now that's a bride

Who came up with the idea that brides have to wear white? Before that little fashion more was established, couldn't the powers that be have checked out how people in, say, India dress their brides? It would be so much more awesome if standard bridal attire looked like this:

The beautiful bride in red is my future shopping buddy, Rupi. I attended Rupi's wedding in London a little over a week ago. The gorgeous lady in pink is my best friend Sonu. Unfortunately, I missed Sonu's wedding in Canada two years ago because of visa issues. But I pored through Sonu's wedding pics just as I gawked all day at Rupi. I have to say, Sikh brides have got to be the most beautiful I have ever seen.

According to Sonu, "Most brides wear red or a variation of it (pink, maroon, fuschia) as it's the auspicious bridal color....we consider white for widows."

I am just dumbfounded how beautifully detailed these dresses are. But the gorgeous beadwork comes at a price. Rupi's skirt alone weighed 17 kilos. 17 KILOS! (That's 37.4 pounds for those not on the metric system)

In the UK, the practice is for brides to be in full regalia from the temple ceremony to the reception. In Canada, the bride and groom get to go home, change into something more comfortable, and then get down and party!

I am IN LOVE with this outfit of Sonu's. When I buy my sari, I want it to look like this! This is me being oblivious to the fact that this dress probably costs as much as my rent. Oh well, my honey insisted that the next time we attend an Indian wedding, I HAVE to be in a sari. So maybe I'll just slip the bill over to him? *evil grin*

Oh well, at least we mastered the dance moves this wedding. We'll get to the outfits in the next!