Neatest. Wedding. Ever.

This past weekend we attended the wedding of a friend from high school. Ironically the wedding took place just south of us in Columbia, SC! We've never attended an Indian wedding so we had no idea what to expect. It was amazing!!! Here are a few snapshots from the big day...

Suken, our friend, rode a beautifully bedazzled horse through the streets of Columbia. All of his friends and family joined him in the walk through town to meet his bride. There was even a police escort to stop traffic,etc. and really loud Bollywood music accompanied us thorughout the travel. This was at 9:30 in the morning.







Once we arrived at the wedding site the bride, Shikha, had to entice the groom, Suken, with all kinds of customary items...we didn't get to see much but at one point Suken had to dodge her attempts while up on peoples shoulders. It was really interesting. After he was "enticed" enough we all crossed through a cloth barrier into the ceremony room. This is what I would call the "altar" during the ceremony. Perhaps the most surprising part of the ceremony was
that it takes FOREVER!!! People literally come in and out of the room and talk talk talk the whole time!!! Traditionally the ceremony takes 8 hours, but they cut parts out to make it only 2 or so. During the ceremony they served a snack of different curry, breads, chutneys and dessert. It was delicious!



Don't they look gorgeous? Shikha is so tiny and I kept gawking over how heavy everything must have been once she had everything on. Suken seemed sooo happy.



Here is us after a loooooong day of celebration. We started at 9:30 and had a small break from wedding festivities in the afternoon but kept the celebration going until midnight. I was pooped! The cocktail hour and dinner was phenomenal...lots of my favorite Indian delights as well as some new ones! The reception began with some great Bollywood style entertainment from different family members. Then after dinner the dance floor was PACKED all night long with people dancing to traditional Indian tunes. I have NEVER seen such a wild party in all my life...people were SO excited!



After all the celebrating we both decided that Suken's wedding had the best food, neatest traditionz, beautiful attire and best dance floor of any wedding we've ever attended. Pretty much the neatest wedding ever.