28 - 29 December, 2014
What a fantastic two days, it was! I had an incredible amount of fun at what was probably one of the most happening weddings I have ever attended!
Firstly, it was the largest coming together of our "gang" for any wedding so far. It so happened that there was a grand total of about 12 of us at the wedding, which was a first. It was lovely to catch up with everyone over the two days and of course, to see our lovely Indian friend getting married to his Japanese sweetheart.
After much contemplation, I have concluded that the best way to write this post would be like a timeline (accuracy of time less and content more important!), just so that I don't miss any of the details that I want to preserve for years to come.
Day 1: 28 December
8:00 am - Woke up and got ready. The plan was to have breakfast, attend the morning functions which were to be held at the groom's house, get back and rehearse for a dance which we, the gang, is supposed to be putting up later in the evening at the Sangeet, and then attend the Sangeet. Anyway, to kickstart all of the above, we had to wake up and get ready and we did that.
9:00 am - Enjoyed the awesome spread and the sumptuous breakfast at the Marriot. If I remember right, I had everything from poha to bacon and masala chai to sweet yogurt. Yup.
10:00 am - Just as the hubby and I were done with our breakfast the rest of the gang trickled in and soon all of us were sitting around chatting away and extending the breakfast time. Over this conversation, we decided that we will start our dance rehearsal right after breakfast and then leave for the groom's house by lunch time.
11:00 am - Based on the above plan, all of us walked around the Marriot premises looking for a suitable location for rehearsal - one where we would have sufficient space for all of us to dance in.
11:30 am - After walking around the swimming pool and the lawns, as well as checking in on the ballrooms, we decided that we might as well practice in one of our rooms, thereby successfully wasting 30 minutes of precious rehearsal time. We proceeded to a room and squeezed in in whatever space available between the bed and the wall and started the "rehearsal". The "rehearsal" is in quotes because much of the time was spent on getting the music ready as well as convincing some of the shy folks that they too can and should dance. (I should mention at this point in time that the dance we were planning to perform to, is one from our university days. Four of us in the current gang, including the groom, had performed the same dance about 10 years ago in college! So a few of us were familiar with it but as for the rest, I had sent out the video of the performance from 10 years ago for their advance preparation, but can safely say that not a single person took a look at it.)
12:30 pm - We got through about 30% of the dance before it was time to leave for the groom's place for the functions and lunch there. There was a bus arranged to shuttle between the hotel and his house, and we dutifully ran through the dance steps even in the bus. By now, the whole gang was pretty enthusiastic about the dance. There were no more of "I can't" and "I won't"s anymore!
1:15 pm - We reached the groom's place and sat around watching the festivities, enjoying panipuri and other delicacies, taking pictures, taking a tour of his very lovely house (I especially LOVED all the paintings!), receiving gifts (sweets for all and jewellery for the girls!) and enjoying the Bangalore winter morning.
4:00 pm - We got back to the hotel and immediately started on our dance rehearsal again but not before ordering some masala chai to refresh ourselves. The rehearsals progressed beautifully this time. Everyone was pretty committed to the cause and within an hour, we wrapped the rehearsal and we were all set to burn the dance floor.
5:00 pm - We got back to our respective rooms, took some rest and then started to get ready for the Sangeet. I got into a lovely black churidar, courtesy my in-laws. Always trust them to get the best clothes for me!
7:00 pm - We went down to the poolside the lawns of the Marriott, the location for the Sangeet. Much of the evening was spent on clicking pictures, enjoying some of the yummy finger foods that were being served and carrying on with our never ending "catch ups". One bummer was that the hubby went down with a terrible fever and flu in the midst of it all. So he joined in late, but good news is that he tried his best to be part of the festivities and even managed to dance. The Sangeet was pretty fun. I was amazed at the quantity and quality of performances put together by the groom's family - it seemed like everyone, young and old, men and women, had all put in so much effort to put up the show and it was very entertaining. There was also a really cute skit on how the Indian groom met the Japanese bride, which was hilarious and extremely well made!
10:00 pm - It was our turn to dance! The 'gang' including me were pretty excited by now and were raring to dance! I gave a quick introduction first - that we had performed this piece 10 years ago and we are doing it again, dedicated to the groom, who was the star performer all those years ago. We went on stage and some of the more enthusiastic ones among us cheered ourselves on! And then we danced and had a blast! We didn't care what the audience thought of it because we clearly were convinced that we rocked it! It was so much fun! The highlight was when the groom joined us and did his signature "helicopter" move, something which he had done in the original performance 10 years ago as well! Too cool! After our dance, the groom and bride (Japanese, let me remind you) burned the dance floor with their performance on "Dhinka Chikka". It was awesome and I went hoarse with cheering! I also felt good that they had learnt the dance by watching a video of a performance by the hubby and I, to the same song, at the hubby's cousin's wedding in 2011. I can honestly say that I never expected them, especially the bride, to be able to pick up the completely Indian tapori steps so well! So proud of them!
