Sobia Rizwan is a British journalist, and this time she chose to write an article about Pakistani weddings, inspired by her cousin's wedding in the USA.
Shehzad Arshad is a confident lawyer from Lahore, who just happened to be attending the same we...
WARNING: Some of the wedding rituals may not represent Islamic rituals, but are cultural rituals that people follow. The characters in this story are not perfect Muslims.
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Bia
Colourful dresses and dupattas were flying around as the dance floor filled with people on the night of Affan and Ayat's mehendi night. The music blared loudly from the DJ stand, causing slight vibrations on the floor. The men, dressed in shalwar kameez and waistcoats, and the ladies dressed in heavy, elegant Pakistani dress and adorned with jewellery mingled in the large banqueting hall as the function continued in full swing.
The stage was decorated in a beautiful mehendi theme, with a large white ottoman with a golden frame placed for the bride and groom, with two similar single chairs on each side. Golden drapes decorated the entire backdrop of the stage, with orange, red and green drapes placed in intervals to emphasise the mehendi function colours. A chain of flowers, ranging from red, purple, pink and white hung across the backdrop. A table was placed in front of the large Ottoman, with baskets containing the ritual mehendi and one containing mithai. Small cushions were placed as a decoration at the foot of the table in various colours, and Turkish style lanterns were placed on one side of the stage. The front side of the stage itself was adorned with small candles in glass containers. The 'dance floor' itself was in a rangoli design, in light blue, orange, pink and yellow colours.
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*Actual stage from my cousin's wedding.
The atmosphere was absolutely beautiful, warm and lively.
Meanwhile, I was having problems of my own. As someone who was considered a bride's sister, me and Affan's female cousins from his father's side, led the way into the hall, with the bride's side throwing rose petals on us. We were followed by the 'bhabis', the aunts, and then Iffat Khalla, the groom's mother. Affan was led in at the end, under a multi-coloured dupatta, decorated with a chain of marigold flowers and tiny fairy lights. In order to successfully get through this, I had taken my shoes off as they seemed to be getting stuck to my lehenga, and left them in an empty room that both the bride's side and groom's side had been using for storage.
And now, halfway through the function, I couldn't find my shoes. When I had went back to retrieve them, the room had been emptied out. I began to have a panic attack as I imagined walking all evening without shoes.
"No, no, no..." I muttered as I searched in the cupboards and the desk in that empty room. Ultimately, I found nothing but hotel supplies.
