{ wedding, part 2. }

[delga]

I AM SHATTERED. I have henna signatures all over my legs; I have two whopping bruises on my knees from where I fell in my sari; I have an uneaten cake covered in Skittles; and I have crazy gifts and photos (well, eventually - people still have to send me those on fb).

Knackered, people, so knackered.

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So, we drove on Friday morning, all of our crap packed with militaristic precision in the back of our tiny Micra. Radio on, directions in hand, tootling down the A1. Hit some traffic on the M25 (OF COURSE) but spent most of it listening to this comedy programme on Radio 4 (I don't know what it was about - submarines? - but it was hilarious). Nearly got killed on the large roundabout outside the Travelodge because The Mother missed the turning and freaked out.

We couldn't book in to our room until 3pm, so we went to the food court (over the roundabout OF DEATH again) and then browsed through the handful of shops that were there. Bought some E45 lip balm which has done wonders for me, as well as food and a top from M&S Food (smash&ing!)

Checked in to the Travelodge; ate muffins (came out MARVELLOUS, btw; slept and then got dressed to go to my cousin's house for the henna night. (Took us AN HOUR. Ugh, rush hour traffic in The City = NO THANKS.) I love henna nights. They're pretty informal and we all sit around talking and eating and generally having a good time. I practised on my mum's feet, and then did my left hand (the colour came out beautifully the next day; nice and dark) and then did designs for my cousins and my aunts and some random woman who was there. INSANE. My mum started drawing on my leg; one of my cousins decided to add some nonsense and it all hit off. I was like, screw it: any one who wants to write on my legs can do it. So one of my nieces joined in, and so did most of my cousins. My legs are now CRAZY.

BrideCousin's family on her mum's side are all from South Africa. There is one woman who is HILARIOUS. She's a complete riot. She scrawled all over my leg with this happy face and a message, and she was making jokes all night. We all had a brilliant time.

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LONG-ASS DAY OMG. Woke up and had to get dressed into the first sari of the day. Some of my cousins had booked rooms in the Travelodge as well, and the eldest went and bought croissants for breakfast. We also stopped at M&S again before we left for the bride's house. We basically spent the next hour or so sitting in the front room where the Brahman performed the rites for the pithi; then we watched as the sister-in-laws and various female family members performed the pithi. The pithi is a ceremony which is supposed to purify the skin - the bride is covered in this orange paste which she washes off before the wedding. Once the symbolical part of the pithi is done (feet, knees, shoulders and cheeks) the sisters-in-law get to work covering the bride's whole body. And then there's a fight! Everybody gets covered in it. I had it all over my face (and it's pretty difficult to get off, lols). The fight wasn't as epic as at my cousin brother's wedding three years ago because there was so much to do that day.

Then we did the penar (a rite featuring the cooker and which is about feeding the guests) and the mossar which is the guest-welcoming portion. In June, we were the ones being welcomed because we were on the bride's mother's side of the family. This time we were on the father's side of the family, so we were the ones doing the welcoming. The guests gave the bride gifts for the wedding, and then the hosts washed the guests' feet. There was nearly a water fight then, too, lols.

People got fed, and then we got changed again and finally headed out to the hall for the Santak meal. The caterers were so late, it was crazy. Met more people, hugged and laughed and chatted. I sat with my cousins and one of my nieces who is very, very sweet. She's fourteen now, which is kind of insane. I helped my sisters-in-law to distribute the lanis, which typically are gifts containing sweets. We also sent round a giant wedding card for people to sign.

Eventually we all piled into our cars and headed off to my cousin's house in N where we were staying for the night. We got showered, changed into our pyjamas, and set up the bed arrangements. Then we put together the wedding box for the bride, and some of us painted our nails. Went to sleep around midnight, totally knackered.

All the way through the day we were saying hello to people we hadn't seen in ages and talking to each other - eating, playing with my older cousins' kids, and talking to our older cousins. Lots of fun. Really tiring!

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Got woken up by a BARRAGE of balloons and lots of people shouting Happy Birthday, lols. It went a little bit like this:

prianka: it's your birthday!
me: yep. Gathered that! Love you, GO AWAY OMG

Dragged myself out of the bed, had some pain au chocolat for breakfast and then spent literally two hours getting dressed for the wedding. Had to sort out my sari, my jewellery, my hair - complete nightmare. We took some photos and then my aunt appeared with a cake, so I had some birthday fun, opening cards and various gifts (list in a mo). We piled back into the car and I zoned out to Be Good Tanyas on the way to the hall.

