Today started out bright and early, with me arriving at 8.30 am at Vinnie's place but I decided to get breakfast and go up just before 9. Good thing I did because I went up after her aunts and when I got there, Vinnie and her family were rolling out of their beds and getting into the shower. So instead of just waiting and wondering what was going on, I just took pictures.
Lucky for me, they made sure u knew which way to go and got to the right house. (Brain function isn't good in the morning after a party the night before :p)
Morning Robot Dance??
Vinnie & her only brother. Anyone interested in him?
Once the Free-hand Artist a.k.a. a.k.a. Vinnie's sis Tashy, was dressed up, she started the ball rolling by drawing out the pattern to be filled with coloured rice flour. While everyone else got ready, all the younger aunts chipped in to create the colourful decoration which Vinnie would sit behind for the Oiling Ceremony.
As soon as the last person got dressed, and the camera got there (it went to the wrong person the night before), the interesting, and rather cute, ceremony started. First all the girls had a band tied onto their wrists, and the men had to hold up a cloth above her throughout the entire ceremony. Then from the two grandmothers (the oldest ladies), they started with a chant while they each took turns to slather oil, yoghurt and some yellow paste on her. Once all the married women were done, it was time for the single girls to rub (the sisters here giving evil laughters) the rest of the stuff all over her. She was then wrapped in the cloth and was (supposedly) carried by her uncle to the bath. Instead of just wasting time sitting around waiting for her to get out of the shower, the aunts just started dancing around (as usual).
And as soon as they started the crazy bits, my battery decided to die! Well anyhoo, after she got out, the married women took turns giving their blessings and feeding her a sweet yellow rice that has nuts, cloves, cardamon and raisins in it. Once all of them were done, it was her turn to finish the rest of the rice by feeding it to the single girls and us feeding it back to her. For those she wanted to get married sooner, she fed them twice, therefore I got 2 scoops instead of just one. Thinking that it's just 2 tiny teaspoons made me smile, until they gave me a bowl of it to finish after. The only way was to think it was a new kind of dessert, instead of rice, and it went down like dessert too! :P
Vinnie then changed into clothes for her Bangle Ceremony as she can't be doing so once her mehendi was on. As she got her arms and feet done, people who had nothing better to do a.k.a. ME, had to help the drying proocess by hair-drying the patterns and dabbing a sticky solution made with oil and lime juice. Another thing was to help feed her when she got hungry (good thing she was the bride-to-be, sorta given the princess treatment, or else it would be a bitch-slapping!! Hahahaha!) After her mehendi was done, the lady also helped a few of us add some interesting decor to our hands, all in time for the wedding tomorrow!
After the long break, waiting for the mutual video-man and some family to get back from last minute shopping, they started laying out all the items given to her for the wedding. There were pots, crockery, cutlery, clothes, jewellery and things I couldn't figure out. The ceremony started with her dad and other male relatives giving her blessings and putting on a number of bangles which had to stay on for 40 days after the wedding. While all this was happening, her grandmothers and aunts were cooking in the kitchen, preparing for the dinner later.
With the amount of people attending the ceremonies the house became really crowded and hot. Thank goodness someone thought about this before and decided to hold the dinner in the void deck. The groom's side had the idea of bringing their celebrations over to "crash" her party and they do it with a friendly dance competition. At this point, Vinnie wasn't supposed to be at the party as the couple wasn't supposed to see each other. But with me as her shield, she stayed to watch her husband-to-be shake his booty and then sneaked back up to her house once they were leaving.
Vinnie then changed into clothes for her Bangle Ceremony as she can't be doing so once her mehendi was on. As she got her arms and feet done, people who had nothing better to do a.k.a. ME, had to help the drying proocess by hair-drying the patterns and dabbing a sticky solution made with oil and lime juice. Another thing was to help feed her when she got hungry (good thing she was the bride-to-be, sorta given the princess treatment, or else it would be a bitch-slapping!! Hahahaha!) After her mehendi was done, the lady also helped a few of us add some interesting decor to our hands, all in time for the wedding tomorrow!
After the long break, waiting for the mutual video-man and some family to get back from last minute shopping, they started laying out all the items given to her for the wedding. There were pots, crockery, cutlery, clothes, jewellery and things I couldn't figure out. The ceremony started with her dad and other male relatives giving her blessings and putting on a number of bangles which had to stay on for 40 days after the wedding. While all this was happening, her grandmothers and aunts were cooking in the kitchen, preparing for the dinner later.
With the amount of people attending the ceremonies the house became really crowded and hot. Thank goodness someone thought about this before and decided to hold the dinner in the void deck. The groom's side had the idea of bringing their celebrations over to "crash" her party and they do it with a friendly dance competition. At this point, Vinnie wasn't supposed to be at the party as the couple wasn't supposed to see each other. But with me as her shield, she stayed to watch her husband-to-be shake his booty and then sneaked back up to her house once they were leaving.
Last shot I managed to squeeze out of my camera battery.
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