Little Bears Are Off: Wedding Fun #deewedsgreg

I’m gona have to break this down, I think the wedding deserves its own post because it was just such an amazing experience I don’t want to just glaze over it all.

So our US adventure started on Thursday 5^th June 2014, Ben and I got the first tube out to Heathrow and checked in for our 9:40 flight with the Best man Pete, after a few too many AM beers for boys we headed off to board.

We boarded, sat around while we waited our turn to take off, had a bit of e-cigarette drama aka you are not allowed to smoke them in the plane, and if you do (on an American airline anyway) you will almost get kicked off, you will get stern words about behaving and not being suspicious and you will hold the plane on the runway for an extra 20 minutes. So don’t do it ok! and don’t pretend you weren’t doing anything.

After a few movies and a 7.5 hour flight we landed in Boston and were collected by Dee’s uncle and taken to our hotel. Thursday evening was the beginning of the celebrations so we headed to our lux room and got ready for drinks, dinner and Mendhi.

Dee was on stage getting covered in gorgeous floral henna in preparation for the big day. It was a pretty casual dinner where all the guests staying at the hotel got to know each other and relaxed, the aunts were singing songs, and there was a fun and games section, where 3 couples were on stage the maid of honour’s would ask a question and the couple would answer separately in secret and if they had the same answer you got a point.

Dee and Greg were one couple, Dee's parents (happily married for 37 years) and Ben and I! I was told about 30 minutes before, and had a minor freak out.. But all was well as we wrote down the answers rather than having to speak in front of 100 or so people.

After the fun and games, and a few more songs we all headed to bed to get ready for the next day.

Friday was made up of 2 parts, in the morning we drove to Dee’s parents’ house and had Pithi which is basically a prayer ceremony to wish god luck and bless the marriage, Dee then gets all the females one at a time to put a paste on her made from chick peas and turmeric to give her a wedding glow. Once afternoon tea was over and the presents to help with the dowry were brought down we went back to the hotel where I had a wee nap, and an outfit change before the evening’s proceedings. It was such an emotional ceremony, with so many tears as it was saying good bye to Dee before she joins her new family.

Though Greg is English and Dee is American and of Indian descent the whole thing was so traditional, it was basically exactly how someone in India, even someone in India 100s of years ago would do it. That to me made everything so special!

Friday night was Raas Garba which is basically an evening of dancing and celebrating, so after another dinner we headed to the hall to welcome Dee and Greg on their cute little g-ride and the dancing commenced. I was terrible, well at the first one for sure. I couldn’t move my feet, and I couldn’t even clap in time, so lasted about 10 minutes before admitting defeat and heading back to my wine.

The second was a dance with sticks, and once I watched for about 15 minutes I dived in, it was so much fun and I don’t think I did too badly! After about 4-5 hours of dancing I took my sore feet off to bed while Ben had a few beers with the boys.

On Saturday morning we woke up and got ready for the ceremony. Ben was an usher so had to leave early and go get photos and fulfil other usher like duties. I had a sari for the ceremony, but obviously didn’t have much clue how to put it on, I watched a few tutorials but nothing beats an aunts help.

So Daisy and I headed down to find some help, which didn’t prove very difficult. After about 15 minutes we looked like the real deal and headed down to the hotel breakfast bar for a quick bite before boarding the bus to the International golf club where the wedding was held.

The golf club was gorgeous and the day was stunning, couldn’t have asked for better really. Traditionally the groom, and his party arrive and are greeted by the cousins of the bride who offer them drinks after walking for miles to meet his bride.. For a cost of course! The Groom then got on his horse and the party started. We walked about a kilometre with music pumping dancing up the street to let everyone know we had arrived.

Nothing like a 10am rave! It really pumped us up and put us in a good mood for the day, something I wish we could incorporate into western weddings, the groom isn’t celebrated nearly as much as he should be!

The ceremony itself was beautiful, and I may or may not have shed a little tear or two. It was great because each step of the ceremony was explained to us so the western guests could have an idea of what was going on and it was followed with Christian vows which I thought was a cute touch.

After the ceremony we had high tea, with scones and clotted cream, and got to enjoy the amazing scenery and sunshine for a while. I mean the membership fees for the golf course are $80,000 yearly so we sure did soak it all up.

It was back on the bus and back to the hotel for another nap, and another outfit change before the wedding reception started.

Traditionally the ceremony is the last part, and the bride and groom head off together, which is why they have the big party the night before but in true Dee and Greg style we got 2 parties. There was a yummy cocktail hour and nibbles outside in the warmth before moving in to the hall to do speeches, dancing and dinner. The decorations we gorgeous and the bridesmaids and ushers danced their own little dances in to before everyone sat down.

There was a last dance with Dad and Daughter, and a first dance with Husband and Wife, there were the perfect amount of speeches and a delicious dinner served, the best of all the days I think.

Drinks flowed, dance moves went down, photo booths were so much fun and it was just a really good evening.

I didn’t join the after party and went to bed about 2am.

Sunday we had brunch at Dee’s parents, which was chilled. We drank beer, sat with our feet in the pool and just chilled out chatting about the last few days.

It was a great wedding; I met some really cool new people, it was amazing how new friendships can make a holiday, i also became better friends with that id only met once or twice.

It was probably the best part of our whole trip if I’m honest.