When we got there Baby Cousin had arrived (she'd missed the other stuff because of another wedding) and again we said hello to hundreds of people. We went to the loos where I got undressed and re-dressed because apparently something was wrong with the sari. Goddamn, my hair was not cooperating. I was really annoyed about it, too, because I looked terrible, and I had things to do at the wedding. Anyway, finally redressed, and then faffed about waiting for things to be ready so that we could let the jaan (wedding party/groom's side) off the coach and into the hall. Finally they were ready and we walked down to meet the groom. I had to hold this pot on my head which had water in it; the groom then put a coconut in said pot (Groom: Is that heavy? Me: yeah, little bit, mate.) We were joking around because I needed to put my specs up, and because I couldn't really tell what was going on. Then I got paid for that, which was a plesant surprise considering I didn't entirely know what the hell was going on. Then my cousin had to perform this welcome where he has to throw water over the groom using a leaf and then throw said leaf into the crowd behind. Instant insanity. Finally the groom was allowed in to sit down, and we all trundled down to see the bride and have group photos taken. Then the groom's family came to give their gifts and there were more photos.

It was chaos upstairs - the wedding was pretty late, actually. The bride eventually came up into the hall (there was a mishap with the music, aie) and then we were pretty much free to do whatever we wanted to, so I sat with my eldest cousin and his family who I haven't seen in a few years. I was explaining the family tree to them, and the games we play at the wedding, and then we caught up with each other on the things that have been going on the past few years. I promised I'd send them a copy of the family tree I'm compiling so that my niece and nephews could get a better understanding of the family dynamics (my niece is about to start her GCSEs; she calls Baby Cousin 'aunty' because of the family spread). I also met with a friend of my cousin's who I met at the reception last week. She was totally lovely (we've found one another on facebook now, so have been messaging) and she wished me happy birthday. Actually, most of the conversations I had yesterday went:

me & person 1 oh, hello!
person 2: hi! *hugs all round*
person 1: oh yeah, M, happy birthday!
me: aw, thank you :D
person 2: it's your birthday? Oh, happy birthday! *more hugs*

I got lots of hugs, and money from two of my paternal aunts, which was very kind of them, and a bit embarrassing for me because I don't really like accepting monetary gifts from family. (It's an etiquette thing that I've inherited from my parents.)

Anyway, wedding proceeded, some of us ate mini chocolate fingers (bless my older brother-on-law, he was pretty damn hungry), and finally the ceremony finished, we took photos and then and everyone went to eat. We had the groom's shoes which I bartered for (£50!) and then we had our Scheduled Crying Line which is when the couple leaves and the bride says goodbye to her family. Lots of hugging and crying.

Then we nicked the limousine.

No, really. It's one of the games. There are so many girls in our family: we all piled into the limo and demanded money to get us out of there so that the wedding party could leave. Another £55! That money got shared out between the 10 of us plus my cousin brother (he only got £5 though because technically that money was for the girls only). We were all chilling in the limousine and bartering through the window, haha! Was a great time. I took my niece into the car with us, so she got to participate too. She had fun, too; she'd never played the wedding games before.

Anyway! Then we packed into our cars and headed back to my cousin's house where I got changed out my sari and we all sat around having drinks and a little bit to eat before we left for home. Everyone was shattered (especially one of my sisters-in-law who was not only really busy during the wedding, but had her baby to look after) so we were just chilling out. It was kind of sad, though, because my Canadian cousins are going home on Wednesday, and in a week my cousin V is heading to India for six months as part of her gap year, plus my cousin P is heading to uni in October, so I won't see them all for so long. One of my paternal aunts told my dad that there's going to be a party at my house next weekend, lol, so now we're having a get together next weekend!

At around 21:30 we said our goodbyes and at about 21:50 (yeah, it took us 20 minutes to say goodbye to everyone - so many people!) we began the trek home. I came home to lots of post (huzzah!) and a parcel on my bed from my parents but I was too shattered to deal with it then, so I went straight to bed. Phew!

Did I mention the part where I love my family beyond the beyond? Because: YES.

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Photos later, but this morning I opened more gifts. Altogether I received: money; a necklace from my sister; an mp3 player from one of my aunts; a 21st Birthday key from another aunt; a bear; an elephant and a purple duckie from wliberation (♥); an Edward Monkton book and Curly Wurlys from The Flatmate (lols); lots of cards, including a lovely one from the_muppet; an external drive from my parents (\o/); and tonnes and tonnes of messages from friends and family and flisters, so a great many hugs to you all. It's always nice to hear from people (especially because I'm so shit at remembering).

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Dude. I'm off to watch last night's Spooks: Code 9.