I.S.T.

This past weekend, my good friend Anne and I attended my cousin Kristen's wedding. She was marrying her boyfriend of 5 years, Jasvir. The unique part about this union is that Jasvir and his family are Sikh, which is a branch of Islam, so there were two ceremonies to appease each side of the family.
(The temple where the ceremony took place)

The first ceremony was the Indian ceremony, taking place at a temple in Sacramento. Anne and I were very excited for this first part, because it was a glimpse into a different culture that we otherwise would not have had. The invitation stated 9 am as the time the first wedding would begin. So I arrived at 9:15 figuring they may be running a few minutes behind. Well I was wrong, they weren't running 10 or 15 minutes behind, they were running 2 hours behind. This is when were told about I.S.T. Indian Standard Time. Apparently the times on the invitations are merely suggestions to them, and they show up whenever they feel like it, even if the event is waiting on them.

So while we waited we made some small talk with some of my relatives and killed some time in the parking lot. Soon the groom and his family arrived. He looked like a prince! After the bridal party was on their way we were aloud to head towards the temple, it is customary to wait for the groom's family procession first.

Once we got into the foyer of the temple we removed our shoes and covered our heads with scarves. For seating inside the actual temple we sat on the ground with men on the left side of the room and the women on the right. Just a note if you ever find yourself in a Sikh temple and you are sitting on the ground, do not put your feet in front of you. Apparently its a huge sign of disrespect for your feet to pointing towards the prayer book. Trust me. I know. Once the ceremony began it was interesting. Everything was sung in a different language, that I think was Punjabi. They translated on big projection screens. My cousin looked as much like a princess as Jaz looked like a prince. Despite the cultural and belief differences, I was very honored to be able to expierence that. I gained some knowlege on Islam and their culture.

The American ceremony also started nearly two hours late. But as soon as dinner was served we had a great time. They sure do know how to throw a party. There were some traditional Indian drummers that played along with the band and they were legit! Not to mention how amazing these people are at dancing. We danced until 11 then it was off home. Poor Anne was so wiped she was asleep before we hit Davis. Overall it was a great time. So here's some pics.

I hope you had a beautiful weekend. That didn't run on IST. God Bless.