My Big Fat Indian Wedding

 

I am a month overdue with this post because I was able to get a lot of writing work but also had a lot of family commitments and being pregnant is hard. Hopefully, I can get another post out this month to keep you busy reading.

The Husband and I got registered with a small ceremony in our backyard on 22 April 2021, because of COVID. We wanted to start a family and waiting was not an option anymore. We had always planned on two weddings to celebrate the occasion with friends and family in Pietermaritzburg and Cape Town.

Covid stopped a fantastic wedding proposal in Prague but we still had an epic one that incorporated a beautiful hike and the Husband making The Luggage and engagement ring. So it ended up being less expensive and more us. It would have been our first overseas trip together and with the baby on the way, this dream will have to wait a few more years.

Covid also stopped both weddings hence the rustic backyard wedding and registration. But we have some lovely pictures from that day and enjoyed the experience regardless.

This year (2022), as things started to get a tad safer it became clear that wedding plans needed to commence yet again and so in January, I decided it was time for the traditional Tamil wedding in Pietermaritzburg.

Video calls were made, more serious budgeting and saving began, a Pinterest board was made and a guest list was created. Luckily we live in a world of technology so I didn't have to be physically present in Pietermaritzburg for any of it. Kinda, mostly it made things easier but Pietermaritzburg is a small town and a little stuck with what it's used to, so there was some struggle.

All weddings, in general, are stressful and this was no exception because of :

• All the planning daily amongst work and home commitments
• Chatting with suppliers and trying to get them to understand you
• Trying to get people to RSVP which seems to be a foreign concept for some reason
• And generally trying to not let anyone take over the planning

All this is a lot of work and emotional effort especially as we had also started IVF so it was even harder to remain calm and collected throughout the process. That journey will be a blog post all on its own.

There were incredible perks to the planning though, getting to talk to people in my family and long-lost friends after all these years was wonderful. Getting connected that way and being filled with wonderful memories was a lovely experience. It is the reason I regret nothing except maybe needing a wedding planner that did everything for me during the week of and the day of the wedding so I could relax.

All in all, things went as planned, mostly and we enjoyed ourselves and our guests enjoyed themselves and it was and will be memorable to so many.

Some of the highlights included:

• Decorating exactly the way I wanted with all the geeky things
• Finding out that the first blood test confirmed I was pregnant
• My mum made me tear up with her look of absolute love and comments about how beautiful I looked
• The epic picture we got to take outside my childhood home
• Walking into the Boba Fett theme song
• Seeing many people after a long time
• The memories of an epic afternoon and evening filled with laughter, food, and dancing
• The speeches were heartwarming and mostly geeky
• Cutting a fantastic Dr Who cake
• The husband braved mostly lasting the first dance which is huge given his stage fright
• Doing the Rumba with my mum and remembering how

I am glad I had the opportunity to experience this event from start to finish and am grateful to my family for the help and support.

It was mostly a love letter to my parents and a nod to my family from someone that lives far away and keeps mostly to herself. 

We are all stories, in the end, just make it a good one.

The Doctor - Matt Smith