Funny, India, Wedding

Kalyana Mandapa

Contemporary Indian Mandap

Traditional, permanent Temple mandap

Jewish Chuppah

I had to settle for a smaller version of this

I know, I know, I am full of posts this afternoon. Something about a friday afternoon and caffeine overload will make me spew forth words. I am really excited today, after looking at Diamond Rental, Modern Display and Ambience rental , I finally found something that I can use as a Mandap (pron:maan-dup). There is a lady in Utah County who has a teeny tiny wedding decor business who agreed to lend me her “canopy.” I think my conversation with her was kinda funny:

Me: Hi, I was interested in renting your little canopy

Lady: We don’t have a little canopy, our standard one costs $1000

Me: No, you do have one, its on page 5 of your gallery

Lady: Let me look, No kidding I guess we do. I wouldn’t call it a canopy though, its a gazebo.

Me: Oh, either way, I’d like to rent it, how much would it be

Lady: Nobody has ever wanted to rent it, I don’t think I have ever had to price it before.

Me: Well…I ‘d really like to….

Lady: Let me call my husband and get back to you. I guess next time someone asks about that I’ll know I have it.

In the end, she and her husband are letting us have it for a very reasonable rate and I couldn’t be happier.

So, why am I making such a big deal about a canopy? Because in Hindu traditions it is essential to have the ceremony under a covered ground. The symbolism for the covered ground, usually by a 4 posts a cloth or flower cover is usually similar to that of a Jewish Chuppah. It symbolizes the beginning of the couple’s new home and the idea of marriage as being a shelter. In the old temples of India, there would be a permanent stone structure that would be set aside for weddings and they were called Kalyana Mandapas, nowadays though we often build temporary structure with bamboo and flowers. Having this symbolism was very important to me and I had to look really hard to find something that I could modify and use.

* I did not take these pics

Wedding

Weekly Wedding Update

I have been a very busy bee this week in regards to wedding stuff! I have accomplished so much, even if I haven’t , it feels like I have and I don’t need anyone to burst my happy bubble.

Stuff I’ve done:

Ordered and ensured Invitations arrive by Mon or Tue of next week

Ordered Canopy/Background for the ceremony

Booked a DJ -yeeah! We got a fantastic deal and they are covering the ceremony and reception and they will play our music if we want them too. Woo hooo

Picked out stamps- Superheroes or Pollinators? We might do both

Got stuff for Programs

Decided finally on favors

Picked a few hairstyles to try out on my appointment next weekend.

Scheduled a cake tasting

Got Quotes on cakes

I know there’s still a lot to be done and I can’t believe how quickly time is going by. It doesn’t feel like its been 10 months since J and I have been engaged. In 49 days, I willl be a married woman.

Bzzzzzz…..Bzzzzzzzzz….Bzzzzzzz

Wedding

Programs

So after after much thought, I decided I am going to make DIY programs for the wedding. I know its going to be a project making so many but it will be fun. Last night I went to Michaels and bought some supplies to make a prototype. I bought orange, brown , copper and cream cardstock and brown and orange ribbons. I also bought brown stamping ink and a cute little henna stamp for some embellishments. Its my project this week to make the actual finished prototype.

Here are the inspiration programs:

Funny, Stuff, Wedding

Ninja v. Pirate

When J and I are feeling silly we have the vs. conversations. They can be shark v. tiger, elephant v. hippo, Geraldo v. Jerry Springer, whatever pops into our head at the time. Our all time favorite one, the one that has no clear answer, the one we visit and revisit all the time is the age old question of

Pirate v. Ninja?

 So this morning I had the idea of using Pirates and Ninjas on our cake as a cake topper. I was thinking of using the little lego minifigures like this

note* pics not by me, I do not yet own these figurines.

Travel

Kings Dominion

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Yesterday, J and I spent nearly 12 hours at Kings Dominion, about 20 miles from Richmond. It had been a long time since I had been to an amusement park, probably about 3-4 years and it was fun to re-live teenage days of spending all day goind down water slides and waiting in lines for the coasters.

We got to Kings Dominion around 10 am to realize that we had forgotten sunblock, so we took a detour to a gas station  to buy some when J expressed an interest in some alcohol to get a little tipsy before we got on a ride. We tried one of those caffeinated malt beverages, which really didn’t get us tipsy but did make us hyper and made our way into the park.

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The first ride we did was the Beserker, followed by a kiddie ride called Space Cruzer. We then went on our first Stand Up Roller Coaster Ride- The Shockwave. It was the first time I did a stand up roller coaster and it was one of the more memorable coasters.  We also did the Grizzly, a huge old wooden coaster, White Water Rapids and Flying Eagles (Jeff’s fave kiddie ride) and Wave Swingers (my fave kiddie ride).

 

We spent the afternoon at the waterpark where we did the Tornado– one of the funnel style water rides. This was definitely one of favorite rides because it was something I had never done before. We rounded off our time in the waterpark by doing all the regular waterpark rides, like the Flume rides and the water slides and of course finished it off at the lazy river.

By the time we made our way back to the main part of the park, most of the crowds had thinned out and we were able to do the big rollercoasters without waiting for too long. We did the

Anaconda– a rollercoaster with an underwater tunnel and awesome loops.

