The wedding

The winter may not have officially begun but the temperatures are starting to take a toll on me here in Munich. I'm rather startled by my discomfort in the cold considering I'm quite used to the cooler seasons from where I come from (the North of England) but apparently it's a matter of the "continental climate", something I have only recently been told about. Basically the cold is different here, and harsher, just like the sun in Britain's summers isn't quite the same as that in the Middle East I guess. A painful but necessary discovery.

Well it has been on my mind recently that I haven't quite completed the chronology of my life's events (basically the wedding) and so I thought I'd fulfil that obligation before I actually get back into blogging as I would like to.

The official wedding preparations began as soon as I graduated (or rather as soon as I'd had taken my last exam) and the journey was intense. Organising a wedding has no doubt many ups and downs and when you're trying to please both families, compromises need to be made. My Mum wanted a typically big wedding with perhaps 500+ people whereas my future in-laws were used to much smaller weddings, the type that take place in a living room with about 15 people or less. The compromise was at 200 and the arguments didn't end there. I'm sure everyone who has had a wedding in the house knows it's a shocking ordeal in the name of festivities, happiness and tradition but often when my brother said "this is what it's like for everyone; every house has these problems during a wedding" I responded that "I don't care if it happens to everyone. It doesn't make it acceptable or good practice. It should still be avoided!!"

I did my own henna on my left hand (the right hand in the pic)

The big day soon arrived and my (our) wedding was alhamdulillah one that was executed with lots of care and effort from my siblings and cousins. I slept about 3 hours because I had a bit of a tummy upset the night before, which kept me awake most of the night, and of course a million thoughts just running through my mind. Make-up started at about 6.30am and I was at the hall for about midday (an hour later than I had hoped but the ceremony was a few hours away.

The henna on the top of my hands, the one on the right done by me

Because of the nature of a South Asian nikkah, I was sat in a separate room, in which I would wait until the imam, my family and the witnesses came to conduct my part of the ceremony. Everyone, except two, left to partake in the groom's part of the ceremony in the main hall with all of the guests. It took a lot of waiting and I was eager for the ceremony to be conducted just so that I could get out into the hall and participate in the rest of the day and the events to come. Typically (and we had foreseen this so my temper was somewhat under control) we were running about an hour late because the groom's side arrived late- there was an emergency stop to a supermarket for nappies. This added to my anticipation in the room I was in but before I knew it, I was married and I had to walk in with my family to join my husband on stage.

As soon as we had taken our seats on stage, the imam kindly introduced my sister, and then my sister-in-law and then my brother to present their short speeches, which brought tears to my eyes and most heartwarming. I remember thinking "oh no! I've only just come out on stage, I can't have my make-up ruined straight away". Thankfully my cousin brought me a tissue and the damage was kept to a minimum. After the closing prayer we descended to cut the cake before the wedding breakfast. Just before dessert (though my husband ate some ice cream while standing before moving anywhere) we were whisked away by the photographer for some (rather embarrassing) photos.

The wedding cake was handmade by my dad's sister 

My Mum and her twin sister crocheted the turquoise (and blue) table centres

After several different picture settings my dad came to tell me that we were running even later than before
(as if I was wearing a watch) and we had to head in inside for some final pictures and I found that quite a lot of the guests were beginning to leave. I was rather upset about this because I really did want to walk amongst the guests to speak to my friends and family but unfortunately the timing didn't allow it! :((

The rukhsati was upon us before I knew it and after several hugs and sobs, we got into the black cab to take us to our hotel. My brother accompanied us, as it's the tradition for the brother to escort his sister to the in-law's house, and so we were on our way when the cab stopped and my brother came from the front of the car to sit before us in the back. He broke the news that my overnight bag, which was in the cab, had been stolen just minutes before the rukhsati and since my purse was in my bag, I had to call the bank to cancel my cards.

The famous British black cab 

Thanks to my family, the rest of the evening ran smoothly, even though it must have been chaotic for them to have had to rearrange another overnight bag for me and hosting the many guests at home at the "after party".