Yes, it all happened, all except the nap in the afternoon. Sunday morning the wedding hall was a buzz of activity by 6am, with guests beginning to arrive by 7, and within the hour all the ritual and theatrics were underway. The bride’s family had been welcomed; the groom was playing out the threat of walking away from it all to be an ascetic but was talked out of it by the bride’s father; garlands and fruits and gifts were offered and received on both sides; and a mere four hours later it was all a done deal. Other more playful rituals followed, and by early afternoon the 150 or so guests had been fed a second time and retired for the afternoon.
The event ramped up again in the evening with a reception for at 400 guests, all of whom eventually went through the receiving line set up on stage. Congratulations were offered, wedding gifts were given, and everyone had their photo and video taken with exhausted couple propped up in two throne-like chairs at center stage. After only a few hours (during which everyone was fed yet again), all the formalities were done. But we weren’t. Chairs were cleared, the DJ spun up the music, and we danced and sweated for another couple of hours. Not that we were tired or anything.
And so on Monday we all collapsed. Well, many of us did. The marriage still had to be legalized with a civil ceremony, the immediate family on the two sides got together for lunch before the Japanese returned home, and all the logistics of winding down an event of this scale were addressed. So I suppose we actually collapsed on Tuesday. But it was a good collapse.
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