'Tis the Season to be...Married?

"Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence."

Oscar Wilde

Bright lights, sangeets, mehendi and lots of red are undoubtedly characteristic of Indian weddings. December is a huge month for India, and some even joke that wedding season constitutes up to 20% of India's GDP. I've been to two weddings in the past two weeks and I must say, four days of wedding celebrations per wedding can really wear you down.


Traditionally,  there is mehendi --the ceremony of applying henna to the hands (and in the bride's case, her feet) of the women of the wedding party. Following the mehendi(on the day of or day after) is the sangeet --a ceremony (traditionally Punjabi or North Indian) where family and friends come together to celebrate the wedding through dance and music. There can be a groom-hosted sangeet and a bride-hosted sangeet. Following one or both sangeets is the wedding ceremony, a super relaxed day of prayers and traditional ceremonies. 

The bride's mehendi is the most detailed and is often drawn up to her elbow (sometimes even to her shoulder!)

The brides best friend

Food!

Beautiful bride

The second wedding (Indo-Brazilian) was equally fun. Below are pictures from the wedding ceremony (I missed the actual wedding ceremony of the first wedding).