The Vicar's Wife

I’m going to a wedding tomorrow. My friend StarStudent, one of my first friends from our first parish, is getting married and the whole family has been invited to attend the big hoo-haa. StarStudent’s fiance is Sikh, so the wedding will be at the Gudhwara near to our old church. Her family are Hindu, so there’ve been all the usual Asian wedding celebrations. We were invited to three events – the wedding itself, the family farewell party tonight and I was invited to the mehndi night last night.

Nice, eh?

A mehndi night is when the bride has her hands and feet decorated with henna, and celebrates with girlfriends. Although the groom didn’t attend last night, contrary to Wikipedia’s take on the celebration. He had his own do going on instead.

So I spent an excellent evening with StarStudent and her lovely family and friends. I ate samosas, wriggled to Bollywood tunes and drank strong masala chai (didn’t sleep too well last night, but it was too delicious to resist). And I had some mehndi applied too. Just one hand, and on the back, so I could drive home. You have to leave it on as long as possible to get the dye to fix well.

I love the look of it and am pleased my dress and jacket have short sleeves so I can show it off. It’s the nearest I’m going to get to a tattoo, however much I think I should get one to fit in around here…