Marriage and Other New Experiences

 Friday morning dawned bright and early, with Angel and I at the outdoor market. He was buying our usual weekly supply of veggies and fruit and chicken--I was perusing the flower selection.

There's a first time for everything, and this is the first time that I was tasked with the responsibility of creating a bridal bouquet. I didn't even carry real flowers at my own wedding (if I had, it probably would have been a homemade bouquet), but this Wednesday, two days before the big event, my friend's mom called and asked if I could make the bridal bouquet. She didn't give any preferred colors or flowers...which is good, because it's hard to predict the flower selection at market on any given day. I decided to go with "colorful" as a safe theme, and picked out 4 different kinds.

The best way to know you're attending a wedding for a very old friend is when you're given work assignments to complete. Getting married is a group project, you know. The last marriage ceremony we attended, last August, we were part of the bride's 'family.' This time, we were there for the groom's side.

This is a friendship that spans more than a decade. For proof of the longevity of this association, I dug into the archives and found this photo of us having steamboat with Suku in 2009. Anna's changed more than all of the rest of us combined, though.

Once the flowers were ready, we were headed out in our finest for the marriage registration office. They wanted to be the first marriage of the day, so that we didn't have to wait in line, which means arriving promptly at the 9 a.m. opening time before any other couples arrive.

But how shall I keep the flowers hydrated during the car ride? A mug with an inspirational slogan seems just about perfect.

My friend's lovely bride had woken up even earlier than us to get ready--but she confided that she hadn't really slept last night, anyway, due to the excitement.

It took several opinions and several sets of hands to get the cuff-links and sleeves arranged just the way we wanted them. You can see my opinionated index finger in the foreground.

The groom's mother. At one point, she introduced my mom to her nephew with, "And this is my son's adopted mother."

That explains why, at a small family wedding at the legal registration office, approximately 1/3rd of the attendees are American.

Reciting vows and signing the marriage certificate. Which, incidentally, I ended up holding onto at one point after the wedding. I gently suggested to the newlyweds they might not want to let just anyone (persons named Rachel included) hold onto that very important piece of paper.

That smile.

The ring was a tight fit. No wedding ceremony would be complete without a few laughs, right?

After the ceremony was completed, we all convened at an Indian restaurant for breakfast. Surprisingly, considering that we consider ourselves experts on finding a good Indian breakfast place, this was a restaurant we'd never been to before! Yet another new experience. We sat down to eat outside but the sheer size of our party earned us a private room at the restaurant. which was fun.

Fresh apple juice!

 And paper tosai. 

And then the morning's past, and another friend is embarking on married life.