a big fat brown wedding: 2009

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Our Big Fat Brown Wedding: Here Comes the Groom

So the portraits had been taken and it was time to start. At least for everyone besides me and my bridesmaids. We sat waiting in the house/changing area while everyone got to see the groom's procession on the elephant. I'm so sad I never even saw the elephant in real life and only through pictures. I heard she was very sweet and well mannered though.

Here is Tai the sweet 8,800 pound elephant from Have Trunk Will Travel.

Isn't she pretty?

And one of my favorite pictures of Mr. Margarita from the wedding. His eyes are buggin out!

Our ring bearer clearly was not pleased at the idea of getting on this elephant either.

Thankfully they both got over their fears and up they went. Apparently our ring bearer the entire time kept saying "Daddy look at me!" over and over again.

Things got a very delayed at this point because they were waiting on the dhol players who never showed up. Our awesome DJ, Parag, saved the day and busted out his portable speaker system to get the party started.

The grooms side arrives to the wedding singing and dancing

Meanwhile my family was nervously waiting to greet them. This is an Indian tradition so they were worried about messing everything up.

My gorgeous sister in law reacting to Mr. Margarita on the elephant

My mom greets Mr. Margarita

You'll see a lot of feeding during the wedding

Then the garlanding process started. If you'd like to read more about the background/significance of all of this you can visit my posts (1, 2, 3) on our Buddhist/Hindu ceremony.

Our dad's

My oldest brother and Mr. Marg's grandfather

Our grandmothers

Our moms

Our brothers

After all the exchanging of garlands and some mingling, the boys made their way to the mandap/poruwa. Don't they look so handsome and rugged here?

Then the Hindu priest, Mr. Margarita, and his parents began the Ganesh puja while I got ready to make my entrance.

This whole process took about 1.5 hours when it was supposed to last a maximum of 1 hour. I was a ball of nerves waiting because I had absolutely no idea what was going on and I couldn't see anything from the changing area. My bridesmaids tried to keep me calm while my flowergirls were playing and eating all that candy I put in their little suitcases.

Me and my three nieces hanging out

*picture taken by a friend

Here's my baby niece looking all cute and mischievous.

Next up is walking up the aisle and the ceremony (finally!).

All pictures unless otherwise noted by the always fabulous Dina Douglass of Andrena Photography.

Already blogged:

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Our Big Fat Brown Wedding: It's Portrait Time

After we got all pretty, we headed over to Saddlerock Ranch to take portraits. Mr. Margarita was already there taking pictures with his family and I really didn't want to see him before the ceremony so we had a specific time I was supposed to get there. Naturally we were late though so we missed that window of time. I was kind of freaking out and I lost it a little on my Mom because she took forever getting ready which is part of what made us late. It was a total bridezilla moment and in retrospect I feel horrible about it. We showed up to the site and had to coordinate with my coordinator (hehe) Mary so I wouldn't see Mr. Marg. She was the one who calmed everything down and actually told me to apologize to my Mom. I'm SO glad she did because I would have felt way worse being a brat after all my parents gave me on my wedding day and of course my 26 years of life prior to that day. Anyway, I digress...

So, here are some of Mr. Margarita's family portraits they took before we got to Saddlerock.

Mr. Marg with his parents

Mr. Marg and his handsome brother

Mr. Marg and his groomsmen posing in front of the many random wagons on site.

Mr. Marg portraits

The gorgeous ladies on Mr. Margarita's side of the family - his mom, four aunts, grandmother and cousin.

And now my family/bridal party portraits...

First up the bridesmaids. This is me and my girls trying to laugh on cue...

Then it was time for some pictures with my parents

Then pictures with the whole immediate family

Then I started to take portraits with just my Dad. I was VERY emotional on my wedding day and probably for the entire month leading up to it. After this picture, I totally lost it and we both started crying. I'm really close to my Dad and out of my parents, he's the more emotional one.

I'm an ugly crier and my wedding day was no exception. Even though I look crazy in this picture , I love it because it reminds me of how special that moment with my Dad was. He's shaking his finger at me telling me not to be upset because he's a nagger even through the tears.

After portraits with my Dad, I took a few pictures with my nieces who were so nervous for some reason they forgot how to smile. My baby niece decided she didn't want any part of it so she pulled off her flower halo, threw her flowergirl basket and threw a tantrum so sadly she's not in any of these.

Then we took a zillion bride portraits

I have a ton of bridal portraits at the hotel and before the ceremony but I honestly don't know what to do them. Don't get me wrong I love them and my photographer did an incredible job but it feels weird to have so many pictures of myself.

Here's some bridal portraits from the hotel.

I know that was probably boring since portrait posts really aren't all that exciting. Up next is the Baarat (aka groom's procession), and the garlanding/welcoming of Mr. Margarita's family.

Already blogged:

All pictures taken by the uber talented Dina Douglass of Andrena Photography.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Our Big Fat Brown Wedding: Getting Pretty

I've shown you some details and our wedding day outfits but I really haven't been sure where to go from there. I'm going to do this as a chronological story of the day because thats the only thing that makes sense to me. I know its not a shocking revelation and I should have come to this a long time ago. I blame the heat for my slowness. My goal is to finish all our recaps before our one year wedding anniversary (which is in 24 days!) though so you're gonna be getting a whole lot o Margarita in the next few weeks.

As usual the day started out getting pretty with my lovely family, bridal party and friends. There were a lot of people but luckily the bridal suite was massive so everyone got ready in the huge dining/living room area and I got to have my own space in the bedroom. I was full of anxiety the morning of the wedding. I just knew we were going to be late no matter what time we started getting ready (of course we were). Mr.Margarita's family is incredibly punctual and usually 5 minutes early for things. My family is all scatterbrained and crazy and runs a minimum of 30 minutes late for everything.

On top of thatI think many brides must feel anxiety for a bunch of different reasons and I felt like there were a million things I was forgetting and my control freak nature was having a hard time leaving all the details to my coordinator. Of course my fantabulous wedding coordinator Mary Sushinski orchestrated everything beautifully but it didn't stop me from holding this coffee with a ninja death grip. Actually it looks like a peaceful picture, but thats not how I remember it...

Oscar Naranjo of Ziba Beauty did my hair and my makeup. He is a makeup god. Also, airbrushing is totally worth the investment.

Closeup of the make up:

I was skeptical about a man putting on my sari but he did a great job! He's gonna kill me for posting this but I think he looks awesome and like a pirate (which I love). Plus his goofiness lightened my mood and made me feel less stressed.

After getting dressed and pretty, Oscar put on my insanely heavy veil and pinned some gardenias in my hair as a final touch (courtesy of M's Flowers)

Meanwhile everyone else was getting ready. Here's Bridesmaids B and N getting ready and trying to lace up the sari blouse. My mom and I designed these really elaborate backless bridesmaids blouses that were insane to get on and off.

*picture taken by friends

My friends taking over the bathroom to get ready:

*picture taken by friends

My sis in law getting her hair did:

*picture taken by friends

My gorgeous Mom all dolled up:

My flowergirls were hanging out and guarding their personalized suitcases. I filled them with candy and games to keep them occupied during the very long day.

*picture taken by friends

The flowergirls were starting to wilt after a few hours of getting ready. My poor niece looks so pooped here.

While all of the ladies were getting ready, Mr Marg and his groomsmen were getting pretty too. Sadly we don't have many pictures of him getting ready in the morning since his day started with a lot of religious ceremonies early in the morning. Our photographer did get some shots at the ranch putting the final touches on his ensemble.

Groomsman S and Best Man N trying to put the turban on correctly: