this is way overdue but i wanted to write about this while i still remember it!
attended my first ever indian wedding of my jc classmate aarthi on 17 apr. tbh im quite the procrastinator so only one day before the wedding i was frantically googling what attire i should be in and if there was any customary items to do eg give ang bao (equivalents or sth). thankfully aly had an indian friend who helped asked his mum about stuff (': my only close indian friend was the one getting married so no references for me ahahahha
the wedding was at an indian temple next to farrer park mrt. the invitation stated 9-1pm but as usual...me and xp were late HAHAHA. talk about how we used to stand one behind one another in assemblies and our habits are exactly the same lol. when we arrived at the temple we didnt have time to find out which way to proceed cos someone showed us the way immediately though tbh i think it's cos we were clearly out of place being chinese and most likely werent there to take part in the prayers LOL. anyway, the wedding procession was in a hall on the 2nd floor and there was some kind of reception outside where one of the ladies handed us jasmine flowers to put in our hair. inside the hall some rituals happening on the stage and we didnt know what to expect so we just sat down somewhere in the middle.
the rituals were kinda long so xp and i attempted to put the jasmine flowers in our hair in the meantime though, we were very unsuccessful haha. eventually some kind lady behind us offered us pins and after that also did our hair for us (i think she couldnt take how noob we were). the procession went on for about 2h? but me and xp couldnt appreciate hahahha. we were just amazed at how the guy on stage was so zai? he was blowing some instrument for over 2 hours without stopping? hahha and then after the procession there was the walk in, so we finally got to see our friend, the bride up close (': and im not a wedding person but i just wanted to say she was so beautiful, like literal bliss coming out of her face (':
and then after that people just got up to leave so we followed also. turned out that there was food prepared for the guests downstairs. after choosing our seats me and xp got up to take the trays for the food and were halted by "nonono" from the waiters >.< turned out that we just had to sit and they would serve the food to us (probs covid) so malu hahahha. and we were again amazed by the spread of the food and how aarthi's friends from australia were enjoying it so much? one couple even brought along their baby (looked really tiny like maybe 1 month old?) and we were awed by how the little one survived the airplane trip and didnt cry at all during the wedding O.o
and after the meal, guests could queue to go up stage and take photos with the couple. suaku us again didnt know when to give the ang bao so we went up the stage like 2-3 times to pass the ang bao to aarthi's relatives HAHAHHA. anyways, probs wont have a chance to attend another indian wedding but really an eye opener! (:
