When marriages are made in Bhoologam... - "It's a Groom's thing!"

Let's not leave the groom alone! After all he's responsible for half the wedding and half the marriage itself!

The worst nightmare for the groom (next to saying "Yes" to the girl) is shopping for the wedding! Ever thought of what all goes into his head? Here goes a partial list....

1. I hate shopping!
2. I get to wear only a white colour boring dhoti for 80% of the wedding, while she gets a saree of each colour, and two for each occasion!
3. I hate shopping! It's such a boring activity!
4. Thanks to the concept of Reception, I get to wear something other than a Dhoti!
5. The total count of clothes stands at 5:9 (groom:bride)! (Is anybody fighting for Mens' equality?)
6. I hate shopping! How do girls do it all the time?
7. I am least bothered about the dhotis... the mothers would get them right! (Yea, how much can I think for a white dhoti with a red and green border?)
8. I hate shopping! I do believe it hard!
9. What? I cant's get my wedding clothes before she gets her sarees? Damn!
10. I hate shopping! I don't get bored of saying it! I get bored shopping!
11. I thought I only had 4 colours (white, half white, blue, grey) to choose from, now that she's got a saree of her dreams, I get to choose the only colour that complements and supplements her saree! (Ofcourse, white!)
12. I hate shopping! There's not much I can do about it!
13. She shops for me! (Ok, this is a blessing in disguise, and am not complaining)
14. I hate shopping! I don't get to shop for either of us!
15. I don't have the time to shop! She had 4 months and I get 4 hours? (She is so going to say I am to be blamed!)
16. I hate shopping! Let's get done with it...
17. I want to look like a prince! But I don't want those expensive clothes!
18. I hate shopping! Too much to think!
19. Ok, I need to get two sets of expensive garments, she will select them, I need to try them out and approve of her selection and wear them as prescribed by her... That'll make me look perfect and more importantly relieved! (She happy, me relieved!)
20. I hate shopping! But now I know what's the best thing about getting married!
21. ......
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When marriages are made in Bhoologam... - "You are invited!"

Trust me when I say inviting people are the best part of a wedding (yes,
way better than shopping, saree shopping in particular, no matter how crazy about sarees you can get!) And nothing matches the joy you get on inviting people in person :)

We (roughly around now, the bride and groom start using the two letters more than the single letter previously religiously used!) bang our heads to come out with the most unique invite ever! (yes, every wedding invite is unique and very precious to that particular bride and groom!) And as for parents, every invite is a template, there's a red, there's a yellow, the wordings have been pre-decided centuries back by ancestors, and the only unique aspect it the actual names alone! (I totally adore the traditional yellow invite, and learnt a lot from that parchment myself!)

Coming down to the era of web invites (e-vites as my brother would force me into calling it!), from websites, to micro sites to scanned invites, the thought process never stops... More importantly, people brush up their English Literature from school and college promptly to get all the wedding vows, wedding verses, love messages and love poems, sonnets, couplets and

doughnuts in place! Imagination goes out on the air and what comes out it what one loves to see as their own wedding invite for ages to come and nothing shall minuscule the joy of inviting near and dear ones with the best of their works!

Deviating a little and making this post a little specific to my wedding, I hereby share the making of my wedding invite.... snippets from behind the scenes!

1) All of us know it's a perfectly arranged marriage, still we explored the option of eloping!!! (I had this dialogue rehearsed right from the time the first version was out!)

2) We even tried getting converted into the other half of Tam-Brahms, so that we don't have to change the invite further!

3) But finally, we knew we can't change and ended up being the real ourselves!!!

4) Not to forget what we believe in, when we say it the TamBrahmRage ishtyle....

This being brought out in public, wondering what would have gone behind the scenes of the hundreds of wedding invites I've seen over years... am sure there is a story behind each one of them!!!

And once again, we, Ram and I, can't wait to see you all at the wedding :)

When marriages are made in Bhoologam... - "Sarees all the way!"

Remember Rukmini's kalyanam? I might (not) be over exaggerating when I say "Saree(s) are more important in the wedding than the groom" (Disclaimer #1: Definitely not the case in my wedding, that's around the corner! Disclaimer #2: Hubby-to-be rocks! Disclaimer #3: End of Disclaimers...).

It's not just the groom who gets intimidated by a six yard silk saree (an additional 3 yards incase of a Tam-Brahm, of which we can talk in length a lil later!), it is also the entire family and friends circle! Literally every member gets to decide (with totally guided assistance from the bride herself) on what to wear (rather what not to wear) based on what the bride wears! It's not just the groom's attire, but also the wedding hall decorations, floral arrangements, garlands and a whole bunch of wedding planning that totally and entirely depends on the bride's saree(s)! (Gosh, I am so lucky to be on the luckier side :P) Come on, it's nice to have the right contrast on the wedding photograph you are going to look at for ages to come!!!

This being said, none should have a doubt as to why "Wedding Saree(s) Shopping" is the mother of all shopping and kick-starts the wedding prep! The purchasing of the saree(s) involves more religious sentiments than the wedding itself! There needs to be the right day (early enough to get the blouses stitched on time), right time (all the 7 planets as per astrology and the 2 shadow planets need to get in perfect sync and help the cause), right shopping party (essentially every female member in both the families, including kids and pets and one male member to accompany them, handle the cash and carry the bags), consensus on the right shop (between the families), consensus on the colours (inside the bride's ever-confused head), bride's patience to get every saree draped around (and MMS/ e-mail the trial pic to the rest of the deciding party who couldn't make it to the shop!) and more importantly consensus on the final saree (or set of sarees)! Phew!

Did I mention a nine-yard saree somewhere above? That has a few more checks before it can become the bride's... All the right things above have to be doubly right and all the consensus should be doubly strong!

Finally when all the sarees are in place and the bride, hence the groom and also both the families are happy, that's when we all say in chorus "Let rest of the wedding prep begin!"