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Most weddings have a single ceremony and reception, but we not only had three ceremonies, but also two receptions. The reception for the guests of the Cerejo family was held at Dadar, immediately following the church wedding, and the reception for the guests of the Laghate family was held in Thane two days later.
The Cerejo Get-Together [invitation] That was what my Dad called it, and he has every right to name it his way after all the painstaking arrangements he wonderfully orchestrated. The hall was a stone's throw away from the Church and was part of the school my Mum teaches in - Dr. Antonio DaSilva High School. Dad made sure that the guests had a quick sip and a bite before the reception formally started - specially since many had travelled miles to make it there. Mugdha and I were originally supposed to meet and mingle with our guests for about an hour, specially since Mugdha had never met any of my relatives till then. However, when we got in the wedding car and asked to chauffeur to drive around for a few minutes  to give us time to memorize and rehearse our reply to the toast, he got lost and we ended up at the hall half an hour later. We did meet our guests in the hall, and when Mugdha's family arrived, we made our formal entrance. We had arranged for silly string and snow sprays, but hadn't anticipated that the cans could fall into inexperienced hands. During the bridal march we got a taste of the spray liquid along with a generous spread of gooey suds on our faces when a young cousin held a can a bit too close to our faces. On a side note, cutting our wedding cake was an eye-opener for Mugdha since she refused to believe that the cake was edible after a friend once told her it was actually a block of wood topped with icing! Welcome To Our Family!  The toast is normally given by a person who knows the bride or the groom or both well. In our case, we found the two people who fit the bill best - my parents. My Dad mentioned how his lifelong dream of getting a daughter was finally fulfilled in Mugdha. My parents then sang a welcome song "Welcome To Our Family" which Karlton and I joined in singing. In our reply to the toast, I acknowledged losing my bachelors degree, and waiting to see who would get the master's degree in our marriage! Since our guests didn't know about Mugdha and me till a few months before our wedding, we told them our story in a nutshell. A few minutes later Mugdha and I were on the dance floor dancing to our wedding song - Shania Twain's You're Still The One, and suddenly the words of the song seemed to come alive and ring so true for us - Mugdha seemed a bit nervous with all the attention and her eyes kept flirting away from my loving gaze as I sang to her as we danced. After our song ended, we mingled with and met the guests, going back to centerstage from time to time to hand away the spot prizes that were being handed out. Prizes for the gentleman with the longest hair, the family with most generations present, the couple with the most difference in height and many more.... Just when I thought I had gotten away without embarassing myself, my cousins pulled Mugdha and me on the dance floor during the free style dancing. If you've seen commercials for exercise or aerobics classses, the moves you see in there pretty much cover my dancing steps, and being my wedding and all, I hated the thought of having the video camera rolling while focused in my general direction. They did split Mugdha and me up and when I managed a peek at her group, she was enjoying herself and dancing gracefully too! (Hats off to the video crew for editing most of my footage from the dances). However, when they started playing the music I enjoyed dancing to - the birdie dance (aka chicken dance) and the hokey cokey, it was time for dinner. 
Since Mugdha was frightened and / or embarassed at the thought of the final chairing (the bride and groom, sitting tight on their chairs, are carried on the shoulders of stong guests, who try keep them apart until they finally kiss under the centerpiece), we had a blessing song instead for the two of us. As much as I missed the chairing, I rationalize that kisses will come and go, but blessings will last forever! After grace, we led the attack on dinner, a wonderful spread that we could only pick on, making lunch the only full meal we ate that day. Then on, it was a never ending stream of group portraits with family, relatives and friends - giving us some wonderful memories and an easy way to check the attendance roster!I remember meeting so many people who I remember now more by their outfits than by their names. It was a joyful reception - everyone was dancing and I wish I were too (Lyndon wasn't too enthusiastic about it), until someone finally pulled Lyndon and me on the dance floor and I got to dance! The Laghate Reception [invitation] 
Fast forward to the 30th. The Laghate reception was a full day affair at the "Celebrations" hall in Thane. The Cerejo family, including the latest addition, Mugdha, were once again chauffeured in the SUV from Dadar. The morning part of the reception was for close family and relatives. Mugdha wore a pearl white chanya choli (a three-piece outfit consisting of a blouse, flared long skirt that falls to the ankle and a long scarf), and admit it - after seeing that, it doesn't really matter what I wore, right? Glad I didn't dress up for you then - and only wore my favorite shirt and trousers. There wasn't a lack of entertainment what with her cousins singing, a magician performing, and an enthusiastic game of lotto. Lunch was traditional Maharashtrian, and included a custom where Mugdha had to recite an Ukhaana (a Marathi verse) to me impromptu and then feed me a morsel of food.The fun and games continued after lunch with dumb charades and antakshari(game of singsong). Mugdha had to leave us midway to get her makeup and hair done, and she missed my parents singing to each other and getting all nostalgic - on their son's wedding nonetheless! We lived up to the name of the hall, celebrating and having a good time all morning, soon to become cherished memories. Nikhil (my cousin) and my brother Harshu sang songs and wished us a happy future. From the youngest (my niece) to the eldest (my octogenarian grandma), everyone got prizes at a game of lotto! Just when the game of dumb charades had stirred everyone's attention, it was time for me to go to my other hairdresser, Geeta. This time I wasn't going to let time chase me around. To my surprise, she decked me up in 45 minutes, and even more surprising was the fact that I was satisfied with the quick makeover. Phew! David Blaine in the making...  The actual reception was in the evening, with me back in my suit, while Mugdha wore a rich purple saree. As in a traditional Indian reception, we stood on stage the entire evening, while guests came up wish and speak with us and our parents, and have a group portrait taken. The guests form lines waiting for their turn, and the poor couple (and their parents) have to stand through it all. I have a strong suspicion that David Blaine (the US magician who stood atop a 100-foot pillar for over 35 hours in May, in mid-town Manhattan) trained for this event at Indian weddings! And just as he needed rest and paramedic attention after the feat, the following day I had the runs (diarrhoea), scoring a quarter century over the course of the next day!It really was tiring to meet all the guests in the span of about three hours. I introduced my relatives and friends to Lyndon and he did a pretty decent job remembering most of them. |