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The Indian Wedding, or Shaadi as its called in Hindi, is a feast-to-all-the-senses kind of an experience, delightful and fun filled, unless of course, you are the one getting married. Well, we are not going to talk about the aftermath just yet.
For now, here is a picture essay of a wedding I attended in India this summer. This visual experience would not be complete, without somehow including in your head, the sounds of the jingle of the bangles, the music of the folk dances, the DJ playing it up for us on Bollywood dance floor, the shrieks, the murmurs, the laughs and the sobs, the sounds of kids crashing into the tassels of the bead curtains and the plenitude of well wishes, the chants and the hums.
Enjoy!
* The Arrivals *
* The Bride *
* The Groom et al. *
* The Henna *

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* The Wedding Party *
* Meanwhile around town *
* The Street Food *
* The Baaraat *

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* The Welcome *

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* The Decor *
* The Feastivities *
* How they hang *

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* The Social Media Spectacle *
* The Knot *

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* The brand new couple *
When we turned around to say goodbye one final time, we saw them carefully muttering what felt like, “Please leave now, and leave us both alone.”
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Classic. amazing. Change the camera settings. Don’t move the camera a lot.
Interesting visuals. Creative writing. Did you try any of that street food or merely photographed? Seems to be an interesting journey.
Thanks uncle! No, ha ha, I actually tasted a whole lot of sweets and snacks that evening. It was approaching midnight so owing to digestive limitations I had to curb my appetite on most of the food that was on sale. :)
Meticulously crafted! Your creative prowess is on the display. Keep it up!!
Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it :)
Hello Heart,
I have just viewed the beautiful pictures of the summer wedding. They are stunning and really show the whole ceremony in all its dimensions. I also looked them eagerly for two reasons. First, I noticed that the wedding took place in Indore. Are you from Indore?! My whole family lives in Indore, well, at least most of them now. Such a coincidence! Also, my oldest son is getting married next August. His heritage is quite complicated . I am half Indian and he is one quarter Indian. But he and his fiancee know how I treasure my Indian heritage and asked me if there was some aspect of the Indian wedding ceremony that they could incorporate into what will be an interfaith, but primarily Jewish, ceremony. Knowing the length and complexity of Indian weddings, I was stumped. I don’t want such an incorporation to seem hokey or pretentious, but I would love to add a little something. I wondered if you might have any suggestions?
Very best,
Kalindi H.