Hello Lovely People – continuing my series of occasional travel blogs: INDIA 2023, no. II – THE WEDDING

How privileged are we, to be able to attend the many celebrations making up Sajni & Gaurav’s wedding in Jaipur, what an occasion. Superlatives required in abundance. To be honest I am still processing, and probably need to do more photograph editing, but I want to share as quickly as possible, and unbelievably it is already four days ago. So how about some bullet points:

EMOTION: love, joy, friendship, inclusion, generosity, happiness, laughter, fun, and did I mention love? In abundance for this couple at every turn over the two days and beyond and evident in each for the other 

COLOUR: the clothes, the jewellery, the flowers, the decorations, the place – sun and sky and trees

CULTURE: Punjabi, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Sikh and Hindu 

DECORATION: the trees, the table settings, the flowers, the pavilions, the spices

MUSIC: traditional and modern, enthralling, an aural and visual spectacle at every occasion, so many musicians and don’t forget AJ the Mumbai DJ who kept the after-parties booming well into the following mornings

DANCING: local, traditional, modern, of professionals, the guests, the bride and groom

FOOD and DRINK: abundant, generous: Indian of every state and type plus European and Thai. Masala dosa for breakfast anyone? Yes please! Sajni and Gaurav cocktails bespoke to mark their celebrations, just fantastic

GIFTS: as if being guests is not enough there is mehndi, a Rajasthani scarf, a silver anklet, a Gujarati bag filled with comestibles, so kind and thoughtful of the bride, groom and their families 

FRIENDS and FAMILY: from around the globe, we renewed acquaintances and met so many new people, enjoyed everyone’s company, forged memories for a lifetime

We cannot thank you enough Sajni and Gaurav for letting us share the experience of your Jaipur Wedding with you, with enormous thanks too to the rest of both your families for including us in theirs

And now, some photographs (its been hard to choose, I cannot imagine the task ahead of the six professional photographers/videographers who covered the two days from start to end). . . 

Part 1 – what happened and where it happened:

Part 2 – events

Mehndi and welcome party:

Sangeet:

The Haldi:

Safa tying – groom’s side complete with drums, but none of the groom – only videos which I cannot upload🙈:

The Baraat – the groom’s procession with family and friends: drummers and half way round a full DJ deck which played songs which the drummers accompanied . . . Music and dancing for about 90 minutes until we joined the bridal party for the ceremony. Huge fun, we only processed about 800 metres!! Gaurav’s bridal car overheated and was pushed the last stage of the procession:

The marriage ceremony – stunning stunning flowers, so beautifully decorated roof top location. Bride and groom looking amazing:

The reception, including cake cutting, first dance, speeches, food, cocktails and love, love, love. More stunning clothes and jewellery too:

The After-Parties:

Part 3 – gifts:

Part 4 – friends and family, so many, here are just a few . . .

Until next time, namaste

ALISON