By the morning, my henna was set and we were beginning preparations for the party at the new house. Abhijeet got dressed up in his suit and tie and I had a pink sari laid out for me to wear. Two ladies who are family came by to help me prepare and get beautiful for the occasion. I was nervous about what to expect, but looked at this as a good practice for the big reception on December 24th.
We were whisked away (late of course) from the old house to the new house in a car of a family friend decorated with flowers for the occasion. It was very cute. We were greeted by family and a set of drummers at the gate. We did a few traditions at the gate and then entered to begin greeting guests.
After greeting the guests, we were allowed to relax in the back bedroom as the women did traditional dance inside and the men began eating outside. The afternoon passed quickly as I was able to relax a bit with the company of women my age and Abhijeet in the back room. After the dance finished and the drummers left, we went outside for more socializing and eventually we ate with Abhijeet's family. I met several members of both my mother-in-law and father-in-laws family and tried as best as possible to remember who they all were. We got to have my favorite Indian sweet, gulab jamon as part of the meal so I was very pleased with that!
At around 6:00pm we left the party because Abhijeet had a surprise to share with me. Angie (my close friend) had organized my friends and family to treat us to a night at the luxurious Taj Hari Hotel in Jodhpur for a relaxing night that could be our honeymoon amidst the busy celebrations. I was flattered and honored by this amazing gesture and excited to have some time away from the festivities to relax and gear up for more celebration. Thanks to Angie for organizing and everyone who contributed to this gift for a great night of honeymoon during our wedding festivities. We ended the hectic day with a toast of amazing champagne that was sent as a surprise gift from Vikram.
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