Wedding competition!

I've learned a lot about Indian weddings this weekend. The auspicious time to have the wedding ceremony is 9.30am. So for the bride and groom this means getting up at 4am to get get ready, having the guests arrive from 7am, feed the guests breakfast while the priests start with the wedding rituals for the couple. A 4am start on your wedding day sounds to me like a way of torturing the bride and groom!

My blip is of a game that's played towards the end of the formal wedding proceedings. A ring is dropped into a pot of water and the couple have to find it. Whoever gets the ring first is said to be the one who will lead the marriage. All their friends gather round shouting for their friend to win!

The extras are of earlier in the ceremony - throwing rice on the couple's heads and a blessing from the priests.

It was a lovely day. There were over 1000 guests for the wedding. And apparently that's a small wedding! I don't think I even know 1000 people! Lunch was served in an amazingly efficient way - long tables in a room that could seat about 200 people, where about 40 servers go along with a pot containing a different dish and distributes it. Everything is eaten off a banana leaf which can then be thrown away and the table set for the next people.  (See final extra)

There was a break after the lunch (at least there was a break for the guests, I think the couple had other ceremonies they had to do!) and in the evening another reception followed by a DJ and more dancing.

I hope this uploads ok - wifi in a cafe and I'm not confident it'll work. Let's see...