Marwadi wedding - my first view of an Indian marriage ceremony

So last wednesday I attended my first indian wedding! the son of one of the rotarians in my club was getting married. Its a giant affair when someone is getting married in India. At this wedding there was around 1600 guests (if i got it right?). The buffet offered all you could ever wish for - there is one photo of the giant food area (INSANE!!!)... First I went to the smaller procession in the afternoon, the was a big band playing and a small wagon with giant loudspeaker spitting out hindi songs non-stop! Everyone was decked up and dancing on the street. The bridesgrooms family was handing out money too everyone while dancing (think that it is supposed to be propherous for the newlyweds). The groom himself was placed on a horse in the back, far away from all the fun, and the bride wasnt even here (she was at the actual venue getting ready)

Then we went home and picked up Kalpana, the wife of the president of my rotaryclub -they were the ones who took me there. and went straight to the giant hotel in Juhu where the actual wedding were to take place.







The sun was setting and still people were dancing. When it had darkened sufficiently, about 30 indian came with beautiful lamps/lanterns that they kept on their heads forming a human streetlighting as the frame of the party. It took us 3 hours too walk 150 meter to the entrance of the actual marriagehall(or actually it was outside). A giant area with red carpets on the ground a big beautifully decorated stage, white chair, tables and sofas nicely spread over the area, a big buffet and hundreds of servants and waiters walking around taking care of everything. After a while the bride and groom arrived and they walked to the stage with each their families and exchanges a long necklace made from flowers (this is the symbol that you're married - like exchanging rings in cristianity). Then the couple had to stand on the stage for hours posing for photos with more than one and a half thousand guests...






Late at night 3-4 o'clock they will sit for the pooja (religious ceremony) and not long before the sun rises they will officially be declared married by the hindu priest.