Life and Times of the Fireflies: Behind the Scenes of an Indian Wedding

Planning a wedding isn't easy. Planning a wedding in a short space of time...even more stressful! Planning an Indian wedding in a short space of time...and you're bound to end up with a few extra grey hairs!! Through the past two months of feverish planning and organising, it crossed my mind that surviving a marriage is a lot like planning a wedding. In the midst of all the chaos, the countless things that didn't quite go our way, the stressful moments...the thing that gets us through, is staying focused on the goal!

Being immersed in a predominantly westernised culture, the way we celebrate weddings has become a fusion of the various elements we are exposed to, while still maintaining all religious protocol and also including the many aspects of our Indian heritage. The exchanging of rings and white wedding, along with various other elements has been incorporated into our celebrations over time, some even choosing to forego some of the traditional elements as well.

The Nikah is the actual wedding ceremony and is performed in line with our Islamic faith. It is conducted by an Imaam and takes place between the Father of the bride and the Groom. While it is not obligatory for the Bride to be present, her consent is required. With my sister's nikah taking place in the morning, it required an early start for all of us in order to get the all important hair and makeup done on time ;-)

The nikah is usually followed by a reception, in this case, a lavish lunch served at one of my favourite venues; Tuscany Gardens. The reception essentially brings both families together to celebrate the occasion of the marriage. With both the my sister and the groom having a large extended family, they decided to allow all the nieces and nephews to partake in the entrance into the venue. The formal function saw the groom's brother as the Master of Ceremonies and included a (very emotional) speech from me as well as a more light hearted speech by my daughter.

After a brief rendezvous around Cape Town for photographs of the couple, it was off to mom's house for dinner followed by the bride's farewell. This is emotional moment marks the bride's departure from her parents' home, where family and friends gather to bid goodbye to the bride and wish her well for the next phase of her life...

While the couple head off on honeymoon, it's back to reality for the rest of us! After a day of glitz and glamour, we all don our aprons and slippers, and help with operation clean up! Here are a few behind the scenes images, once again captured by various family member on their cameras and phones. I'll be sure to share the professional photographs once we get our hands on them, too :-)