Chapter 3- The Wedding

It was just a week left for the wedding. And just like every other Indian wedding, the celebration starts 1 week ahead. And the bride and the groom were not supposed to meet a week before their week.

The first day of the celebrsation went on with family members coming to the pre-wedding rituals, blessing the bride and groom. In Shivanesh’s house, his aunts came over to do all the pre-rituals for Shivanesh as the were all excited as they were all close to him. They were very happy that Shivanesh found his love and decided to settle down.

Amrita’s house was also in celebration mode. Their house were decorated with a lot of lowers. Their family decided to have a small Sangeet night and Mehendi night at their place. Many relatives and friends were invited.

For the whole week, Amrita’s and Shivanesh’s family home were busy with grand celebrations leading up to the wedding. Many relatives and friends came over to help with the last-minute work for the wedding. Amrita and Shivanesh was not allowed to help much as people are afraid the bride and groom might get hurt before the wedding as the Indians believe that there are chances for something bad to happen when a good event is on its way.

Aafter the week was over, it was finally the day of the wedding. The wedding ceremony is scheduled to start at 9.30 am at the temple nearby Shivanesh’s family home. Amrita had to wake up at 4 am to get her make up and hair done for the wedding. She opted for a brown red makeup theme and a traditional bun for her hair. She was starting to feel cold feet for the wedding. She has invited her colleagues and college friends to the wedding and cannot wait to get over it soon.

Shivanesh was also getting really nervous as the time for the wedding gets closer. He has not seen Amrita in more than 10 days, and he is missing her just so much. But he did not want to push his luck as the Indians believe that it is a taboo for the groom to see the bride before the wedding. As they all got ready, his mother did some simple prayers at home before everyone made a move to the temple for the wedding ceremony.

The wedding ceremony started as soon as Amrita arrived at the wedding venue. She was escorted to the waiting room while rituals continue at the bridal dais. Three married ladies from his family where asked to do rituals to bless the groom and other rituals were done. After the rituals were completed, Shivanesh was given a tray containing his wedding attire and flower garland for him to change into for the wedding ceremony. Shhivanesh was escorted by Amaran as the best man to the waiting to room to change while Amrita was escorted to the bridal dais by Sumithra for her turn with the rituals. She was also then given a tray containing her wedding saree and garland. As she was changing, Shivanesh was done and brought to the dais first. He was accompanied by Amaran and his family members.  

Amrita spent some time to change all her saree and jewelries with the help of her bridal team. Amarika and Sumithra made themselves useful by helping Amrita put on the jewelries while the bridal team helped her with her saree.

While the bride was busy changing, the wedding procession went on with Shivanesh doing the Pada pooja where he washes his mother’s feet with milk and flower as a way of showing appreciation to her for raising him well so far. Shivanesh’s mother could not help herself from crying when she saw Shivanesh letting out tears through the ritual. After he was done, he was then asked to sit on the dais. Amaran got out the handkerchief his mom gave him earlier in the morning and passed it to Shivanesh to wipe the tears flowing down his cheeks. Shivanesh could not help but to chuckle when he saw his brother-in-law’s cheeky smile, knowing very well the younger boy was teasing him.

 Just as she finished changing and was ready, Amrita walked towards the bridal dais, where Shivanesh was already waiting, with Sumithra and her family following her. She was so nervous that she felt like she could hear her heartbeat loud. As she saw all her friends around, cheering at her as she walked down the aisle, she could not stop herself from smiling and getting excited about the fact that in a few moments, she would be a married woman.

As she was walking to enter the temple, her eyes met Shivanesh’s and all she could see was love and happiness. Once she reached the dais, she was asked to do the Pada pooja for her parents. As Amrita was doing it, she just broke into tears as it hits her that from here on, she will be away from her parents. She felt overwhelmed with emotions as it was not just gratitude and appreciation but also love for her parents filled her heart and her mind at that moment. Her parents also could not stop themselves from crying that the girl they have raised so well is finally going to be married. The scene seems to hit many people in the wedding as it put tears in many of them who attended the wedding.

After the pooja, Amrita was asked to sit next to Shivanesh at the bridal dais. Shivanesh looked at Amrita and felt his chest tightening as tears flow down Amrita’s soft cheeks. He knew he had to do something to cheer her up, at least make her smile. He scooted closer to her and whispered in her ear, “Hi beautiful.”

Amrita turned and looked at Shivanesh, surprised from the whisper, and instantly smiled. Shivanesh slowly wiped the remaining tears on her face with the handkerchief he had in his hand and told her, “We are finally here.”

Amrita realized that in just a few moments now, everything is about to change. She saw how the priest took the ‘thali’ that was around a yellow coconut on a tray of yellow rice and flowers and lifted up for everyone to see before passing it to her father. She knows that the moment the ‘thali is around her neck with three safe knots, she is Shivanesh’s wife.

