THE WEDDING DIARIES - NIKHIL AND SHALINEE

Happy Sunday Everyone! Today I bring you a new diary style blog post, I don't go to many weddings and so I don't think you'll see very many of these but like always whenever something happens that I know I'll want to read back on I blog about it ... and this time it just so happens to be a wedding! Now normally I don't have much involvement in family events but I will always be there for those who show me, my mum and brothers love! My cousin Nikhil and his family are one of those families that very much do and so when the invitation arrived ... a very beautiful invitation I have to say, I knew this would be one those family events that I would want to be at!

The wedding was taking place in London and so we all booked a hotel within short distance from all of the events that were taking place. The first event to take place was the Mehndi Party which we sadly missed due to myself and brothers being ridden with a cold! There was definitely something going around! But we heard all about it the very next day from my mum who did go and it sounded like so much fun! That morning there was a few ceremonies taking place at the Raja residence which we weren't planning to go to but we had got to London by the time the ceremony was supposed to start so we decided to head down! Although we were seriously underdressed haha ... I had ripped jeans on, enough said! I'm really glad we went though as we had a good chance to meet everyone ... I hadn't seen some of these people in ages and so it was nice to catch up with a few of them. A little while into the ceremony me and two of my brothers were asked to take part in one of the sections within the ceremony ... the third brother was the designated photographer haha! Now this may seem silly but it really meant a lot to be asked to take part in something that had such meaning to the wedding, we're not awfully close to our family, but my Mami and Mama have always shown us such love and that really came through with this lovely gesture. Once this part of the ceremony over next came something called the Pithi, now I don't know much about this ceremony but Nikhil ended up covered in a lot of turmeric paste ... it's supposed to make his skin glow! After some food we all headed back to our hotel to get glam for the Sanji! The Sanji is a bit like a party on the eve of the wedding where we all play garba and dandya! We'd decided to go in shirts and waistcoats etc ... but everyone else went for the indian vibe! I felt a little anxious because I really stood out but once the music started and the dandyas were out I had arrived! It was so much fun, a really fun night! After about an hour and a half I was officially shattered! We headed back to our rooms to get some beauty sleep ... boy did we need it! The morning came aound SO fast for us! I can only imagine what it was like for Nikhil and Shalinee, bless them! It was panic stations all around on our floor ... there were so many ladies running from room to room in their sarees, it was hilarious! We ended up just fashioning a little door stop because I had simply had enough with closing and opening my door! Mum had somehow caught our cold, she was not in a good place but she managed to get glam and ready just in time for some photos! Impromptu photoshoot done we quickly headed down to my Mama and Mami's for some more photos before driving down to the wedding venue! It was about a 40 minute drive before we reached this beautiful hotel where the wedding was in full swing! Think music, dancing, drums and LOTS of people! The wedding was absolutely beautiful, both the Bride and Groom looked amazing and they had a room full of love! What more could you want! Shortly after the wedding ceremony came to an end there was another quick photo opportunity before we all headed outside for some canapés and champagne ... yum! About an hour later we all headed back into the hall, which had been transformed for the reception party! The room was filled with these huge round tables for everyone to sit down and have some amazing food! Now this may sound sad but you know when you're on a large table and you want something from the other end, it's just so much drama! But! The tables all had Lazy Susan's so you just turned it to get the food from the other side ... okay, yeah, I just realised how sad that was! Haha!! Once we had eaten some lovely food it was time for the first dance ... it was beautiful, I actually really got emotional! But don't worry because the dance floor opened up to everyone and the dance moves were on fire! We even had a dance off between the grooms and the brides side ... it was a tie, but we definitely had it in the bag! We left at around 7ish, we were pretty tired and just wanted to get a breather before the celebrations continued back at the house! The first thing I did when I got back was take off my suit jacket and put on a comfy cardi! It was like heaven! At around 8ish we headed back to the house for the bride's arrival and some games! I don't really know how to explain the traditional games that they played but they basically had to find a ring in some red water and untie a piece of string on each others hands as quickly as possible ... probably doesn't sound fun but it was!! It was time for some gift giving and another round of photo's before we called it a night! I've probably rambled along in this post a LOT, so I think it's time to wrap things up with some random photos I took on the day of the wedding!

I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone in the family that made us feel so welcome and loved. I had such an amazing time and it meant a lot to be involved in something that is filled with so much love and joy! I wish Nikhil and Shalinee all the best for this amazing journey that they have embarked on! I hope you guys enjoyed this post, sorry again if I rambled on but I really wanted to add to the collection of all the lovely memories I have shared on my blog!