Indian weddings are elaborate, no matter how hell bent you are to keep it to the point.
Our wedding was barely any different. With a modest function held at Rohit's gandfather's building's terrace the engagement was taken care of on 15th Feb '09. Soon after began the process of hunting for dates and venues for the wedding.
One thing that me and Rohit had made simple for our people was that, we were sure that we wanted the wedding to take place outdoors, preferably in a lawn. It was to happen either in the end of November or early December.
So two daunting tasks started... hunting for a venue that appealed and suited our pockets and fixing the Shubh Muhurta ...so every weekend meant visits to all possible wedding venues with lawns at Thane, finding out 'contacts' that would help us reduce the rates and so on...after quite a few weeks having passed in this manner we were set with "the date and place". The grand occasion was to be celebrated at The Shelter Farms at Ghodbunder road on the 9th of December '09!!!
Hmnn... Then began my intricate task that I took upon myself, to create a detailed Excel sheet that included
1) Guest lists according to various categories
2) Accordingly the number of people from each family expected to attend the function
3) The number of cards to be printed
4) A detailed list of things to be bought, bills to be paid and their budget and expenditure
5) A table to compare the rates quoted by various Beauty Parlors!!
And this sheet was to be updated according to each and every activity that took place.... gosh this experience made me quite a professional (and efficient) wedding planner!
Come August, one of the most sought after activity started...one that brings a sudden glow on most female faces I have seen...Shopping!
It almost seemed like a picnic when Rohit's father hired an Innova and six of us ( Rohit, his father, Rohit's three 'aatya's and me) had a 2 day trip to Nasik to buy Yeola (Soni's) Sarees. I was told to select 5 sarees for myself... (Meena aatya, Rohit's eldest paternal aunt had invited me to her place a couple of days before to educate me with reference of her wadrobe as to which is what saree, which region of the nation it is manufactured in...etc!!! Believe me, I never ever thought I would undergo such courses! And try and imagine how many sarees she owns......)
Aah, I can't even have a wild guess at that... so moving on...I did select 5 sarees:
1) A rich dark green silk saree with golden yellow border
2) A red simple crepe saree with a thin golden border
3) A beautiful purple "Paithani" a speciality of Maharshtra (I consumed a lot of time, just for selecting this one)
4) A yellow cotton Nawwari saree - the Nine yard sree I am eager to flaunt during this Ganesh Chaturthi
5) And a embellished blue 'Shaalu' or Benarasi silk saree
And as we were all selecting these sarees our dear aatya's were as busy selecting the sarees they would drape for my wedding...even after all my selections were done, their's weren't. So eventually the shopping spree that began at 10:30 AM on a Sunday morning, lasted till about 4:30 PM...Non-Stop. Over 20 sarees bought, 6 hours spent, no food consumed, a hell of an experience...by the end of which me and Rohit were ready to dose off in the shop!
A sharp contrast to this was the shopping experience at Kolkata, which involved me and my mom. On a fleeting visit for about 4 days, we had to (and did) fix up the reception venue, caterer, decorator, photographer etc.
The Shopping part for us (which is never a laborious process) was short and to the point. One and a half hours in one shop, 3 sarees for me ( The Maroon Benarasi Silk saree I wore for the wedding, the yellow 'Taant' saree I wore for the Haldi and a black kantha stich saree), 1 saree for Maa (A Maroon Kantha stich saree I forced her to get for herself) and about 8 more sarees we had to get to be gifted to relatives.
The months of October and November was spent searching for Wedding cards at Thane and Chirabazaar (Girgaon),making drafts of the data to be printed on the card, getting other accessiories to the apparels and getting a couple of other clothes stitched, finding rates of make-up artists and Mehendi-waalis etc. Anyone who has gone through this knows exactly how much time consuming it is. And that is why Shalini and Reema quite often were my aides and would help me out in all these odd jobs!
Being an Archietct and a Designer, I was sure (so were my friends, Maa and Rohit who were driven mad by me) that I had to have a personal touch in the wedding card I select or the 'Tattva' - the wedding gifts that we decorate. So after immense hunts, a off-beat, simple yet elegant card was selected from a shop at Chirabazaar. For friends a special personalised e-version was made. And loads of gift wraps, batwas, tapes and satin ribbons bought from Sutar galli at Abdul Rehman street.
Another interesting thing that me and Ro were doing meanwhile is making and updating our wish-list!! :D Most of our kind and considerate friends and a few relatives had asked us what we wished to recieve as our wedding gift from them, so we made a wedding list fitting into all budgets, that was fun...specially the thought of getting gifts we wanted!
So, eventually it was time...after all the efforts...bookings made, cards given out, trousseau in place, almost all knickknacks assembled... what was pending is a celebration for Mehendi, a Aayi-buro Bhaat (Kelwan in Marathi - notionally the last meal at home), packing the 'Totto' the Gaaye Holud (Haldi) and then... make-up, drape, gold, chondon...getting lifted up by uncles, exchange of garlands, chanting of mantras, a mangalsutra, sindoor, saat feras....
and I am no more a bachelorette!!
