Randip's & Rayan's Wedding Day: Dancing the Night Away

We have the "first dance" ... as husband & wife. Let the dancing begin ... Randips' mom & Jess are struttin' their stuff & showing us how it is done.
Go Rayan ... Go Rayan ... Go Rayan ... Go Rayan!

Bubbles with the girls, Evelyn & Marta - for one last photo on the dance floor before the night comes to an end.

Randip's & Rayan's Wedding Day: Dinner of Love

The grand entrance into the reception hall ...


Lacra & Cremilde posing for a quick shot at our dinner table.

Randip's & Rayan's Wedding Day: The Wedding Party

Above we have a lovely photo of the wedding party.
I just love this shot of Renu, Randip's sister and maid of honour.
Here are the adorable flower girls - bundles of energy - and playing with their new friend.

I love this picture of Randip's Mom & Dad: I just love her beautiful emerald green dress - such a vibrant colour. As for Dad, we got on quite well and I have been adopted as the newest member of the family - what an honour to be a part of this loving family unit.Here is Rayan's Mom, Lil with Rayan's sister, Lillian.

Above is Alyssa, a familiar face now, with Rayan's brother, Licher.

Randip's & Rayan's Wedding Day: Reception of Love

After the exchange of vows came reception to celebrate the newly married couple.
The first official toast as husband and wife. Who can forget those first special moments ... with cake.
Be careful with that cake now ... and no fighting - wink wink ;-)
Randip & Rayan are surrounded by floating bubbles of love, created by those that love you most.

Randip's & Rayan's Wedding Day: The Ceremony

Here we see the happy couple listening fondly to the story of how they first met during a holiday in the sun: the first time their eyes met, dancing, laughing, talking, the eventual exchange of phone numbers, followed by the magical phone call that started it all. As they stand together, they share their vows and commitment to each other in the presence of family, friends & colleagues.Here come the rings ...
Randip & Rayan have officially tied the knot and Rayan proudly displays the proof.

Randip's & Rayan's Wedding Day - The Grand Entrance

Doesn't Rayan look simply dashing?!?! Our "Prince Charming" is anxiously anticipating the arrival of his beautiful bride.

Randip really looks like a Princess today and her grand entrance just brought me to tears. Actually, I will openly admit that I am tearing up, as I write this, from the powerful memory of Randip gracefully floating into the lobby and into the arms of our patiently waiting Rayan - who has not seen Randip for 2 full days.

Presenting: The BRIDE & GROOM: Randip & Rayan

Randip's Henna Party: Dancing Lessons

Part of the Henna night festivities was "DANCING" and for those of us who were in need ... DANCING LESSONS". During various pre-lessons, we have been told that these dances resemble movement of changing 2 light bulbs - tee hee. So we have been referring to this a "doin' the light bulb".After dinner and dessert were cleared away, we dedicated some space for the experts to share with us their dance moves to some delightfully upbeat Indian tunes.
Randip's Mom is showin' us her moves with Jess (or the back of her rather) ...

I love this picture of Randip, showing off her dance skills while trying to be careful with her recently hennad (not sure if that's a real word) hands :-) Unfortunately, Lacra and I left just when the dancing began so there are not pics of Bubbles "doin' the light bulb".

Randip's Henna Party: Let's Meet the Family

In celebration of Randip's Henna Night (and wedding), she had some very special family members present for the festivities. First, we have one of Randip's cousins, Nav with one of her sweet girls - from this side it is difficult for me to tell if it is Saffron or Summer.
Next, is Rayan's Grandmother who travelled all the way from Texas.
Rayan's Grandmother had the most lovely Texan accent - a taste of the "good ole south".
Here is Randip's second cousin, Beena.
This charming lady is Randip's precious mother who worked very hard all day so we could experience delicious authentic Indian cooking (at its finest). What a treat!

These gorgeous angels are Nav's little girls, Saffron and Summer.

