After an exciting evening and a semi-restless night (because of the mehndhi smell), I woke up bright and early for my vidhi. 

The vidhi is a series of religious ceremonies that take place before the wedding.  Traditionally, the bride and the groom each has their own.

My vidhi started at 9:30 am with a ceremony led by my cousin and his wife.

As you can tell, everyone looks soo excited.  Ha!  The thing about these ceremonies is that they last forever, and sometimes it’s hard to keep your head in the game!  But I was definitely paying attention…no worries!

The next ceremony involved me and all of the female family members that were in attendance.  The ceremony is specifically called the pithi.  I’m sure there’s a complex explanation out there describing exactly what it’s all about, but I like to think of it as the ceremony to "purify" and bless the bride (or groom).  As the pictures will show, the purifying comes in the form of a turmeric paste that everyone puts on exposed parts of the bride’s body. 

This was also a very emotional ceremony for me.  As soon as my mom came to put the paste on me, I burst into tears.  I think it was during this ceremony that it finally hit me that I was getting married. 

The third and final ceremony is led by the bride’s (or groom’s) parents. 

After that ceremony, it was time for lunch.  I ate a little bit, took a shower, and got ready for my hair appointment because the garba was that night.

Next up: garba recap!

Are you an emotional wreck at weddings?  I’m happy to report that I was a lot better than I thought I would be.  The tears did come, but they were infrequent.  Go me!