I just took a flip through my pictures to jog my memory and I don't know where to start! Perhaps the best way to do this is to split it up into sections - so, we'll start with...
Arrival/Venue/Are We Really Here?
The 4 of us (Trang, Isaac, Van, and I) made our way a few hours north of Jaipur through what is the modern day Indian road trip - animals, farms, highways, big trucks, tractors, an occasional wedding taking place on the street, a small village, and last but not least, a plethora of smells both fragrant and not. Finally, nestled into the mountains we arrived to our retreat for the weekend and the wedding: The Samode Palace.
Almost two hundred years old, the Samode Palace was first built as a Rajasthani stronghold and then later was formed into a residential palace for it's ruler. Not sure when it was transformed into a hotel/resort, but it's sheer vastness in numbers of courtyards, pools, areas, sections is unprecedented. There were areas of this place we didn't discover until leaving, views into the mountains which were pristine, and an overall sense of royalty clouded the place. I probably saw 5 different rooms while I was there and not one was a cookie cutter copy - each room had been designed differently with huge bathrooms and ample living space. It was a charm...
When our car dropped us off at the front courtyard, it was like we were in a different dimension. We slowly got out of the car while gazing around and saw the red carpet leading up to the steps to the main entrance - with Parag standing up there with his Mother, flower girls, a trumpeter, a tabla player, and the ever-present audio/video men. Music started playing, and I started looking around in disbelief - we were totally ruining Purva's entrance into some event! I moved out of the way and looked up at Parag and he was laughing and waving us to come inside - it was our welcoming party!!!
Our royal entrance to Samode...
Renu Auntie and Parag (playing Brickbreaker)...
We exchanged our pleasantries and I started back downstairs to grab our bags, only to notice that there were about 10 men carrying all of our stuff up to our rooms. Once again, exceptional service. (As an aside: Isaac left his iPhone AND wallet in the car pocket and the driver came running to our room to drop it off. I can name a few countries where that would certainly not happen...)
Friends started rolling in as the day progressed and mini-reunions were happening everywhere. Texas, Penn, NYC, Boston, India - people from all of Parag's life mingling with Purva's friends and family was really fun. Several of us starting exploring the palace and got lost in the windy steps and terraces which adorned the place...
Bucher and Shannan...
Me and my lady checking out the digs (Trang and Isaac in background)...
Uhh - done.
Event #1 / 21343
Indian weddings are chock full of customs, rituals, and traditions - the groom's "invite to marry" ceremony, the groom's preparation and cleaning for marriage, the "sangeet" where there are songs sung and dances done, the "garba" where we do traditional dancing, his arrival to the bride's home, little games they play, the ceremony, the "giving of the daughter" away to the groom's home and family, etc. On top of all of these traditional customs, we've now added Western customs - a reception, a Sunday brunch, etc.
This combination brings a lot of different events to the plate - and whenever there is a new event, you have to wear something new. If you're a woman, you have to wear something new that no one has ever seen before. Thus - we packed a LOT of different clothes. I had a good 3, 4 kurta/pajamas in my suitcase along with my reception gear, and Van had a good 3, 4 Indian saris, punjabis, etc. with her. These things inevitably turn into a fashion show! And that's just for the guests - think of the bride/groom and all of their family! Many Indian families take the customary "trip to India" before a marriage only to shop for a week or two and buy all the clothes they need for all the different events. It's quite worth it, however, when you see just how awesome everyone looks in their outfits...
As people rolled into the Palace, the first event took place which was the groom receiving an invitation to marry the bride. It was fairly anticlimactic, with Parag sitting down and a bunch of Aunties feeding him laddus (Indian sweets) and reciting a few prayers, some people singing, etc. He went Western with a blazer, shirt, and slacks. The rest of us were in shorts and a t-shirt, just arriving and not wanting to waste time seeing everyone and catching up on how our respective trips were in and around India...
After the event was done, the groups split up and half went to their rooms to take their "vacation naps" and the other half continued to "catch up" - Parag's personal terrace and bar. We were all getting excited about the next event - "The Dune Party". We all freshened up, threw on our blazers and cocktail dresses, and met downstairs for the beginning of a great party...
