Featured Wedding: Ronak & Prexa (Part I)

I thought the best way to start out my first blog post is with a wedding. And it's just not any wedding, it's a close family member. This would be my husband's, Hemal's first cousin, Prexa.

For her wedding, it's a very traditional, Indian wedding that takes place on American soil. If this wedding were set in India, it probably would be a week long affair that would include a whole town filled with thousands of people. However for this event, it was only 3 days of festivities, and it began on July 9th, a Thursday evening with her Mehndi party.

Mehndi (also known as Henna) is a traditional art form that adorns the bride's hands and feet. It is also practiced and enjoyed by close family and friends on the bride's side to celebrate this auspicious occasion.

The Mehndi party took place in the bride's parents home in their basement. As you can see, it doesn't look like the normal basement. The family decorated the walls with teal and lime green Indian fabrics to create a warm atmosphere almost reminiscent of a Moroccan boudoir.

The Mehndi that was applied to Prexa's hands and feet took several hours due to the intricacy of the pattern. Most of Mehndi designs are composed of floral and geometric shapes along with symbols of India – the peacock (the national bird), the lotus flower (the national flower), and an elephant/Ganesh with its trunk raised (a symbol of good luck).

Typically, the Mehndi party is a woman only event, but the boys just couldn't leave the women alone. Featured below is Sandip, Prexa's younger brother, my husband, Hemal, and Nirmal, Hemal's brother.

In this picture, is Prexa's younger sister, Megha, in the light teal blue, and her mom, Hemlata, in the yellow and pink attire.

And here we get to see a full body picture of Prexa with all her Mehndi on. The designs are just sooo beautiful and very detailed. Doesn't she look beautiful?