Disclaimer: This blog has no intent to hurt anyone’s sentiment. It attempts to be as factual as possible though at times when something seemed endearing to me while attending a wedding, it is my personal view. Expressing the joy of events in life..

All this is from the eyes of the invitee attending the wedding..

Weddings and weddings and weddings..  – each one is so different from another. some minimalistic.. some grand.. some private and personal.. some with many many an invitee.. some destination.. some close to home.. some a mix of the traditional and borrowed (from another culture)..

If this is the way the wedding appears, the wedding invites are so different from one another, though each of them carefully designed by those getting married or by the parents..

Some traditional.. some simplistic.. some as pull outs – with each pull out being for an event.. some as hardback invites..

So how are the invites given? Some personally with one or two family members dropping in to invite.. some personally and thru whats’ app.. some thru whats’ app.. some thru post..

If this is some part of the run up to the wedding, the various events and rituals are again different. In the last few years the southern states of India have seen many a wedding with the Sangeeth and Mehendi.. choreographed dance performances by family and friends.. starters, chaats, a light dinner and dessert (s) on the menu and / or drinks if you please 🙂

The actual Wedding rituals (bride and the groom traditionally becoming a husband and wife) and the Reception seem to be a constant as two different events, though they may have evolved to become a tad different, over the many years, depending on how the family wants it to be performed. The Muhurtham attendees are more of family and close friends; and the reception is more friends (close or somewhat close and may include some acquaintances) and some relatives.

As for the food, there is too much for the plate and the palate – traditional cuisine,  continental, pan asian – what more and what not.. One blog may not be enough to cater to this part of the wedding 🙂

In the last few weddings I attended, there were two aspects in the wedding and / or reception that caught my eye and attention. The warm hospitality of the hosts and the dressing of the guests.

Dressing makes its beauty present thru

the fabric – silk, silk cotton, cotton, jute, bamboo, banana silk, banana cotton, ahimsa silk, linen etc etc etc..

the attire – oh!! this varies in a large way – to name a few – sarees in whiever yard it may be, dhotis, gowns, lehengas, shararas, pavadai dhavani (half saree as it is called).. formal shirt and trouser with a tux / coat / blazer and adorned with a tie or a bow and paired with a formal formal shining, polished pair of shoes for the men.. women pairing their attire with sneakers, stilletoes, wedge heels, sandals, slippers etc etc etc..

Warm hospitality is something to be experienced- be it at a relative’s wedding or a friend’s wedding. The need to make the guests feel at home is the need of those performing the wedding – no matter how busy they are. They do it in their own styles.

I had attended a few weddings by myself where I knew either only the bride or the groom or one / two people in the immediate family of the bride and the groom. These are weddings which I have learnt to love to be a part of. The family steps in to introduce a couple of people who I can talk to.. Someone from the family when they pass by, check in.. or like two peas in a pod, another person who has also come alone like me sees me sitting by myself, we initiate a conversation and make it a point to join each other for the meal. We connect at the wedding for a while and disconnect at the wedding.

Weddings are truly a celebration for all the senses – colours as feast for the eyes, smell from the food tantalising the nose, the laughter and giggles and chatter melodious to the ears, the food hitting the different taste buds, the warm hospitality touches the heart.

As a recent invite beautifully said – celebrating two people coming together to travel in the journey of life. Such a joy it is, to celebrate the occasion and wishing them the best..

Experience is life.. Life is experience..