This combination brings a lot of different events to the plate - and whenever there is a new event, you have to wear something new. If you're a woman, you have to wear something new that no one has ever seen before. Thus - we packed a LOT of different clothes. I had a good 3, 4 kurta/pajamas in my suitcase along with my reception gear, and Van had a good 3, 4 Indian saris, punjabis, etc. with her. These things inevitably turn into a fashion show! And that's just for the guests - think of the bride/groom and all of their family! Many Indian families take the customary "trip to India" before a marriage only to shop for a week or two and buy all the clothes they need for all the different events. It's quite worth it, however, when you see just how awesome everyone looks in their outfits...
As people rolled into the Palace, the first event took place which was the groom receiving an invitation to marry the bride. It was fairly anticlimactic, with Parag sitting down and a bunch of Aunties feeding him laddus (Indian sweets) and reciting a few prayers, some people singing, etc. He went Western with a blazer, shirt, and slacks. The rest of us were in shorts and a t-shirt, just arriving and not wanting to waste time seeing everyone and catching up on how our respective trips were in and around India...
Event #1 - Parag eating Laddus
Kolom, Rish, and Alok have arrived!!!
Rishi and Parag - two good looking guys with a lot of good things going for them...
Most amazing looking man/physique on the planet - we named him: Lalu Kaka!
I can carry Kolom with one arm!!!
Lalu Kaka - can we clone you?
The bus from Dehli has arrived!
After the event was done, the groups split up and half went to their rooms to take their "vacation naps" and the other half continued to "catch up" - Parag's personal terrace and bar. We were all getting excited about the next event - "The Dune Party". We all freshened up, threw on our blazers and cocktail dresses, and met downstairs for the beginning of a great party...
Nice shot of everyone on Parag's personal terrace...
The Dune Party
What? Did I hear this right?
Yes - one of the many events we'd all been waiting for. And, yes, it is exactly what it sounds like - a party on the sand dunes...
We threw on our best looking, sand dune-ready clothes and met in the courtyard for pictures. Everyone looked great as usual, and the palace put a traditional Rajasthani instrument player / singer in the courtyard to give us a taste of the culture and entertain us. This guy was really good at what he did, but, he also had one of the scariest stares ever because his eyes were HUGE! He looked like he saw a ghost and had permanent big eyes!
Stop looking at me SWAN.
We rolled in our cadre of Beemers and Benzes to the Samode Bagh, an ornate village-type setup with all sorts of large courtyards, polo grounds, and other outdoor spaces. Once there, we all loaded up onto, as you can see from the pictures below - camel carts! It was an interesting but fun experience. All the guests loaded up onto about 20 - 25 camel drawn carts and were were escorted by torch yielding guides and camel jockeys through the sand to our destination. As expected, our canopy began breaking down and Rish and I had to hold it up the rest of the time, but, This Is India. Every 5 minutes or so a man would run from torch weilder to torch weilder literally pouring kerosene onto the torch! I wonder if this outfit has had a safety inspection lately...
Our camel was foaming at the mouth..
The beautiful bride is here!
Just another Thursday night, hanging out with the camel carts...(L to R: Louise, Coop, GB, Alok, Sank)
They're laughing with you, not at you...
It's a camel jockey! No, I'm not racist.
Best Camel Cart Award - Van, Rish, SmooBug, and Me
Dude - Rishi touched the camels balls!
The event was beautiful. Huge bonfires to keep us warm through the night, myriad food stalls, a fully stocked bar, a DJ and a dance floor - all in the middle of the desert. Shortly after arriving, there was traditional Rajasthani dancing from a dance troupe who wore very ornate, sparkling saris and danced with fire on their heads! They didn't last long, however. The DJ starting pumping his techno-remixed, Top 40 and the superstar dancers which are Parag and Purva's friends took over the dance floor.
Van and I with the Bride and Groom...
Rajasthani dancers with fire-pots on their heads!!!
Would be an awesome picture if it wasn't for homeboy in the background...
It was literally a blur after that. Looking through my pictures, they are all literally blurry snaps of all of us dancing the night away! The one thing I do remember from that night is after we were all done and ready to go back, we had one of the food guys fire up the grill, throw on some paneer (cheese cubes) and vegetables, and make us homemade kati rolls! They were delicious!!!
Parag teaching this little kid how to get down - Purva likes the way her man moves!!!
Van and Neha choppin' up the dance floor...
This dude was passed out on a chair! I had to get a picture with him...
Next up - Day 2 - get some rest, we got a big day ahead of us!!!
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