11:30 pm - Post the Sangeet, we grabbed a quick dinner and retired early for the night, mainly due to the hubby's ill health. By the time we went to bed, we had sent several self congratulatory messages on Facebook and Whatsapp about our own performance for the night. An extremely fun day it was!
Day 2: 29 December
9:00 am - After getting ready and having breakfast, we were all set for the Indo-Japanese wedding ceremony! I must add here that I, for the first time ever, wore a sari with pleated pallu, which was amazing because I managed to wear it so well! Sure, it took a really long time to get it right, but I am so proud for finally having draped one in that style! Really, So proud.
10:00 am - We accompanied the groom to the beginning of the baaraat (wedding procession), where he climbed on his vehicle for the day - a beautiful white horse. With much music and dancing, we accompanied him back to the wedding venue. The highlight was when the two "dhoti" wearing guys from the gang, started dancing to the very happening "Lungi dance" song. It was so much fun that I couldn't help but join doing the same moves with my sari (and my sari held through it all, which again, makes me so proud of myself!). Soon all the uncles and aunties from the groom's families were doing the lungi dance, which to me, was super duper cute!
10:30 am - I had spent a long time taking a ton of pictures throughout the baaraat as well as later and a friend and I started to upload these to a dedicated Facebook page live, which I thought was a super cool idea on his part!
11:30 am - My in-laws also joined the wedding and we had a nice time together watching the rest of the ceremony. We later proceeded for lunch together (lunch, especially the goan fish curry, mutton biriyani and rasmalai, were awesome!), I had a nice time catching up with a friend's parents who had also flown in for the wedding (and also to meet their son's girlfriend's parents ... you know, "officially"... so I had my fingers crossed for that lovely couple too!), we took the inevitable "group photo" with the groom and the bride on the "stage" and then it was time to say goodbye as most of the folks except me were flying out within today itself.
3:30 pm - As many of the "gang" took their leave and the hubby took some much needed rest in our room to get over his fever, one of my best friends from school (and also my partner in founding the unofficial die-hard fan club for Michael Jackson in Thrissur about 17-18 years ago), came over to meet me at the hotel. Over some pretty average coffee, we had a very much overdue and much needed catch up on our lives. It was heartening to see that we think exactly the same as each other even now, and it was absolutely terrific to have an opportunity to meet her.
6:00 pm - After the friend left, I decided that I will shop a bit in the mall next door. The shopping trip was, to put it mildly, disappointing. There was absolutely nothing there that caught my fancy but given that I spent about 45 minutes there, I got myself to buy a simple summer dress.
7:00 pm - The hubby and I had dinner together at a restaurant in the mall. Ever since he has been ill, there has not been much of "romantic Bangalore" anymore other than me ordering hot soups for him, so this dinner was a good final romantic activity before he returns to Singapore today and I return to Kerala with the in-laws tomorrow.
8:00 pm - The hubby took his leave for the airport, while I caught up with the groom and his mom (one of the most fun aunties I know!) in the hotel lobby. Oh, I must mention here that the groom was mighty pleased with all the pictures taken by yours truly this morning and he even mentioned that I should "copyright" them. Woah! Given that I have absolutely zero technical skills when it comes to photography, this was some really good compliment. Ego was duly boosted and a wide smile was born.
10:30 pm - A junior of mine from my school days came down to visit me. Given that it was late in the night and that she had to travel a lot to make it to Whitefield and that she had given up dinner with her fiance's family after some wedding shopping (she is getting married in a month's time), I think it was incredibly sweet of her to make so much trouble just to come see me! I had hardly known her in school other than as my friend's younger sister but thanks to Facebook, we had gotten to know each other a lot better in the recent past. It was lovely to meet her and have a long chat in person!
12:00 am - After seeing off the lovely young lady, I hit the bed, happy about all the fun I've had and even happier about all the wonderful people I have in my life. To top it all, just as I was about to doze off, the friend whose parents were to meet his prospective in-laws, messaged that all went extremely well between the two sets of parents and his wedding is very much on! That was the best news to end two very beautiful days with!
