Unnati weds Bipin: Chirag's Sister's Wedding

I went too Amhedabad at the invitation of the adorable Chirag, to attend his sister's wedding. Never one to miss an opportunity to dress-up and free dinner I went. Gujarati wedding are slightly different than Kannada weddings (Deepa's in December), but not by much. However, this time I was able to partake in some of the more family oriented events like the garba at home (community singing and dancing), mehendi (the henna tattoo), the engagement ceremony, and of course observing all the home chaos. All in all, it was fab. At the wedding took place in a water park, with water spouting plastic elephants and all. Who can beat that!?

Some of my AIF peeps tagged along, which made it more fun for me, since out of the 950 guest only 3 spoke English. I was definitely a notable presence during the festivities. I amused countless relatives, with my bad attempts and mimicking Gujarati, incessant picture taking, and generally just hanging around. But it does lead one to wonder how can you deal with almost a thousand of your closest family and friends without any alcohol!? (Gujarat is a dry state and so are the weddings)

Hightlights definitely included teaching (trying to at least) Chirag's mum how to Salsa.

The happy bride to be waiting for her mehendi to dry

Relatives galore singing and smearing turmeric paste on the bride

The excited mother of the bride (on the left)

Bride and Mother

The brother (Chirag) and the priest doing some sort of blessing

The proud father of the bride

The Siblings

Sisters

More blessings

A metaphor for marriage?

Mrs. Patel learning to salsa. She was amused - I think!

Everybody Garba!

Andy and Chirag looking all ethnic

Engagement ceremony

And the groom arrives

The Bride

The Mother of the Bride

The groom

The AIF crew

The Happy Couple

Andy and Chirag Working it

AIF Crew Playing with the Garbage Can Man

Very Exhausted Mother and Aunts