An Indian Wedding

Just before I booked my trip to Rishikesh, planned for my last week in India, my host brother Simar says to me, 'You cannot go that week! Our cousin is getting married! You must come to the wedding'. Well, who am I to argue with must? So I changed my trip and got to experience one of the most exciting and unique cultural experiences that most people don't get to have while traveling in a country.

Indian weddings, especially Punjabi ones, are huge. Not just huge with lots of people (although, this is true and on the wedding day there are usually 300-400 people who attend), but extravagant celebrations over an entire week. I'm pretty sure there were events every day of the week, but I only attended three (only!). The first was the sangeet and dinner on Wednesday night. The sangeet is the Indian version of the bridal shower where only the bride's family is invited and everyone sings traditional folk songs to her, often teasing her groom. This event was soooo fancy. You would not know this wasn't the wedding. There were fountains, caterers, a huge buffet, tons of seating, and fancy decorations. I had to buy a nice dress for the occasion, but I was not upset. I love Indian clothes and was happy to go shopping.

The entrance to the sangeet's reception hall

Gold couches when you walk in

The buffet

 Me and some of the girl cousins - who were very friendly and made me feel like a part of the fam!

 

Videos of the singing and dancing

Look at how colourful and regal all the clothes are!

On Friday, two days before the wedding, was the mehndi party, where the women all get henna done on their hands and/or feet. It was my first time getting henna and I have to say, I liked it! It was so detailed. Notice the peacock on my left hand.

Colourful women at the mehndi party (I'm in the background somewhere!)

It starts out kind of orange and darkens over the next two days.

The day of the wedding my henna was so dark. There is a saying in India. The darker the henna, the more your mother in law loves you. So Karen .. you must really like me eh? ;)

The actual wedding day was Sunday, February 16th. It was a full day affair. First, the bride's family met at the reception hall for a brunch where we took lots of family photos and waited for the groom's family to arrive. He usually arrives on a horse, but in this family, they arrive in a Mercedes. haha. So, the groom comes to the entrance with a big parade and he must negotiate with the 'sisters', which includes sisters and all female cousins, a price for entry! This can range anywhere up to $1000! The sisters demand cash, and then they all split it. It was funny to watch them negotiate with a nervous groom.

Dressed and ready to go! I had a dress made for the occasion. I chose the fabric and accent colour. My Indian mum generously lent me some bling for the wedding. These earrings were HEAVY and painful after awhile, but I never took them off. I was too afraid of losing them! Plus they totally made the outfit.

Entrance to the wedding day reception hall

Mum and Papa

Me and my mum

                                  Cousins!                                                                   Gunji Baba!

My host family

Family portait

The groom arrives

After eating, we headed to the place of the wedding ceremony. Usually this would happen in a temple, but Navseerat and Amitoj opted for a backyard affair. Arranged marriages are very common in India, and this was no exception. It was very interesting to see how no vows are exchanged in Sikhism, but rather they walk around the altar four times to solidify their marriage in the eyes of God. What I liked was that the 'brothers' (male cousins included) embrace her to show their support as she walks around with her new husband. See the video! After the ceremony, we went back to the reception hall for dinner and the king of Patiala came by to wish the new couple well. Apparently he does this for friends of the family.

                               Walking to the altar                                   Leaving as a married couple!

 Waiting for the bride to walk in

 Wedding ceremony

All in all it was a wonderful day and a treasured experience. I'm so thankful to have been welcome and invited to attend all the wedding events. A once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget. It was a fantastic way to end my Indian adventure.

Jennika

Planning our first weekend away

Since we arrived in Cheonan about a month ago, we haven't really left. On the weekends, JM and I are usually tired and like bumming around doing nothing other than laundry and maybe some groceries. But Cheonan isn't the most exciting, nor the most clean city and we have heard quite the opposite of the capital Seoul. So we started planning our first trip in Korea and we are headed to Seoul next weekend (Sept 14-16).

On the itinerary are 2 things: dancing and meditation.

Dancing:
We are planning to go up to Seoul after work on the Friday night and spend one night in a hotel in Itaewon. We've heard references to it being like 'Sin City' and a more foreigner oriented neighbourhood in Seoul. In Korea, a neighbourhood is called a 'dong' - so we have booked a private room in a hostel in Itaewon-dong, near the subway station and (hopefully) all the action. We haven't been dancing since my cousin Blake's wedding in July and we are itching to get our groove on.

Meditation:
On the Saturday, after checking out of the hotel and (perhaps) walking around Itaewon for a bit, we are heading up to Myogaksa Temple for their Temple Stay program. This is a traditional Buddhist temple in the heart of the city. It will give us time to relax, meditate, make prayer beads, have tea with the monks, and experience temple food. We are partaking in their 2 day, 1 night program. On Sunday, after the program, we'll probably head home. Cheonan is at least an hour (on the train, 2 hours by subway) south of Seoul and we'll most likely have lesson planning to do for that week.

There are many temples in Korea that offer a similar program. This particular sect of Buddhism, the Jogye Order, developed this opportunity for people to experience real Korean Buddhist culture, especially foreigners. Jean-Marc and I plan to visit a couple temples. For now, we are sticking with the ones in the city, but once we get more comfortable traveling around Korea, there are a few in the mountains that we would like to visit (and do some hiking while we are out there).

Here are a few pictures from someone else's stay at the temple, so you know what we get to look forward to!