The whole day passed in excitement and anticipation of the Sangeet tonight and being able to dance in my lehenga!
I had initially planned to spend my days sightseeing in Delhi and visiting the old town but it was an hour and half away from Gurgaon. Plus, I soon realized it was full wedding mode here and no one ever knew what was happening. We had landed at 2am last night so by the time we slept it was nearly 4am. Reconditioning my body for the weekend ahead!
In the morning Daniel mentioned that there would be a haldi ceremony tomorrow morning and we had to wear yellow so Sonali and I set out to the only thing in Gurgaon - the mall.
Sonalis friends Raechel and Jeison were traveling to India and happened to be in Delhi so I was finally meeting them for the first time. I was supposed to meet them in Jaipur but that didn't happen so here we were. Shopping was fun! I took Jeison to all the stores I wanted to go to so that I could get to know him a little bit and he could give an opinion on my outfit selection. He was originally from Columbia but was studying with Raechel in the Netherlands and had followed her to travel India. He was very sweet and told me he planned on teaching Spanish at some point. I have my selection of Indian stores I shop at my favorite being Global Desi, Indya, and W. I picked up a boho two piece outfit from Global Desi and reconvened with Raechel and Sonali for lunch.
Sonali had picked a nice Delhi restaurant called Dhabaar that we ate some classic Delhi dishes at. We started with a very unique dish of spinach chips which was a piece of spinach deep fried with masala chaat on top. It was very good and unusual! Of course they served my favorite - papad! They kept refilling the papad too and by the end I think I had eaten 3 flutes of the papads. They served different ones than the usual urad dal ones I was used to so I was happy. For the main we had a spinach dish similar to saag paneer but without the panner so it was just a gravy. I don’t think I cared much for the gravy or the corn naan it was served with.
Once we returned home it was time to get ready. No one knew exactly what time we were to be ready at and the initial time we were told was 6:30pm. I was all too excited to put my lehenga on so I was ready first. I was also hoping to take photos with Sonu before we left. Daniel was ready last of course and slept till 6:30pm and then I had to steam his crumpled shirt as we tried to get him out the door.
In the end we left at around 8:30 pm by which time Sonu and I had been waiting and waiting to go. The venue the Sangeet was held at was Stellar Resorts which was about 40 mins from Gurgaon on the border of Delhi. The venue was beautifully decorated. The entrance was covered with flowers hung from an awning and on the tables lit up in hues of purple and pink. Inside, the venue had the same color palette of hues of pink and peach. Glass flowers hung from the ceiling and in the front of the room was a large pastel flower display where the bride and groom would sit. Off to the side there was a photo op that read “you will forever be my always”. Of course there was a dance floor, couches scattered around, and tables at the far side for the buffet. I thought the venue was very well decorated!
We were quite hungry when we arrived and started with the chaat bar. There was a Pani puri bar where you took a puri and filled it with your choice of pani. How fun! I liked the idea of a DIY pani puri bar however I will admit it tastes better when they make it for you. I also tried an aloo tikki and an uttapam with chutney. Appetizers went around carried on trays by the servers so I filled up on those too!
The longest part of the evening was waiting for the bride to make an entrance! The groom’s family was hosting the event tonight so they had arrived by 9 pm. Around 10:30 pm a procession of the girl’s family arrived. They came all together carrying gifts for the groom’s family of fruit baskets, nuts, and sweets. I don’t think I had ever seen that quantity of sweets and nuts in my life! I seriously wondered who was going to it all but I guess they do it for the tradition.
Once the bride’s family had processed in, both families with the groom settled down on the mat in the front of the room for the pooja. I didn’t quite understand exactly what was happening but tried to follow as best as I could. The priest continually chanted utilizing marigolds in his prayers and put a red tikka on Pratik’s forehead. At one point all the relatives were feeding Pratik sweets as well. One of the last parts of the ritual was the gifting of gold. A gold chain was given from the girl’s family to all of the members of Pratik’s family and one was placed around Pratik’s neck. We were now ready for the arrival of the bride!
The bride made her grand entrance at 11 pm and everyone gathered to see her. I was most excited to see her outfit! Pratik had chosen to wear a black kurta and she matched him in a dark navy velvet palazzo pant set. It was a rather dark color for a wedding but the gold trim gave it a royal look and she looked stunning nonetheless. Everyone posed for their photos eager to get a picture with the bride and groom.
The total wedding was only about 200 people maximum so it was not too terribly big. One of the things I did notice was there were not a ton of youngsters. Pratik has been in Dubai for the last two years and only one of his friends Ishan had come. There were a few of Vidhi’s friends but not many. The crowd was mainly aunties and uncles.
The highlight of the Sangeet was of course the singing and dancing. The music started off with a few dances performed by the bride and groom followed by numbers followed by a crowd of boys. It wasn’t anything too crazy but it was fun to watch everyone shake a leg on stage. Then when the programmed dances were over, everyone hit the dancefloor and the DJ turned up the music. Drinks were poured and everyone was on the floor dancing and dancing for the rest of the night. At around 2am the music finally died down and the family sat down to eat dinner while I passed out on the couch. What a night!
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