Amy in India: Chandigarh - Wedding festivities: Main event!

After we all got ready, we headed down the street to the hotel where we had been having all the other wedding festivities. N was sent away to the venue with her shadow (sort of like a bridesmaid, but I really have no idea). I believe this part was just for photos.

A and his sister posing for a photo

After posing for some photos, we all jumped in cars and drove about 20 or 30 minutes to a venue called the Oasis. None of us were prepared for the event that was about to happen. We arrived at the venue, and it was spectacularly large and ornate.

The entrance to The Oasis

Decorations at the entrance

Us at the entrance to The Oasis

One of the outdoor seating areas

The inside of the venue

From left to right: One of the many tv screens showing live video of the event, a professional photographer to take a picture of you, and the entrance to the inside.

To the left is a giant tent, in the center is where they were printing and framing photos on the spot. There is also a boom camera towards the left to film the event. To the right are the snack stations.

The outdoor tent was huge. It's hard to capture how big just the tent was in the photo.

There were several photographers and videographers, including a sports style boom camera. There were a ton of waiters serving a ton of different types of appetizers and drinks. In addition there were snack trolleys dotted around the venue, as well as a dozen additional snack stations.

Indian taco appetizer

Pani puri - a common street snack which is a fried shell filled with a mixture of flavored water

Snack station - some sort of pancake

Another snack station

Meat snack station

BBQ chicken snack station

After we hung out and ate and drank for a while, we all went out on the street. At that point, A got on a white horse with a little boy, and as he processed through the street, people danced in front of him. There was also a band full of horns and drums playing the entire time. This procession moved very slowly as people had to dance a lot.

The band before the celebration started

The crowd dancing in front of the horse

A on the horse

After reaching the entrance to The Oasis, more ceremonies happened. I'm not sure exactly how many, but at some point the men exchanged marigold necklaces with each other and then the women. We exchanged necklaces with someone on the other side. So if you were with the groom, you exchanged with someone with the bride. You would dance, exchange the flower necklaces, then hug.

Joel being lifted up after exchanging his necklace

Me exchanging a necklace

After that, A got off the horse and walked in a procession to the giant stage. The giant stage had four people on it who peformed dances.

The stage

After that, a procession started to get the bride who had no been a part of the horse procession or marigold exchanges. The bride then had her own procession to the back of the stage.

The bride's procession

After the bride and groom were both behind the stage, they were lifted up to the top on a platform that was cranked.

The bride and groom rose up from behind the stage

The bride and groom exchanging their own flower necklaces

At this point, the family and close friends of the bride and groom got up on the stage and danced. There were also millions of rose petals being shot in the air. There was at least a couple inches of rose petals covering the ground by the end.

Rose petals in the air

At this point, the ceremonies stopped for a while and the guests took a break. At some point we all went inside to eat dinner. There were dozens of dishes to choose from, and several desserts.

The bride and groom

Joel

The bride and groom sat for more pictures with their shadows

At about 2am A reminded me that he and N were not actually married yet, and that we had another hour. There was one final ceremony where the bride and groom were actually married. This involved the priest again as well as purifying and walking around a fire.