Riddle me this.. how do you get over a hundred invitations addressed and sealed?
Answer: Invite all the family over for dinner, make up a ceremony in the moment to bless the invitations, and then have everybody seal and address them before they leave.
What? Wasn't the answer obvious? ;) Here are some pictures from the recent Wedding Invitation Ceremony we had at the house. This was my second family ceremony I have experienced. The first was Deepal and my engagement ceremony. In both cases there is a high degree of somewhat-organized chaos. There's a lot of discussion and argument about what to do and how to do it and when to do it and who does what.
These are pictures of the cousins hanging out and talking while the aunts and uncles talk in the living room. We are still waiting for everyone to arrive. This is Gaurav, Anu, Hema, (all brother and sisters) and Deepal and I.
Renu Kaki (Aunt Renu) is mixing the red stuff to make tikkas (the red dots on foreheads) and to use on the envelopes for the blessing:
Pa is using the red stuff to draw a symbol on one of the envelopes.
Then he will sprinkle water and rice on it:
No one really explained to me why we tied red thread around our wrists except to say that it was a special sacred thread used for those who are married or getting married. Everyone had the thread tied on their wrist even those who weren't engaged, so I guess the intention to get married anytime in the future was also valid for wearing it. ;) Here Anu is tying the thread around Pa's wrist:
No ceremony is complete without everyone getting tikkas:
Here the aunts are singing out of their Jain prayer book:
Then after a few ceremonial addresses written, everyone grabs a red pen and starts addressing the invitations:
Ok, I'm going to try to upload a video for the first time. This video is the ceremony at probably it's most organized moment. The woman are praying/singing, while also sometimes gesturing and telling the men what to do:
Answer: Invite all the family over for dinner, make up a ceremony in the moment to bless the invitations, and then have everybody seal and address them before they leave.
What? Wasn't the answer obvious? ;) Here are some pictures from the recent Wedding Invitation Ceremony we had at the house. This was my second family ceremony I have experienced. The first was Deepal and my engagement ceremony. In both cases there is a high degree of somewhat-organized chaos. There's a lot of discussion and argument about what to do and how to do it and when to do it and who does what.
These are pictures of the cousins hanging out and talking while the aunts and uncles talk in the living room. We are still waiting for everyone to arrive. This is Gaurav, Anu, Hema, (all brother and sisters) and Deepal and I.
Renu Kaki (Aunt Renu) is mixing the red stuff to make tikkas (the red dots on foreheads) and to use on the envelopes for the blessing:
Pa is using the red stuff to draw a symbol on one of the envelopes.
Then he will sprinkle water and rice on it:
No one really explained to me why we tied red thread around our wrists except to say that it was a special sacred thread used for those who are married or getting married. Everyone had the thread tied on their wrist even those who weren't engaged, so I guess the intention to get married anytime in the future was also valid for wearing it. ;) Here Anu is tying the thread around Pa's wrist:
No ceremony is complete without everyone getting tikkas:
Here the aunts are singing out of their Jain prayer book:
Then after a few ceremonial addresses written, everyone grabs a red pen and starts addressing the invitations:
Ok, I'm going to try to upload a video for the first time. This video is the ceremony at probably it's most organized moment. The woman are praying/singing, while also sometimes gesturing and telling the men what to do:
Those look beautiful! Aaaand super intricate. I'm glad you had help!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, they're very different from invitations in the states. I made an invitation for the U.S. wedding on my computer and Deepal thought it looked very sedate. Apparently red, orange, and yellow are the party colors in India. Not the blue with flowers that I chose.
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha! Sedate just doesn't come to mind when I think of you. :)
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