Randip's Henna Party: Some Group Shots

We all met at Randip's place - Rayan was whisked away with the boys and was not to see Randip till the wedding. The evening was a casual night of pleasant conversation with colleagues, family and close friends. Above is Lacra, Marta and Evelyn.Here I am with Rayan's sister Lillian and sister-in-law Alyssa - it was during a short heatwave so we were lounging around near the fan and just trying to keep cool.
First, we had a few drinks, got comfortable, chatted with everyone and then ... the delicious buffet began. Our taste buds were treated to a delectable selection of authentic Indian food, thanks to Randip's Mom who worked hard all day. It was spicy, with a bite (perfect for me) and savoury on so many levels, I just could not control the urge to return for seconds. I might like to mention that, despite the heat wave, I did return for the spiciest item on the menu - nothing will stop me :)
We got cozy around the living room and into the mood. In the background was Indian music - which was full of distracting tempos and upbeat sounds that stimulate you to an alert state-of-mind. I have since downloaded some of this music online - my favourite being Panjabi MC - Mundian To Bach Ke, a popular song which I first heard in the clubs of London during the hen weekend and fell in love with.

Randip's Henna Party

Two days before Randip's wedding, all the girlies got together for a traditional Henna Party. This is an opportunity for friends & family of the bride to have one last party before the BIG day. Also, an Indian Sikh tradition is for the bride to have beautiful henna - known as Mehndi - applied on her hands and feet making intricate and beautiful paisley or medallion patterns. I copied this from online:

"Mehndi signifies the strength of love in a marriage. It is believed that the darker the Mehndi color, the stronger the love and bond will be between the bride and the bridegroom."

I was immensely impressed with the exquisitely delicate art-form of the Henna artist, (not sure about the official name for our Henna specialist). Above and below are samples of the henna designs so that you can experience and appreciate this magnificent tradition through my eyes. These are the "before" shots and I plan to add the "after" shots, showing the end result of the applied henna so check back in later. Randip was kind enough to model her hands and feet throughout the evening. This task takes a phenomenal amount of patience, from both the bride and our Henna Artist, as it was a process that took approx. 5 hours.

Randips' BDay Dinner

My sweet Randip had a very busy period in May & June: first her Hen Weekend ... then a birthday as previously announced in Randip's birthday message ... followed by a wedding and honeymoon. In celebration of Randip's birthday, we enjoyed a lovely dinner together at De Eetkamer van de Jordaan with an intimate group of family and friends. Unfortunately, I was busy enjoying myself and forgot to take pictures but I would be glad to share what I have which is only 3 pictures. Upon Randip's return from her honeymoon ... I promise to be more thorough on this posting.

For now, I have pics as we are studying the menu before dinner: Lacra, Rayan's sister-in-law Alyssa, Rayan's sister and Rayan's mother Lil.

On the other side of the table we have Deniz, the birthday girl Randip, Randip's Mom, and Randip's sister Renu both visiting from London in preparation for the upcoming wedding festivities.

My last picture ... with Renu, Bubbles and Lacra - winding down after our dinner. By the way - what is up with my hair??? It appears that I have this Princess Leah look from Star Wars cuz of shadows or heads behind me. It could be a new potential look for me.

Floris' BDay: Some Group Shots

The evening brought on some small group shots ... some sweet - some strange but you will recognise the strange one IMMEDIATELY - but you gotta read on. I had an awesome time, as did most of the gang - hope Floris enjoyed his birthday party.

This is just the cutest picture of David, Randip & Anita.
More cuteness ... Rogier & Randip.

Anita and her friend Akmed (I hope I spelled that right but if not pls feel free to correct me)

The angles to this photo are just oozing cuteness - David, Daniel and Randip - taken by Randip (I think).

We saw Joost and grabbed him for a reunion shot - lucky guy did a 6 month trip to explore the best parts of the world and was the envy of our team.

This pictures deserves a post ALL ON ITS OWN and has been awarded the shot of the evening! When I got home in the wee hours of the morning, I sat down to review our pictures and came across this one of Ann which brought on the most painful laughing fit, for a solid 15 minutes. I just gotta know: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE IN THIS MRS. PACMAN POSE??? I am open to all explanations ... this enquiring mind is waiting for your story.

Floris' BDay: Extra Curricular Activities

As the evening went on, along came more friends and colleagues to celebrate with Floris. Before we move onto the extra curricular activities, first we are going to play a game called:

"WHICH ONE DOESN'T BELONG WITH THE OTHER?"

CHEERS FOLKS - a toast to the birthday boy! Then came came our attempts at a group drink, intertwined amongst each other. Not very successful when there is a mix tall and short (me being the shortest one, like usual). Poor Bubbles could not reach her drink and she was thirsty.

Here is Dave having some fun with the camera - capturing an overview from above.
This is a weird group shot ... not quite sure what to say here. Do you feel the love? :)

Speaking of LOVE ... this is priceless. Daniel & Lucia, there are easier ways to kiss :)

"AND THE ANSWER IS ..."