Alana's Wedding part 1: Mhendi Party

Last night I went to Alana's Mhendi party (am I spelling that right, Nyron?). Nyron picked me up after work and we first went to buy bangles to wear with my sari for the reception, then he dropped me off at his place and left, because the Mhendi party is for women only! It's like a bachelorette party, except there are no strippers.

Before we left, I asked Nyron if what I was wearing was ok or if I should change. I've been relying quite heavily on Nyron's advice for this sort of thing lately because I don't know the customs for a Muslim wedding or the extent to his parents' conservativeness, so when he said "you might get henna on it, so just put on a t-shirt" I had no reason to doubt his judgement. However, when we arrived and his mother opened the door in a lovely creamy yellow pants suit I started to wonder. When I saw his sister in a gorgeous green dress talking about how she just got her hair professionaly styled, I knew I was officially under dressed. As soon as the door shut behind Nyron his mom turned to me and said, "let's get you something to wear". Luckily we're about the same size and this is what I ended up in:


These suits are really very comfortable.

All of his aunts said how lovely I looked, even though most of them wore Western dresses.

I was a little akward at first since I didn't know many people there, but soon there were so many people that it didn't matter. So many people! The house was full of women and a few children. The groom, Ismail's, family soon showed up and I was no longer the only person who didn't know anyone, so I got to mingle, see some of the women dance, and watch henna being done. Of course, I got henna done, too (see above picture, I'm having a hard time getting this uploading software to work).

The party was fun, and a small sneak preview of what the reception will be like (the reception will be segregated, so it'll be me and all the women-folk once more).

o( )__