Crashing the Bollywood Wedding

Tie and Heels ... how do you put these on again?

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Last year we had dinner with a good friend of ours, Vik, and his cousin Varun. We told Varun about our year off and he was visibly dissapointed that our original plans did not include his home country India.

So like the Indian Godfather Varun is, he made us an offer we couldn't refuse. He invited us to attend his brother's wedding to be held in Delhi in the coming new year. The decision was a no brainer. We put India on our route and a year later we arrived at Varun's doorstep ready to crash an Indian wedding.

We had a vague idea of what an Indian wedding would be like. Lots of people, lots of ceremonies and, of course, lots and lots of dancing. Blame those insane Bollywood movies but all I could see in my head was the bridal party dancing in sync towards me and doing moves that resembled screwing in lightbulbs.

Varun, the Godfather of Bollywood, busting out his moves.

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If it was going to be such a spectacle then Jenn and I could at least dress up a little and look the part. Since we only had grubby travelling clothes we needed to get our hands on some formal wear. Enter our good friends Ruwan and Vik (aka Mules #2). Not only would these guys be coming all the way from Canada to attend the wedding but they would also be lugging a suitcase full of our suits and dresses. Thanks again guys.

Jenn and I arrived in Mumbai and took the train north to Delhi with a little apprehension. Travellers we met on the road recounted their horror stories of India - pickpockets, touts, dire in-your-face poverty and the claustrophobic massiveness of 1.1 billion people. But slowly we realized that India wasn't the horrendous monster that it was made out to be. I guess the three months in Nepal lessened the culture shock.

Bollywood Wedding .. starring Vikas and Varun

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The wedding took place over three days in Delhi. And for three days it was a odd return to the familiarity of our Western comforts as we shacked up in a swanky 4 star hotel. We had room service. We didn't need to do our laundry in the washroom sink. I wore a tie and Jenn wore heels. We were absolutely spoiled by the hospitality of Varun and his family.

We were told that the first night would be the engagement party. The second night would be a party held for the groom by the groom's family. And the final night would be the actual wedding.

And not one of these events dissapointed my Bollywood stereotype. There were beautiful flowing sarees of every shade of colour, intricate henna on the hands, spicy mouth burning Indian curries and of course dance moves that resembled screwing in lightbulbs.

Abishek, the groom, on his horse.

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By far, the wedding night was the most spectacular. The entire wedding party paraded through the streets and the groom followed behind us riding a large white stallion. There was an ear splitting brass band and night was lite up by portable chandelier lamps. This entire procession took an two hours to parade the groom all the way into a huge outdoor banquet hall. On 12 am, after a long night of celebration, the bride and groom were officially married.

The wedding was by far, one of the most extravagant, loud, crazy weddings we've been too. Our thanks goes out to the Girdhar and Kapoor family for showing us such overwhelming generosity.

Cheers, Lenny and Jenn