A wedding to remember...

Wednesday one of our good friends got married. In the US we have times that seem normal for our weddings - they are usually in the afternoon or in the evening. Well, in India they base the time of their ceremony on how the stars align on a particular day. This results in some obscure wedding times. Ramya's wedding started at 8:30 in the morning and it was not the craziest time we have heard of people having their ceremonies.

Another huge difference in the marriages is that the ceremony lasts for days. Because of this - thousands of people attend but everyone is much more casual even as the ceremony is happening. The entire thing feels more like a wedding reception even though the bride and groom are in the middle of their vows.

Ramya's family is very wealthy and they go all out for events. They have made us feel very welcome in India by inviting us for holidays and ceremonies - if you know someone from another country invite them over for a holiday - it would seriously mean the world to them- it has to us!! Her wedding was the most expensive and extravagant wedding I have ever been to. Here are a few pics...

1. It was very windy.
2. I forgot until that morning that I didn't know how to put on a saree. I had to run over and ring my next door neighbor's doorbell at 7:30 in the morning for help....ahhhh!!
3. They had the entrance to a nice hotel build to look like the entrance to a Hindu temple just for her wedding.

This is me with one of my friends. Isn't her saree beautiful!! It is hard for us to tell but there are ever changing trends when it comes to Indian traditional wear just like our clothes!

This is the set that was constructed just for the wedding. It was beautiful. Just the set cost over $100,000 to build and her family does not want it to be used again for anything. Wow, I kept thinking, "that could have bought Stephen and I a house."

Becca, Brittany and I in Stephen's favorite room... the huge buffet!! They had all of our favorite Indian foods and some American treats like Rice Krispies, kiwi and tons of mango!!
I love this picture of the wedding band!! A good wedding has to have good music = )
This is Ramya and her husband!! Isn't she beautiful!! They are going to be moving to Arizona in August. I hope they will come celebrate an American holiday with us sometime!
Stephen and I simply asked a guy to take our picture together on the stage... apparently he was a trained photographer and insisted that we take one like this...I think it is just hilarious because Indians will often boss you around when it comes to stuff that doesn't matter.