Attending a Big Fat Indian Wedding – Final Chapter #110

If you have stumbled upon this post, you may want to know a little background of the story first!
Part one : Engagement Ceremony
Part Two : Sangeet Ceremony

After attending numerous rituals and functions, the day had finally arrived for Sandeep and Sikha’s wedding. Fortunately, their wedding happened to fall on a holiday, giving me ample time to prepare. I had been diligently planning for this event over the past six months and wanted to dress in a saree like my friends would. However, there was one major obstacle: I didn’t know how to wear a saree and neither my mom nor any of my friends could assist me. Despite practicing with my mom’s saree, I couldn’t help but notice the imperfections. I remained hopeful that with practice, I would improve and gain enough confidence to wear a saree on my own before the big day arrived. Unfortunately, life has its way of making us realize things at the last possible moment when there is no alternative plan available.

I brought a saree and was determined to wear it on the wedding day. But my skills were not getting me anywhere. The day before Sandeep’s wedding, I gave up on my plan because there was no time to buy a lehenga or a salwar suit. All my hopes were lost.

On that day, I was talking to another girl who was also invited to the wedding. She had the same idea of wearing a saree but couldn’t do it by herself. In the evening, she went to a parlour and asked if they could help us out. A lady agreed to assist us but charged 250 bucks for her services.

We ended up being late for the ceremony as well since all the wedding rituals had already finished. People were meeting the couple and giving them gifts at that point. It was nice to see that every other girl was dressed up like us so we didn’t feel awkward for being extra! Yes. We loved the attention we got that day! 😂 The food, the crazy photos and the gossips- what can I ask more for?

I heard some crazy stories about that day later from Sandeep and my teammates. Unlike the other two ceremonies, more people from work were invited to the wedding – four or five people in my age group who worked on neighboring projects, a couple of managers whom I had seen but never talked to, and my other teammates who weren’t very close to Sandeep. Instead of sticking with my usual company (Sandeep’s friends who were also my current teammates), I hung out with people in my age group. It’s hard to say why we Indians invite so many non-family/non-friends to our weddings. That day, I met one of the managers with his mischievous kid – that little fellow was the star of the after-wedding party.

I must mention Sandeep’s peculiar green colored suit and pink colored dhoti. He might have looked like a parrot but at least it made his parents happy, and sometimes that’s all that matters. I might have looked decent in person (at least that’s what I wish to believe after getting my hair and makeup done by a professional for the event), but I looked horrible in the wedding photos- saw the wedding album almost a year later.

[Edit (2023)]:

Sandeep and I now work in different companies. I haven’t seen him in three years. Sandeep and Sikha hosted many get-togethers and invited me when I was in Hyderabad. After four years of their marriage, they were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Although I am yet to meet the little angel, I’m sure she will be a great treasure to her family and friends, just like her wonderful and kind parents.

These little details make me feel connected to these stories. In our lifetime, we meet many people – some stay briefly, others for longer – but that doesn’t make any story less worthy of telling.

Thanks for reading! 🙂