This one was similar to the Wedding dinner on the boy's side, except that the order of arrival was reversed. This time (since we were on the girl's side), we arrived 'mid-way' through the proceedings, and tried to make a fanfare. The dinner was held at Rabita Hall.
Again, there was a podium where the bride and groom sat, and guests would go up and chat with them, and near the end of the dinner, would take pictures with them.
A Mauritian Muslim wedding dinner is a unique experience. Hundreds of people invited to some of the largest halls on the Island, expecting to be fed the best beef biryani you can imagine, immediately without delay.
The wedding dinner on the boys' side, was held at the Port-Louis Gymkhana. We were welcome by the groom's relatives when we got there, and sat at a table and ate the delicious food. Desert was Halwa dal gram - not my favorite thing in the world.
The hall had a podium where the bride was seated, and guests would go up and talk to her.
As we were about done eating, the groom and his 'posse' turned up in a fanfare and he went up to the podium to sit next to his bride, while the posse sat down to eat.
After most people had dinner, each 'family' then takes turn to go up to the podium to congratulate the couple and take pictures with them.
At some point the wedding cake is cut, but I had fully entered food coma by then, so I cannot quite remember when that happened.
So there you have it. We stayed till the end, when the bride and groom left together in the 'carosse mariaze' (wedding car).
We were in Mauritius for a wedding and this is a post on the actual religious wedding ceremony that took place on Saturday. The name for a Muslim wedding is 'Nikah'.
The Nikah was held at the Masjid La Rue Vellore aka Noor-E-Islam Masjid, and it was to take place just after the 'Asr prayers (mid-afternoon). As usual, it was hot. Thankfully, I was wearing some light Indian clothes, and so was Adam, our 6 year old. Rehana and Iman went to the back of the Masjid to the ladies side, and I loitered outside the Masjid with Adam, since he was not too keen on going it yet (or was it me who wanted to stay on the streets ? ... can't remember). Once the 'Asr prayers were over, we started to make our way inside the Masjid.
As the groom came to the Masjid, there were a few girls blocking the door. Part of Mauritian Muslim tradition (I believe) - Groom had to pay them off to let him out. He came prepared and had a bunch of envelopes with money.
The standard formula for the Muslim wedding is the groom and 2 'witnesses' from the bride's side have to be there, as well as the Imam (who conducts the proceedings - although it does not have to be an Imam). Everyone sits down on the carpet, and the Iman starts by saying some stuff (generally about how marriage is a good thing), and then piles into it. He announces to the gathering at large that we are here for the wedding of (bride's name) to (groom's name), then he talks to the bride's witnesses and asks them if the bride agrees to this union. If he hears a yes, he then asks the same question of the groom. Once he hears the 'yes', the marriage is done and he then asks for blessings for the happy couple. Everyone stands up and a line forms to hug the groom. That's usually my cue to go look for our shoes. We then loitered around inside the Masjid until most people have left, and when we leave, we each get a 'cake'. I think it is part of the Muslim tradition to have something sweet at the end of the wedding.
This is what happened at the guys' side. What happens at the girl's side ? I have no clue since I was not there. Adam and I walked to the back of the Masjid and waited, and waited, and waited. Fortunately there were a bunch of other husbands out there waiting for their other halves. I heard the delay was due to the groom could not put her shoes back on, since she was wearing the full western wedding dress. Two other ladies had to dive in there and find her feet. Hehehe - someone should have recorded that.
Once the bride came out, the 'wedding car' whisked her away with her new husband sitting in the back of the car.
Next event was the Dinner - boys side....
We are in Mauritius for a wedding and this is a post on the Mehendi ceremony that took place last night in the depths of 'camp Lascars' aka Plaine Verte - right by the football stadium 'Mamad Elahee'. The ceremony is named after the plant used for making 'henna' and is usually the first of a series of events that make up the traditional Mauritian Muslim wedding. Part of the ceremony is that the bride gets her hand and feet decorated with those henna patterns.
The ceremony/celebration took place in a hall next to the bride's place. My wife is related to the bride.
We got there just after 7pm, and there were a few folks there already (all from the bride's side) eating dinner. After greetings, we sat down and got our plates of food delivered. It was curried chicken with basmati rice with a cucumber salad and there was mango kutcha.
We had a few 'servers' with more food to pile onto your plate. The custom is they will try and keep filling your plate as you eat. If you refuse, they will ask:
Faire moi plaisir ...!Rough translation would be:
I would be so happy if you would eat some more...
After everyone has had dinner, we then moved to the other end of the hall, where we had a stage meant for the bride (and groom ?) and chairs laid out to face them. While waiting for the bride, someone mentioned that they had brought a ravane. I was volunteered to sing, so decided to write something. With help from a team of people, we came up with two Segas for the occasion, and kept practicing. The idea was we were going to sing it before the bride-grooms' side came over. Then someone suggested we had to warm up the ravane - we went down to the kitchen and used the gas burner.
The grooms' side then arrived and brought with them lots of trays full of gifts - including the wedding dress, shoes, cosmetics, sweets, etc, etc...
After the groom's side settled into their seats, (without the groom - he does not get to attend the Mehendi), we then went up by the stage and performed our segas.
We then resumed the normal mehendi (performing a sega at a mehendi is definitely NOT part of the normal Mehendi).
A variety of finger food was then served to all the guests (samoosas, mini quiches, crab rangoons, banana tart, and of course the napolitaines). Food was followed by guava juice.
Then there were lots of photo sessions with the bride, the groom's side left with trays of gifts for the groom. More photo sessions with the bride, followed by freshly fried gateaux piments and tea.
A dominoes session started at the back of the hall, and I also saw someone come in with a soccer ball. By that time, it was 11pm and time to go. Adam had been running around with the rest of the kids and now wanted to go to the car.
