The Wedding – All that glitters

 

Wedding Bouquet

So the day finally arrived, the day of the wedding, the day that we had spent months preparing for… co-ordinating clothes, shoes and accessories, the day our brother was getting married 🙂

 

Now we had matched up the groom’s outfit to go with the bride, who was wearing the sherman which I quote he said “sounds like someone herding sheep” LOL. Anyway a sherwani, paag; which is a traditional hat and kusay; which are hand-made leather shoes, embroidered with gold thread and turned up at the front (these can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes). He also had a red and gold scarf over his shoulders to match the bride.  

 

 As we were on the boys side, the wedding part was hosted by the girls side of the Newcastle. We arrived in convey outside the hotel  and entered with two Dhol players heading the front of the procession from which we were greeted with flower garlands,  the sisters were given a single red rose each and then were then lead to the stage area. The colour theme was red and gold and everything was beautifully co-ordinated, somehow even the guests were!!

Groom's Side

 

Live Classical Indian Music

Classical Indian music was playing in the background, a live sitar and tabla and the dinner was a four course silver service feast (five including the cake). So the setting was perfect.

Now for the important stuff the Nikkah. Muslim ceremonies have a nikkah which is the religious part of the wedding and basically like the vows at a Civil Ceremony. The bride is separate from the groom and is asked by an Imaan (Muslim priest) if she consents to marriage, this is asked three times and she will reply “I do” or “Kabool Hai”. Once the bride agrees she signs the marriage document and the Imaan asks the groom the same three times if he consents to marry his bride to be. Once agreed the groom also signs the form and the Imaan prays that they have a happy life together and the congratulations begin.

It is traditional for the Groom side to bring Shewaray; dried dates, coconut and other things which are given out straight after the Nikkah (like wedding favours). After everyone has congratulated the groom the bride comes into the main hall and sits with her husband…awww.

The eating begins and finishes with a three-tier wedding cake, after which gifts are

Wedding Cake

given to the groom’s family from the bride’s family and we finish the wedding by the Rukhsati…taking the bride home.

 

See website www.asianvoices.org.uk/galleries for more wedding pictures x