So happy!
What a fantastic two days, it was! I had an incredible amount of fun at what was probably one of the most happening weddings I have ever attended!
Firstly, it was the largest coming together of our "gang" for any wedding so far. It so happened that there was a grand total of about 12 of us at the wedding, which was a first. It was lovely to catch up with everyone over the two days and of course, to see our lovely Indian friend getting married to his Japanese sweetheart.
After much contemplation, I have concluded that the best way to write this post would be like a timeline (accuracy of time less and content more important!), just so that I don't miss any of the details that I want to preserve for years to come.
Day 1: 28 December
8:00 am - Woke up and got ready. The plan was to have breakfast, attend the morning functions which were to be held at the groom's house, get back and rehearse for a dance which we, the gang, is supposed to be putting up later in the evening at the Sangeet, and then attend the Sangeet. Anyway, to kickstart all of the above, we had to wake up and get ready and we did that.
9:00 am - Enjoyed the awesome spread and the sumptuous breakfast at the Marriot. If I remember right, I had everything from poha to bacon and masala chai to sweet yogurt. Yup.
10:00 am - Just as the hubby and I were done with our breakfast the rest of the gang trickled in and soon all of us were sitting around chatting away and extending the breakfast time. Over this conversation, we decided that we will start our dance rehearsal right after breakfast and then leave for the groom's house by lunch time.
11:00 am - Based on the above plan, all of us walked around the Marriot premises looking for a suitable location for rehearsal - one where we would have sufficient space for all of us to dance in.
11:30 am - After walking around the swimming pool and the lawns, as well as checking in on the ballrooms, we decided that we might as well practice in one of our rooms, thereby successfully wasting 30 minutes of precious rehearsal time. We proceeded to a room and squeezed in in whatever space available between the bed and the wall and started the "rehearsal". The "rehearsal" is in quotes because much of the time was spent on getting the music ready as well as convincing some of the shy folks that they too can and should dance. (I should mention at this point in time that the dance we were planning to perform to, is one from our university days. Four of us in the current gang, including the groom, had performed the same dance about 10 years ago in college! So a few of us were familiar with it but as for the rest, I had sent out the video of the performance from 10 years ago for their advance preparation, but can safely say that not a single person took a look at it.)
12:30 pm - We got through about 30% of the dance before it was time to leave for the groom's place for the functions and lunch there. There was a bus arranged to shuttle between the hotel and his house, and we dutifully ran through the dance steps even in the bus. By now, the whole gang was pretty enthusiastic about the dance. There were no more of "I can't" and "I won't"s anymore!
1:15 pm - We reached the groom's place and sat around watching the festivities, enjoying panipuri and other delicacies, taking pictures, taking a tour of his very lovely house (I especially LOVED all the paintings!), receiving gifts (sweets for all and jewellery for the girls!) and enjoying the Bangalore winter morning.
4:00 pm - We got back to the hotel and immediately started on our dance rehearsal again but not before ordering some masala chai to refresh ourselves. The rehearsals progressed beautifully this time. Everyone was pretty committed to the cause and within an hour, we wrapped the rehearsal and we were all set to burn the dance floor.
5:00 pm - We got back to our respective rooms, took some rest and then started to get ready for the Sangeet. I got into a lovely black churidar, courtesy my in-laws. Always trust them to get the best clothes for me!
7:00 pm - We went down to the poolside the lawns of the Marriott, the location for the Sangeet. Much of the evening was spent on clicking pictures, enjoying some of the yummy finger foods that were being served and carrying on with our never ending "catch ups". One bummer was that the hubby went down with a terrible fever and flu in the midst of it all. So he joined in late, but good news is that he tried his best to be part of the festivities and even managed to dance. The Sangeet was pretty fun. I was amazed at the quantity and quality of performances put together by the groom's family - it seemed like everyone, young and old, men and women, had all put in so much effort to put up the show and it was very entertaining. There was also a really cute skit on how the Indian groom met the Japanese bride, which was hilarious and extremely well made!
10:00 pm - It was our turn to dance! The 'gang' including me were pretty excited by now and were raring to dance! I gave a quick introduction first - that we had performed this piece 10 years ago and we are doing it again, dedicated to the groom, who was the star performer all those years ago. We went on stage and some of the more enthusiastic ones among us cheered ourselves on! And then we danced and had a blast! We didn't care what the audience thought of it because we clearly were convinced that we rocked it! It was so much fun! The highlight was when the groom joined us and did his signature "helicopter" move, something which he had done in the original performance 10 years ago as well! Too cool! After our dance, the groom and bride (Japanese, let me remind you) burned the dance floor with their performance on "Dhinka Chikka". It was awesome and I went hoarse with cheering! I also felt good that they had learnt the dance by watching a video of a performance by the hubby and I, to the same song, at the hubby's cousin's wedding in 2011. I can honestly say that I never expected them, especially the bride, to be able to pick up the completely Indian tapori steps so well! So proud of them!
