A pure modern-day Bangladeshi wedding!

Our Wedding means a huge family get-together, having different programs for several days. It's full of color and food, obviously. One of my female friends got married recently. I had the opportunity to attend their wedding. It was not like our traditional wedding though. But the day was sure full of joy.

Before sharing the wedding story, let me tell you briefly about our wedding culture.

A Bangladeshi wedding means at least three programs for the whole week, sometimes more. The ‎Ceremonial process includes ‎"Gaye Holud where we put turmeric on the bride and groom as a sign of blessing, similar to a bridal shower. Then comes the Wedding arranged by the bride's family and the next day or so the reception program arranged by the groom's family. We cook many meals for the whole week, there are music nights, cousin's nights, henna festivals, and whatnot.

But in modern-day weddings, many usually skip some of the programs as all the relatives can't make that small amount of time, not even the bride and groom. Also, weddings used to take place at our homes (rooftops or years) when we were in our childhood. But now, we usually book a party center and call a wedding planner to take responsibility. So most of the family programs got automatically skipped out.

Anyway, let's keep aside my nostalgia and talk about the big day!

Bride & groom seating area

So it was my friend's wedding!

It took place in a small party center. There were almost 100 participants in the program. I went there around 1.30 PM. My friend was already ready for her bridal look. She was looking so pretty. We gossip for a while and took some photos. Then the marriage ritual started. The legal processes were done by 'Kazi' (Religious marriage officiant) by 2.00 PM. Just after that, we all went to have lunch. There was no family music session or anything. But this is how it's nowadays.

Different types of traditional food.

The lunch was great. They served different types of our traditional food including beef curry, Kacchi Biriyani, and Jorda Polao. The food was really good.

Jorda Polao - Sweetened fragrant rice dessert.

We went to meet the groom's family and took a few photos of the bride and groom.

The bride usually goes to the groom's house after their marriage and returns to the parent's house the day after. Then after the reception program, the groom will take the bride permanently to his home. That's the ritual they will follow too.

The Bride and the Groom (Everyone was taking photos with them). Sorry I had to hide their faces for privacy purposes.

It was about time to say goodbye to my friend, to the bride. Everyone was a bit emotional. The ceremony ended around 5.00 PM. We also said goodbye to them, invited the newly wedded couple to our home the next month, and went back home.

My other friends couldn't make it to the ceremony. If they will join it would definitely be much more enjoyable. Anyway, we had some wonderful memories that we sure will cherish for a long period...