India/Istanbul Trip Day 7: Big day for bride and groom (3/3)

Today is the big day, the reason for this huge group of previously unknown people to come together; to celebrate the joining of 2 great people in marriage. We grab breakfast and then Gerard and a few other people come to our room to hang for a bit and have a drink before we go get into our kurta's for the ceremony. We get dressed and meet everyone (except the ladies in the bridal party) in the lobby where we take pictures of everyone looking so dapper (Gerard was straight up regal looking). Head to temple and a 5 man band starts playing music and we all remove our shoes (little girl took G's shoes within a matter of 5 mins which we werent supposed to let happen but we have ways of getting them back) and head into the ceremony area (small, intimate area, which filled up quickly).

The men in the lobby ready to do this thing.

Last day we will be together on this trip.

Beautiful temple we saw on the way to the ceremony.

This looks to be the right place.

Ceremony will be around the side. The front there is the way to lunch after.

The alter with chairs all around it. The men on the floor will do the ceremony.

Gerard talking to an Auntie before the ceremony.

Wedding program pg 1.

Wedding program pg 2.

The bride has arrived. The men with the matching suits were the band.

Happy groom happy life.

Great looking couple!

Exchanging rings.

close up!

Mother of bride with the couple. soon to be mother in law.

Bridal party watching as the ceremony gets underway.

The whole group of people watching on.

Eagle eye of the bride and groom.

The ceremony has audience participation. We are throwing some earthy mixture into the fire.

Throw it all in!

Walking around the fire together. With all the dangly, flammable articles of clothing, this seems dangerous.

Taking first 7 steps together.

Aftermath of the ceremony.

Now they are all family.

As more people trickle in, we are told the bridal party is supposed to sit on the floor on one side of the ceremony area. Now anyone who knows me knows how awkwardly inflexible I am (sitting on the floor isnt comfy or easy for me) and when you combine this with the tightest pants I think I have ever worn (they typically are loose but for the nice outfits they make them form fitting to look better), you have a recipe for extreme discomfort and a bad idea that I had to go along with so I did :) . Ladies walk in and G meets R and the ceremony and rituals begin. There was a game of telephone happening throughout the whole thing (I came to find out the officiant was speaking Sanskrit, translating that to Hindi for R to translate that into English for G. There were definitely some hiccups along the way (G walking too fast in certain moments, missing some throws into the fire, etc.) but nothing too big and overall the ceremony was cool and everyone seemed to enjoy it. After the ceremony, we take bridal party pics real quick while attendees were inside eating lunch then we go to the lunch buffet which had tons of random Indian food that I just walked around and tried things (everything was wonderful).

Bridal party in all their glory.

Take 2.

The gentlemen looking good as always :)

So good Ritika wanted a pic with us.

The lovely ladies of the bridal party.

2 happy friends.

Post ceremony lunch. Left and back were buffet tables, behind this shot was 3-4 fry stations cooking up a few extremely delicious morsels.

The bride has these chandeliers on her wrists she is supposed to hit over single ladies heads. If on of the parts falls off, it is supposed to be akin to that girl catching the bouquet at a western wedding.

If my previous descriptions of colors/patterns of eastern cultures were unclear, this picture should help do it justice. 

Us waiting for the bride and groom to come out.

Victory!

Last ceremonious aspect of the day.

Throwing the rest of the stuff behind her to start her new chapter.

Get out of here love birds!

 After we finished eating and people left, we saw the newlyweds off in a car (we were supposed to push it to get it going as a symbol of some sort) and we get in the shuttle and head back to the hotel where Dre and Shrishma get their stuff packed and head back home (the gang has broken up :( ). I get showered and dressed as we head out to Junction which had an all you can eat/drink deal with our own private bar for 4-5 hours of drinking for 3100 rps each. Not a bad deal and we all hang out for a bit before I explore the area (Junction is a amalgam of restaurants and bars within a single confines) and then go back to our area to keep the party going. At some point, people start leaving and realize we are being ushered back to the shuttles as it is somehow 1am and its time to go. So we get back to hotel and all gather in Ray's room to keep the party going. After a couple more drinks, people start to dissipate and I head to bed as enough is enough and I am tired.

Party bus ready to go celebrate!