Wedding season in full swing

The last time I blipped I was in a pretty dark mood. Things haven't really improved unfortunately but I am feeling a lot better so here's to optimism, staying positive and trusting that God works all things (even the hard stuff) for the good of those who love him.

This is an old picture of my friend Shysta and I from her wedding day in 2010. It was her birthday a couple of days ago and wedding season is in full swing over here so I thought it was appropriate to show people what a Pakistani bride looks like in all her wedding finery.

Most girls/women order their wedding clothes months (if not a whole year) in advance over here. I guess that is true in other parts of the world as well but here in Pakistan - esp. in Karachi - you have two wedding seasons (summer and winter) and if you're a 'somebody' you want to get married in the 'season'.

The summer wedding season (basically the 2 months before Ramadan starts) is hot, humid and awful. But a lot of people have friends and relations over from abroad (all the millions of Pakistanis who have migrated away from here) for the summer and so it makes sense to plan weddings at this time of year. Of course if you get invited to a wedding in the summer, you better hope and pray that it's inside an air conditioned room. Some people like to have them in the open air and while summer evenings are very pleasant in Karachi, I hate getting dressed up and then having half my make up melt away by the end of the evening. Not attractive!

Did i mention that you HAVE to get dressed up to attend a Pakistani wedding? Yep you HAVE to. It's no fun going like plain Jane. (PS. the plum outfit I am wearing in this picture is one of my two standard outfits to wear to a wedding - just saying)

And it is not just one night - first there is the mayoon for the friends of the bride (all the girls wear yellow). Traditionally people applied 'ubtan' (traditional paste of herbs) on the bride's skin at this event so that she would glow on her wedding day but that practice is not very common anymore. Most people do their ubtan session at a salon now.

Then there is the mehndi (singing and dancing for friends and family), followed by the shaadi (dinner on the evening of the actually wedding ceremony... this is hosted by the bride and her family) and finally the nikaah (the meal the day after the wedding hosted by the groom and his family).

And then of course if people really want to splurge and have fun (which most Pakistanis do) they will have at least 5-6 dholkis before the mehndi. What's a dholki, you ask? It comes from the word 'dholak' (a traditional drum) - they're basically a series of get-togethers where the bride and groom's friends practice songs and dances for the mehndi. Why would they need so much practice, I hear you saying. Of course because it is a great deal of fun but also because the mehndi is actually a competition between the bride and groom's family and friends. You can expect sing-offs and dance offs at a typical Pakistani mehndi. It is great fun and frankly the best part of the wedding in my opinion.

That's enough for now... more on Pakistani weddings at a later date.