I'm Back!
What a wonderful week I had! I left home Thursday mid-day to drive to northern Virginia and meet with the Marriott Fair Oaks event planner about my son's rehearsal dinner on Friday. Everything was A-OK. I used the fitness center at the hotel. It's always a puzzle using new equipment, but the center was very well set up. On Friday morning I went back to the fitness center for cardio only then I met at Tyson's Mall with Courtney P (Virginia Board) to pick up some jeans she has undergrown (Thanks Courtney!). She's a very friendly, beautiful young woman who is having a great time with her weight loss. Then I got a manicure and picked up lunch to eat at the hotel room. My sister and brother-in-law arrived and we visited until we had to get ready for dinner. The food was served buffet style and was very well received by the 40 guests. We had 4 different salads, tilapia with mango chutney, shrimp, scallops and crab in a Madeira sauce, beef tips, four cheese baked rigatoni, green beans with parmesan cheese, fresh fruit tart and a molten chocolate soufflé. After dinner we had the mehndi (henna painting) with about 75 people in attendance. Five people from my family (including myself) participated in the painting and all of us participated in the singing and dancing. I had to pay about $120 to "ransom" my son from my DIL's girlfriends - a mehndi tradition I was told. I put the final amount in when my DIL said it would be for a good cause - grandbabies!
Saturday morning some of my friends from out of town, my brother and SIL and I went to Mount Vernon and to lunch before returning to the hotel to dress for the 6 pm wedding. I was very excited that 2 of my sister's 4 children and spouses came as well as a number of my friends from out of town. The wedding started with hors d'oeuvres outside the ballroom where the ceremony was held. At 7 pm the guests were seated in the ballroom. Then my son's family members escorted him into the ballroom where he was seated in a chair on an elaborately decorated dais awaiting the bride, Sahar. Sahar was escorted into the ballroom by her girlfriends under a canopy. She was in a beautiful traditional red Pakistani wedding dress with tons of gold jewelry, including face jewelry. The combination of the heavy face jewelry and the head covering prevented free-movement of her head, but she was still radiant. After the ceremony the couple left and my son changed from his Pakistani wedding outfit into a suit and Sahar removed the face jewelry and head covering before returning to mingle with the guests. A wonderful dinner of salad, skewered beef and okra (appetizers), curried lamb, butter chicken, yogurt sauce, and rice (all Indian food) was served family-style as well as cake (sorry I can't describe it as I had none). Imagine some of the most beautiful colors and jewels on dark and beautiful women! It was just gorgeous! Belly dancing was a hit with everyone. Several very happy men participated and a couple of the bride's attendants danced as well. Traditional western-style dancing followed and the bridal couple was escorted out under a canopy at the end of the evening.
The next morning I was able to say goodbye to my son and DIL before they left for their honeymoon to Greece. Then 13 of us took a lunch cruise down the Potomac River to celebrate my brother's 35th wedding anniversary. It was a gorgeous day of bright sunshine - warm but not hot. Six of us went sightseeing in DC afterward, had dinner in Chinatown and ended the evening listening to the National Symphony Orchestra on the steps of the Capitol with the Washington Monument in the distance beyond the orchestra. Warm breezes, no bugs and beautiful music capped the wedding weekend off marvelously. A friend and I drove to Virginia Beach on Monday (stopping in Williamsburg for a little sightseeing and lunch), spent all day on the beach Tuesday and again this morning. I arrived home this afternoon and am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning! I'll post the pictures I have now and will add wedding pictures when I get them from others (I was a bit busy to take any!).
Plus ---- I lost 3 pounds!
Congrats!!! Sounds like a truly beautiful wedding. I love the cultural weddings... they're so beautiful and different than what we're use to. So how cool for you that you got to experience it....... and so much other fun stuff. That's awesome. And it didnt hurt to lose a few pounds while you were gone either, huh?
Glad you're home and safe and sound.....enjoy your own bed.
Mel T
She's right, you should be an author. The way you described the wedding, it felt like I was there and I have an image in my head of how everything was. Absolutely gorgeous! I'm glad you're back, and congrats on the 3 pound loss. Not many people can have a wonderful time like you did and lose 3 pounds! (hugs)
Donna
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