Wedding Day

So we managed to get to the groom's house around 11am after some fantastic (or scarily fast) driving by my co-driver. We were early; the Baraat's house was calm but that was soon to change as all the cousins and close family trickled in. Of course the Baraat and all were late to the hall, but hey, no one was expecting any different (apart from those for whom an Asian wedding was a new experience. Poor buggas).

The wedding itself was standard fare - for anyone who didn't have a personal stake in it, that is. For the others, we were still floating in disbelief; repeatedly we had to remind ourselves that, yes, a close friend was getting married. Jeez. It's strange; people close to me have been married before and that had been easily accepted. This was just... Surreal. Good surreal, I mean.

The Nikkah was also typically quick, a mixed blessing in my opinion. You can't get bored at a blink-or-you'll-miss-it Muslim ceremony, but on the other hand it can hardly be described as a photo op. A while after that the bride made her entrance to join her new husband - she was wearing a red and cream lengha (as I know at least one reader is wondering). Dinner was served, Nawaabs was great and proved its reputation as Manchester's best (or only?) wedding venue. The food was so good, in fact, that at least one pair of trousers had to be unfastened. No names of course.

Unfortunately due to a boo boo I missed the Rukhsati and receiving of the bride to her new home, but I managed to join the newlyweds later that evening. Mmmm, chocolate cake with whole Lindt chocolate as decoration. Only in this house, my dear readers. The bride seemed pretty happy and settled and was managing the attention well. The groom was also well chilled; so much so that he forgot to feed his wife cake before himself. Oh and he was also a hero to all Asian grooms everywhere, managing to get past THREE sisters along with many more cousins and their various money grabbing checkpoints losing nothing but what seemed like bus fare. What a guy.

I then headed back to the hotel where a few friends arrived (for the valima the next day). We drove around Manchester (renting proving to be a blummin' good decision) and had dinner. After that I went back to the hotel to crash - I had to get up early the next day to join the groom's family for breakfast and it had already been a long wickeda day.