I think that it is perfectly shameful that this is only my second post after the wedding. That my blog overall has very few posts is also very shameful, but then.. we'll tackle one thing at a time.
Now, this is as far as I usually get. After this, my mind either goes blank, or I realise I have to wash clothes/do the dishes/clean the house and so on. Since it is one of those nights when I can't get to sleep, whatever I try, here's a post about the wedding..
Like all other grand plans of mine, this one also began with neat lists and to-dos and precise budgets and so on. This was phase 1. Where the thoughts in my head were something like... " Oh, we have to get the perfect tailor!"; "Let's find the perfect green saree for the reception"; "Should we think of a theme for the wedding?"; "Let's go shopping to all the new malls, so we know we have covered everything".
This lasted till exactly one minute into my saree shopping when I saw the unbelievable choice in just one kind of silk in the first shop. Yards and yards and yards of silk to choose from. Colours, patterns, price ranges.. My mum, I think was the only one who truly had the time of her life that day. My sister was disgruntled about the jazzy colour combination and my dad was mostly having nightmares about the bill. As for me, I felt so lost, I could have given Lord Emsworth a run for his money. Ten minutes into this, and the idea of covering all the other malls went right out of the window.
After phase 1, the thoughts in the aforementioned head were mellowed, more stable. phase 2 thoughts were something like "Okay, so I've got all the main clothes, so there's really no need to waste more time in the malls"; "Let me ask Mamta if her tailor will do a decent job"; "Any colour for the reception will do, as long as it is not flashy".
After a few more days of shopping and planning and meeting caterers, contractors, florists, decorators - began phase 3. And phase 3 had only one thought - "Let's be Practical". This lasted the longest, I think. About a couple of months. That's when all the major arrangements fell into place (with the invaluable help of my very dear friend Doofus and her family).
A week or so before the wedding is when phase 4 began. Now this is the phase when the relatives descend on the house and confusion reigns supreme. Now and then there are panic attacks and frequent prayers to various Gods are heard. This phase really does not have many thoughts associated with it. All I remember is smiling at people and fending questions about the boy, his family, where we're planning to stay, what he does, if we've decided on our honeymoon, if I've bought lingerie (!!) and what I'm going to name my kids..
The night before the wedding is when phase 5 settles in. This is "The daze". You are sleep deprived, not allowed to eat till the wedding is over, you have strangers coming and congratulating you and the priests ask you to go over so many rituals you feel like you are in some kind of a drill. The only thought associated with phase 5 is "Do we have the right guy? Ok, let's go."
Among all of these, are moments that you'd like to stay in forever. Like the time my dad oiled my hair after several years; the time right after the wedding when my sister hugged me and cried; the time when my mum had tears in her eyes when they were 'giving me away'; the time when my dad tried so hard not to break down; and finally, the time when after it was all over and we were dead tired, my husband held my hand and smiled at me.
Worth all the tension in the world, I'd say. :)
