Our big fat Indian Wedding: Part 4 - Reception

What's next, we ask ourselves when we wake up on Sunday morning. First we have breakfast, then we take a short walk to the neighboring village. Selfies are inevitable, of course ;-).

It is the time of Sankranthi, a harvest festival, and kites are traditionally flown for the occasion. And so we not only see friendly villagers, but also some children with kites. We also meet a cloth merchant who is only too happy to be photographed on his motorcycle.

Back at the hotel we have to hurry and quickly slip into our wedding outfits. Now starts the reception party.
 
The bride's family and we gather outside the hotel, the atmosphere is almost electrifying: the sun shines brightly and lets the women's dresses glow and sparkle, the men wear a kind of turban on their heads for the celebration and the wind carries music to our ears. Everyone is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the groom. He arrives on horseback, accompanied by drums and loud music, followed by his family members.

He enters the stage together with the celebrating crowd. While only the close family circle was invited the day before (around 300 people), neighbors, friends and business partners are now also present, with more than 1,500 people coming to pay their respects to the bride and groom.

Seating is set up in front of the stage and there is a huge live cooking buffet all around. There are small portions everywhere and so we can try our way through masala, pizza, noodles, panepuri, chaats, paneer and much more.

There is also no shortage of sweets and my beloved Kulchi ice cream is also available :). For better digestion, there is also a pan - betel nut leaves rolled with coconut and dried fruit. It makes our tongues tingle a little, but it tastes good.

We retire to the room for a nap, after all it's already half past three in the afternoon. I'm glad to be able to slip out of the heavy skirt :). It's time for the second last outfit change. Martin and I then sit outside on a sofa in front of the stage while everything around us is efficiently dismantled.