wedding season and late nights.

Our landlord's son got married last weekend.  From what I could gather, it was a very proper arranged marriage.  The families found each other on a match-making site or advertisement.  The couple met a few times before the marriage in a very formal and chaperoned setting.  After the marriage, they will live either short-term or long-term with the groom's family.  India is changing and relationships and marriages don't all happen this way, but this one seems to be a bit more traditional.  

Indian weddings are a cultural experience.  A multiple day affair full of events, worship ceremonies, dancing, sweets, beautiful dress, bands, horses and parades.  We got invited to this wedding and attended.  The reception festivities did not start until nearly 9PM and so we made the decision to go even though it was well past our kids' bedtime.  Notably, we did not get home until after midnight, but the kids rose to the occasion and had a great time.  The next night our neighbors had a BBQ and that dinner did not start until nearly 9PM and lasted until well after midnight.  Two record setting late nights for our little ones, but we feel like we are getting to know our neighbors and sometimes it takes adjusting our family clock a little to engage and make new friends because clearly India is on a different time schedule.  

Here are a couple of videos from the event.    The first video is from our balcony as we watched the groom mount the horse.  This was a very small processional.  Usually they are very crowded with huge bands and a large group dancing behind him in the street. During the reception we looked over to see Everett alone breaking it down on the dance floor.  He single-handedly started the dance party.  A short while after, he peed  on the dance floor which was tracked around by unaware dancers.

Wedding parade. from Carrie Frank on Vimeo.


Punjabi style from Carrie Frank on Vimeo.