An Indian Wedding

Over the weekend, I attended my first Indian wedding. Just so we are clear, I mean the kinda Indian from like India--not the Native American kind. Anyways, I flew in to New York on Friday and proceeded to take the airtran, subway, and Long Island Railroad out to the hotel.

The first night's festivities included a huge buffet of all vegetarian food--tacos, pasta, vegetables, etc. Then the party started. Basically, it was a huge dance party all night, complete with an awesome dessert table filled with cheesecake, carrot cake, banana cream pie, chocolate torte, and this amazing lemon cake. It was awesome.

I didn't know the dances at all, but the family of the bride and groom helped teach the newbies. By the middle of the night, I was a dancing fool. It was so cool.

The next day was the ceremony, complete with a fancy procession with more dancing. I also learned that Indians don't take the ceremonies seriously. They'll get up and go to the bathroom or get a drink from the bar, or just start talking. Or they will play scrabble on their iphone, like the guy next to me did.

The ceremony took place outside

It was beautiful

I, on the other hand, was like all into the ceremony. I think my inner anthropologist came out because I wanted to know the significance of everything that was happening. I even noticed that they skipped some of the parts that were listed in the wedding program.

After the ceremony, it was cocktail hour complete with an open bar and authentic Indian food appetizers. I had samosas, and these good wrap things with green chutney sauce in them. It was yummy. I also didn't think any of the food was too spicy, which surprised some of the people I was talking to at the wedding.

Until this weekend, I had never tried Indian food. It just always looked unappealing, but I was a brave foodie and tried everything. And I honestly loved it all. My favorite was the naan and some of the bean dishes. I don't remember names, I just remember what it all looked like.

This is where the bride & groom sat. The purple box is for cards and money. It's tradition to give them an amount of money ending in 1, i.e., $51, $101. It's supposed to bring good luck.

I loved how they had so many playful moments within the ceremony and at the reception. And they had more dancing, which was awesome. And the dessert bar was alright. I wasn't a fan of the desserts--they had this one that was like carrot cake that was super sweet, this one that my new friend called milky balls, which was cheese I guess, and mango ice cream.

The cake was awesome

 After this weekend, I wish I had more Indian friends so I can go to more Indian weddings. And maybe next time I get invited to one, I'll even show up in a sari. ;)


Have you ever been to an Indian wedding?