Volcano– one where your feet are hanging and you get shot out of a volcano, the speed in that was amazing;

 Tomb Raider– which isn’t a coaster, but its a high in the air, upside down , spinning rides, it also had fire effects which was amazing;

The Italian Job coaster- the movie themed coaster that is really tight and fast, also the cars are little mini coopers.;

The Rebel Yell– An old wooden roller coaster on which you get to go backwards and do all the drops with your back on it;

The Hurler– A standard wooden roller coaster that has more loops than drops.

The Drop Zone– Vertical plunge of 305 feet.

We finished the day happy and sore. My feet were killing me and I think my burnt my soles walking barefoot on the concrete of the water park, but it was well worth it.

Note: All pics of the rides, except for the shockwave are from other resources. These were not taken by  me. I did not want to risk my camera falling out 🙂

Life

Back From Vacation

I’m sore and a little burnt but really happy. J and I had the most fantastic 4 day vacation and now we are back to the daily grind. The wedding looms ever closer and its back to wedding planning as well! My mom was a little upset with me that I didn’t do much planning this weekend, but honestly, it was a welcome respite to not think about the wedding this weekend at all!

Here’s a quick summary of the weekend. I’ll post pics and furthes details, once I’ve had a chance to upload them. Friday, we drove to Richmond and spent the afternoon in the pool. Saturday, J and I spent the day in D.C. Sunday we went to Jamestown and we finished off the trip with a visit to Kings Dominion( A Theme park ) yesterday.

Being at Kings Dominion yesterday, made me realize how much we change. There was a time in my life, when I was a kid, where I was completely fearless, I would pretty much plunge into anything. Then there were the years, where I like the more “themed” rides at the parks like Jurassic 5 , Indiana Jones, etc. They seemed less scary and I didn’t like the feeling of free falling at all. Yesterday, I had a great time doing the extra thrilling rides. I even did the straight vertical tower drop, which I normall don’t do because I think it looks lame, but it ended up being really fun. I love how the thrill/breathlessness lasts almost till you are convinced that you just absolutely can’t take it anymore, that you might die and then when it stops, there’s a feeling of sadness that the drop is over.

Just like the end of a vacation.

Dress, Wedding

Hairstyles

Its a blasted 110 degrees here in sunny humid NC. I am sitting in my cool cubicle and whiling away the time looking at pictures of how I want to do my hair.

So far I like stuff like these:

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A very indian look, but I don’t know if it will go with my dress

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If I put my hair up, I definitely want to wear flowers.

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My hais not this curly, but products might help.

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Seems simple and chic

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Combines a lot of the elements I like: flowers, teased up look, waves

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Fun and flirty, I would want a flower with this.

Funny, Life, Wedding

Michael Jackson and Memories

I came across this video on youtube yesterday, while researching for weddings. This made me laugh. J would never agree to something like this. But this made me laugh, and I have that blasted MJ song stuck in my head

Anyway, watching this video brought up memories of my childhood and how all my cousins and me included thought MJ was the coolest ever. This is a rather grim story, but when I was about 8 or 9 , one of my great uncles passed away. Since we were too young, we were given a room to ourselves while the funeral was being held. Since we were young and bored and didn’t really understand what was going on, we played some MJ tunes and danced around. Thinking about it now makes me feel bad that we were so disrespectful but I didnt’ know any better then.

Also, I think I just have a fascination with Michael Jackson, and I know most people my age do too. I know watching Brittney go wacko is what is captivating the nation at the moment, but somehow she still doesn’t have the same morbid curiouosity as MJ does for me. 

Family, Food and Drinks, Life

Birthday

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So , the birthday came and went. It was a mellow day and relaxing day. On saturday, My parents took me and J out to this really fancy Brazilian Steak house. I have been to various Rodizios before , but this one was just amazing. We went all out on the dinner, We ordered Wine and Chocolate Mousse cake. Also the buffet has amazing dishes like Smoked Salmon , Salmon in passsion fruit sauce, eggplant parmesan and lots of really exotic cheeses and olives. Of course the main event was the meat, I think I had the best top sirloin and filet mignoin of my life. I ate so much that it was almost impossible to walk out of the restaurant.

Sunday, I woke up and opened my presents, I got some clothes from my parents ( which I desperately needed) I got a dress, dress pants, some nice dressy shirts for work, new shoes and a bracelet. J got me a Scrapbooking book that has ideas for different styles of design like Victorian, Retro Modern, Contemporary etc. He also got me a gift card to B&N and a trip to DC. Yippee.  In the morning, we took the dogs and went to Eno River state park to have a birthday picnic , hike and wade in the eno with the dogs. It was a perfect activity for a hot summer day. Our picnic too was delicious with fresh Jalapeno Bread, Spinach and Feta Croissants, chilled green tea and my favorite coconut macaroons.

Here is a  pic of the Eno:

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When we got back from the Eno, my mom started cooking a huge birthday meal for me. She made a Goat/mutton dish, a coconut fish curry, Pulao and I made some kabobs. We ate everything with some delicious naan and red wine.

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(My  computer is being weird and I can only post thumbnails)

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I also made my watermelon cocktails, which were delicous.

Watermelon Cocktail

Blend seedless watermelon cubes with lime, vodka and a little bit of salt, for a delicious sweet and tangy cocktail. Also, its pretty healthy, because it doesn’t have added sugars.