11:30 pm - Post the Sangeet, we grabbed a quick dinner and retired early for the night, mainly due to the hubby's ill health. By the time we went to bed, we had sent several self congratulatory messages on Facebook and Whatsapp about our own performance for the night. An extremely fun day it was!
Day 2: 29 December
9:00 am - After getting ready and having breakfast, we were all set for the Indo-Japanese wedding ceremony! I must add here that I, for the first time ever, wore a sari with pleated pallu, which was amazing because I managed to wear it so well! Sure, it took a really long time to get it right, but I am so proud for finally having draped one in that style! Really, So proud.
10:00 am - We accompanied the groom to the beginning of the baaraat (wedding procession), where he climbed on his vehicle for the day - a beautiful white horse. With much music and dancing, we accompanied him back to the wedding venue. The highlight was when the two "dhoti" wearing guys from the gang, started dancing to the very happening "Lungi dance" song. It was so much fun that I couldn't help but join doing the same moves with my sari (and my sari held through it all, which again, makes me so proud of myself!). Soon all the uncles and aunties from the groom's families were doing the lungi dance, which to me, was super duper cute!
10:30 am - I had spent a long time taking a ton of pictures throughout the baaraat as well as later and a friend and I started to upload these to a dedicated Facebook page live, which I thought was a super cool idea on his part!
11:30 am - My in-laws also joined the wedding and we had a nice time together watching the rest of the ceremony. We later proceeded for lunch together (lunch, especially the goan fish curry, mutton biriyani and rasmalai, were awesome!), I had a nice time catching up with a friend's parents who had also flown in for the wedding (and also to meet their son's girlfriend's parents ... you know, "officially"... so I had my fingers crossed for that lovely couple too!), we took the inevitable "group photo" with the groom and the bride on the "stage" and then it was time to say goodbye as most of the folks except me were flying out within today itself.
3:30 pm - As many of the "gang" took their leave and the hubby took some much needed rest in our room to get over his fever, one of my best friends from school (and also my partner in founding the unofficial die-hard fan club for Michael Jackson in Thrissur about 17-18 years ago), came over to meet me at the hotel. Over some pretty average coffee, we had a very much overdue and much needed catch up on our lives. It was heartening to see that we think exactly the same as each other even now, and it was absolutely terrific to have an opportunity to meet her.
6:00 pm - After the friend left, I decided that I will shop a bit in the mall next door. The shopping trip was, to put it mildly, disappointing. There was absolutely nothing there that caught my fancy but given that I spent about 45 minutes there, I got myself to buy a simple summer dress.
7:00 pm - The hubby and I had dinner together at a restaurant in the mall. Ever since he has been ill, there has not been much of "romantic Bangalore" anymore other than me ordering hot soups for him, so this dinner was a good final romantic activity before he returns to Singapore today and I return to Kerala with the in-laws tomorrow.
8:00 pm - The hubby took his leave for the airport, while I caught up with the groom and his mom (one of the most fun aunties I know!) in the hotel lobby. Oh, I must mention here that the groom was mighty pleased with all the pictures taken by yours truly this morning and he even mentioned that I should "copyright" them. Woah! Given that I have absolutely zero technical skills when it comes to photography, this was some really good compliment. Ego was duly boosted and a wide smile was born.
10:30 pm - A junior of mine from my school days came down to visit me. Given that it was late in the night and that she had to travel a lot to make it to Whitefield and that she had given up dinner with her fiance's family after some wedding shopping (she is getting married in a month's time), I think it was incredibly sweet of her to make so much trouble just to come see me! I had hardly known her in school other than as my friend's younger sister but thanks to Facebook, we had gotten to know each other a lot better in the recent past. It was lovely to meet her and have a long chat in person!
12:00 am - After seeing off the lovely young lady, I hit the bed, happy about all the fun I've had and even happier about all the wonderful people I have in my life. To top it all, just as I was about to doze off, the friend whose parents were to meet his prospective in-laws, messaged that all went extremely well between the two sets of parents and his wedding is very much on! That was the best news to end two very beautiful days with!
So happy!
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