Posted on May 2, 2016
How to Prepare for a Wedding – Auntie
Every woman deserves to have a splendid wedding during the monsoon. This is how to prepare a wedding:
The first thing you need to do is find a husband. This person should own land and be quite wealthy. For myself, I was able to find a wealthy husband and lucky to bear two sons.
The second requirement is to find when the next monsoon is. You should probably know when the next monsoon is, it is always a year after the last. It’s very important to have your wedding on the day of a monsoon because it brings good luck for your family.
The third requirement you need is that you must prepare the dowry. This is very important for the wedding because families need to live in comfort. It is not the men who should give everything to the women. The women have to have some share of giving, this is why we have dowry. (When my sons grow up, I will have two beautiful women tending the homes and bringing dowries with them to our family.) But for Phulan, Abassi has prepared a few camels and clothes for Phulan’s dowry.
A very important part of the wedding is preparing the dress. This dress must look like a princess’s gown, embroidered with silver and gold string. (I have worked on this dress, day to night, making sure this met the expectations of Phulan, Hamir and Mama.) This dress is the most important part of the wedding for me, because when I was married, I never fit the dress. Phulan is lucky, with her fine features and slim body.
Something you need is to dress the camels. (If you have any.) The camels make the bride look more noble, riding in her canopy atop of the camel. The camel must have tassels and bells decorating it, making it look fancy. “The animals are dressed in wedding livery, their harnesses festooned with silver medallions and bright silk tassels, with shells, bells, and mirrors sewn along the edges of the saddle blankets. Above their knees the camels wear woven goat hair bracelets with beaded fringes.” Page 92
The last step is to find the wedding spot, which is easy because it is where your husband lives. It may be a long journey, but don’t worry, hopefully you will have plenty water and food to bring along. If your lucky, maybe your husband lives in the same village as you do!
Thank you for hearing my advice on how to prepare for a wedding. – Auntie
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Hello Auntie. I just want you to know that your post about this is really making me think about my own wedding.My wedding was very satisfactory, comapared to your standards. The only thing that I did not enjoy about my wedding was how the mahendi women put the tatoos on my body. I think that they are very beautiful on them, but I never wanted it on me.
From,
Your oldest niece.
Quote on page 216.