Sari's are the New Black

We went to Mital and Kristin's wedding this weekend. Mital is one of Mark's best friends from college. It was a traditional Indian wedding and different than anything we had ever been to before. This was our first weekend away in a very long time and we enjoyed it!

It started off with a rehearsal dinner at an Italian restaurant in a hotel. There was SO much food I actually thought they appetizer tray was the meal. I was stuffed by the time the real meal came. They had an artist doing Henna Tattoos so I of course jumped at the chance to get one



This is the paint drying...


I learned that it actually reacts with the melatonin in your skin to turn it a red color. So after 30 minutes with that stuff on it, it rubbed off or peeled off and then it gradually got darker and darker red until it looked like this



See where it says Max, Mal, M & K? :) Now I kind of wish there was a way of getting it off a little quicker than 2 weeks.

There were lots of speeches including a really good one from Mark. Mital has had a particularly tough last year and a half...He and Kristin actually got married at his fathers bedside in the hospital when he was very sick. His father passed away and then Mital was diagnosed with kidney disease later the same year and his mother donated one of her kidneys to him. Sounds like a soap opera right? Well it all really happened which made this an even more emotional weekend. Lots of happy and sad tears at times.



The next day I woke up at 5:15 am and WENT BACK TO SLEEP FOR HOURS. It felt so good. We got ourselves together around 10 or 11 or so and walked on the boardwalk to eat breakfast. Walked back to the hotel and laid around, watched the soccer game, went back out for a walk. It felt amazing to just be on our own time and do our own thing. It has been so long since I could just walk out of a room with just some money and my phone. No diapers, extra clothes, food, sippy cups, screaming children etc. Of course I missed the kids but I knew they were having fun with Gigi and Poppop. I ended up losing track of time while shopping on the boardwalk and was almost late for the precession down the boardwalk.

Here is the groom arriving



And us



I assumed I'd be safe in a long black dress. WRONG! I was one of the only people wearing black. Most of the women were wearing these gorgeous Sari's. I felt so dull and boring. I could have at least worn a color.



My favorites were the little girls outfits



There were SO many kids there and ours were invited too. Um...no thanks! So Mital rode a horse down the Atlantic city boardwalk. Apparently this is pretty traditional or sometimes its an elephant! Everyone danced and celebrated as we went to meet the bride and her family who were waiting at the reception site. There was a car playing music as we walked and danced. There were lots of onlookers and people on the boardwalk were stopping and taking pictures and asking who this guy was!



The reception site was in a building out on a pier. All glass so the only thing you could see was the ocean and the boardwalk. It was really beautiful. The ceremony included lots of Indian traditions. There were over 400 people there.





The food was great, lots of things I haven't eaten before but it was all good, and very spicy! The dj played some indian music and some american music but it all kind of had that beat that you just want to dance to. Here we are at our table.



There were also some professional dancers that came to do some choreographed stuff that was neat to see. Look at this little girl dancing at the cocktail hour.


The weekend ended with a great brunch and a long quiet ride home before we were back to reality. Mallory was a baby when we left her and I came home to a big girl with a part down the middle and a bit of a new attitude! She is also about to start walking.






Thanks to Mital and Kristin and their families for a very memorable weekend and thanks to gigi and poppop for watching the kids!!