Indian wedding

The wedding went on regardless of the stormy weather. I arrived around 10:20am. My co-workers who are Indian were not there yet.

The ceremony was in full swing. In the center of the room was a canopy covered area. The center of the square had a small fire pit...there was an exhaust vent over the fire pit.

The bride was sitting on the south side of the fire with her father. The groom was on the west side. The priest was on the north side. I was greeted by a gentleman who gave me a small pamphlet that explained some of the rituals that had and were going to happen.

The ceremony has many many parts. Way to many to go through. The groom was shirtless but had a large flowered garland on. The bride was in a beautiful sarri with lots of gold necklaces, bracelets. She also had a large flowered garland and more flowers in a head piece that flowed down her back.

The ceremony went on until around noon when the groom walked the bride down a path of large leaves with I think rice on them. It was seven steps in which they asked each other questions. If they liked the answers, then at the end of the seven steps, they would be friends. This also represents the exchange of vows and "I do's."
The picture is of the seventh step.

After this the narrator said the guests could go on to lunch and the wedding would continue. My co-workers showed me the temple. The are several different Hindu gods represented in the temple. Many people were praying and offering blessings. It was very beautiful.

We then went into lunch. It was vegetarian buffet and very very good. I hadn't eaten this much carbohydrates for the last 9 weeks. We ate until after 1pm. I headed back through the wedding hall and the ceremony was still going on.

All the while people mill about, talk, take pictures and occasionally respond to what was going on. It was all so interesting and beautiful