Thanks to all you well-wishers who read my posts and those who decided to comment here... to those creative ones who composed poetry (awww... I'm so touched) and those who followed up with phone calls (hey sisters...) and all the interested one who wanted to know more. To them, I dedicate this post... well it may be a series of posts, depending on how long I can type before running out of steam or what time hubby comes home (whichever comes first lol).
The wedding...
...was just dreamy. Even the pre-wedding jitters weren't too bad. Mums was mildly panicy because there was so much jewellery lying around at home (hidden in various odd places, wrapped in old handkerchiefs), but other than that, things were ok. My bridesmaids were a wealth of support, turning up the night before and helping me iron my saree (10pm), dry my hair (11pm), touch up my nails (11.21pm) wrap gifts to parents and write thank you notes(finished slightly past midninght). Not very good timing as had to be at bridal dressing place by 3.45 am.
Actually got to bridal dressing place at 4.30 pm. This was partly because of jitters and partly because we had to hunt for all the jewellery. Was bundled into my slip and blouse and the whole process began. I was crazy happy during the whole thing.... the attention I was getting had a lot to do with it... people were powdering my knuckles, Mums was giving me misty looks and bridesmaids kept shooting winks and thumbs ups...
So I floated out at 7 am... be-decked with Achchi's chunky gold necklace and be-veiled with yards and yards of tulle... crazy grin still on face, I made it to the hotel... to be greeted by Darling who had an identical soppy grin on his face... obviously, traditions of not seeing the bride before the wedding were smashed to smithereens. Photo's were taken, tilting head this way and that, looking up, looking down and mugging for the occasional tourist who had stopped to stare.
Of course things went wrong... but many disasters (actual/potential/mitigated) went totally unnoticed by me because others had done their best so that I wouldn't know of them. The flower people had got all creative and sprayed the snowy white flowers I ordered - a pale golden brown, in order to match the colour of the maids' sarees. Not a very smart thing to do, since this made them look all faded around the edges. Mums had very firmly taken the flower people to task and got them to trim the (sprayed) edges of every single flower! So when I walk into the hall, what crosses my mind is "oh what dainty lilies! I didn't know they came this small... how pretty and fairy like etc. etc." Obviously the wedding high... but I didn't find out the truth till last week.
The candle for the pahana was snitched by the ashtaka guy, who proceeded to light the lamps on the four sides of the poruwa with it, and then toss it aside. When we reached the pahana, there was much waiting and looking around and then finally we ended up lighting it straight from the match, with the matchbox cunningly hidden behind my bouquet and away from the cameras.
My flower girl (my sweet little niece, bless her cotton socks - although she refused to wear shoes and went barefoot on W-day) was I think having a bit of a sugar rush herself. It was fun seeing her run around enjoying herself after the photoshoot... less fun seeing 3 huge black splodges of grease on her skirt... just before we had to make the grand entrance. Several times during the whole table round thing I felt my head rudely jerked backwards... only to glance back and see the kid standing on my veil, grinning madly at me.
Well, to make a long story short... I totally, completely enjoyed my wedding. The flowers - especially my bouquet - were exquisite, the company was great, the food was marvelous plus we ended up getting 2 chocolate fountains for the price of one! (As a tribute to Mrs. G and her wonderful service, please check out Chocolate Joy at http://www.bridesofsrilanka.com/chocolatejoy.htm - it was awesome and had my friends and cousins all shook up!) The jazz band jazzed away, Darling made a wonderful speech where he called me lots of lovely things and during the going away handfulls of fragrant jasmine were thrown at us by the crowd (surprise arrangment courtsey of Darling... ain't he sweet?) I can honestly say it was the best wedding I'd ever been to... and the pictures say so too... I have that sappy grin on my face in every single one of them! Enjoy the pics people... and await more details later...
Darling initially tried to put the ring on the wrong hand... after I hissed "the other hand, men" at him, he managed to get it right...
Ah..... the transfer of ownership! Now all I need is a brand saying "property of Angel"!
Our rings! Yay... we're married!
Ooooh... the wedding cake... all 15lbs of it - ribbon cake with vanilla filling, covered with white fondant icing, courtesy of Fab.
Home-coming cake! Finally people agreed that chocolate cake is a wonderful idea. Sigh... rich chocolate fudge cake with chocolate ganache icing...
Home-coming hairdo! Was really impressed with it... the little curly bit you see there is my great grandmothers konda katta (hair comb)
