle. Wrong! It turns out that the entire ceremony is "giving away the bride." Lucky for us, this wedding was pared down to the bare essentials. Hindu weddings can last for days. This ceremony only went for a little over an hour (about 55 minutes longer than I thought I'd be sitting there). John and I had to help build up the sacred fire using ghee and kindling, and John said a few things in Sanskrit. Then Suyash and Cheryl made their vows and walked circles around the fire.
The strangest thing about this wedding is that of the five people sitting around the fire, only one was Hindu. Can you guess who?
That's right. The priest. The rest of us are Mormons trying to make Suyash's Hindu mother happy. Suyash and Cheryl are planning to be sealed in a Mormon temple (probably the one in Hong Kong) as soon as Indian and U.S. visa laws can handle it. This might be another reason the Hindu ceremony was edited. (Don't quote me on that.)
The big loser in all of this was my long-suffering sister Caroline, who ended up with three kids for the entire time. Samuel did escape her at one point, but the priest took it in stride, slapping a tika on his forehead and carrying right on.
Another thing I found ... different ... was the attitude of the guests. I'm used to weddings in which guests are reverently attending to the ceremony, be it Catholic, Mormon, Anglican or whatever. At this wedding, guests were chatting with each other through the whole thing. Waiters even started serving food somewhere in the middle. Toward the end of the ceremony, when Cheryl was supposed to accept Suyash's promises and agree to be bound to him, a bunch of his cousins gathered behind me and John and started shouting things like "Don't do it, Cheryl! You can still back out of this!" Suyash and Cheryl, while paying attention to what they were supposed to be doing, were laughing through much of it. Let's just say things were pretty lively.
Samuel sat with us for a while, but the food was too big a draw and he went back to Aunt Carrie.
This is what Johnny looks like after polishing off a plate of samosas.
And here's what Samuel looks like toward the end of a long ceremony and with a belly full of yummy food.
After the ceremony, the guests enjoyed a fabulous buffet meal while Suyash and Cheryl had to endure getting their picture taken with EVERY SINGLE PERSON in attendance. Samuel's in quite a few of the photos, because he kept escaping from me and going to sit in Suyash's lap. Suyash is quite the favorite with Sam.
This was yet another once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. If you had told me a couple of years ago that I'd be sitting around a sacred fire or even in attendance at a Hindu wedding ceremony, I probably would have laughed at you. Here's our photo with the bride and groom ... part of the family now.
What a neat experience! I love how satisfied Johnny looks with that empty plate. Who would have thought life could be so full of adventure?
ReplyDeleteAwesome. What an experience! It sounds like it was the right kind of wedding to bring kids to. :)
ReplyDelete