Amrita’s father passed the ‘thali’ to Shivanesh who slowly put it around her neck and completing all three knots on his own. After he was done, he slowly pressed his lips on Amrita’s temple. When he moved slightly away, he saw Amrita smiling at him with tears brimming in her eyes.

Shivanesh then whispered, “Hi, Mrs. Shivanesh.”

Amrita turned to Shivanesh and smiled. “Hi, Husband,” she said.

  

The rest of the ceremony went on well. Amrita and Shivanesh was asked to walk hand-in hand around the sacred fire for 3 times marking the first journey of the couple as husband and wife. After that, Shivanesh had to wash his bride’s legs with milk and flowers before putting on a toe ring on the second toe for both feet.

Amrita and Shivanesh made sure to take as many photographs they could with those who attended the wedding. They also took some pictures with their family and a lot of couple shots later.

After the wedding, the couple were required to go back to Shivanesh’s family house for other formalities. Once they arrived, Amrita was asked to light up the prayer lights as a symbol of the welcome of good luck to the house. The couple was then given milk and banana as their first food in the house as married couple.

They were then driven to their apartment that they have readied before their wedding. Amrita’s parents and some relatives came over to the apartment to complete the last ritual for the day which is blessing the couple before their wedding night.

It was late at night when Amrita and Shivanesh finally settled down a bit. They packed their things they would need for the night and left for the hotel where they have booked to spend their wedding night in.

Once they checked in, Amrita and Shivanesh both freshened up. Amrita was ready for bed but Shivanesh however seem to not be ready for the day to end just yet.

              As Amrita lied down on the bed, Shiavnesh turned and landed on her with his elbow on the both side of her head supporting his weight. He slowly caressed Amrita’s long locks and placed a kiss on her lips.

             

              “Now I can finally appreciate the fact that this beautiful lady here is my wife,” Shivanesh said placing a kiss on Amrita’s forehead.

“Aren’t you tired?” Amrita asked.

“Even if I am, I don’t think I just want to let the night go just like that,” Shivanesh said. He then continued, “I would like to make love to my wife tonight. But only if she is up for it,” Shivanesh said placing a peck on Amrita’s nose.

Amrita just shyly nodded because she is not sure what she can say at the moment. Seeing how Amrita responded, Shivanesh took that as an approval and kissed her. He kissed her slowly but full of passion. The kiss was starting to get more passionate as Amrita hooked her arms around Shivanesh pulling him closer. She could feel Shivanesh hard muscles against her body and the heat was getting higher.

As the kiss got deeper and Shivanesh’s hands slowly roamed and felt every part of Amrita. As much as Shivanesh wants to rush into everything, he knows he should take things slow with Amrita. He wants to show her love and adoration. He made sure he was tender with his touch. Slowly, he started kissed her neck and nibbling on them. His hands slowly reached her right breast and caressed it slowly.

A moan escaped from Amrita’s lips that even shocked her. She closed her mouth with her hand trying to stop herself from moaning from the pleasure that she has never felt before from Shivanesh’s touch. Shivanesh chuckled seeing Amrita’s reaction. He removed her hands from covering her mouth and continued what he was doing. Amrita felt her body heating up and wanting to feel his touch everywhere. Her hands slowly roamed and played with Shivanesh’s hair while he kissed her neck, ears and slowly moving lower down.

As Shivanesh reached at her cleavage, he kissed it slowly and moved to her right breast while his other hand was on her left caressing her nipple which was hardening beneath his touch. As he had his lips around her right nipple, he felt her arch her back. He continued to suck and lick on it. He then moved to her left breast and gave it the same pleasure. Amrita’s moan was louder, and her breathing grew rapid. Seeing how her body was reacting to his touch, Shivanesh just wanted to continue giving his bride all the pleasure she deserves. His hands kept roaming down to where she was sensitive and felt her ready for him.

Before he went on, he wanted to be sure that she wants it too. He knows she has always kept her virtue and it would be her first time to do it. He wanted to give her the honor she deserves as he would be the only guy who has touched her. He does not want to force his way through, but give her the choice to say no.

“Baby. You can always tell me to stop anytime,” Shivanesh said looking in her eyes.

 “No. Don’t stop. Tonight, I am ready to give myself to you,” Amrita said.

“I will try to be gentle,” Shivanesh said before slowly entering.

Shivanesh moved slowly and stayed still for a while so while Amrita gets used to him. He saw tears trickling down her eyes. He slowly placed soft kisses on her cheeks and lips to try to distract her from the pain. As the pain started to fade, Shivanesh saw Amrita nodded, signaling him to go on.

Passion exploded as he continues to take and as she gave herself to him. Pleasure and love filled the air as they moaned for each other. She felt the effect of ecstasy as he took her. Each moment gave her pleasure she never felt an each of his kisses showed nothing but love. Her head was too clouded that she had lost every control she had for her body. Every soft and gentle touch Shivanesh made just kept on making her heartbeat rise and her breath going wild. There was love and lust in every touch and kiss between them.

Slowly and gently, the both of them reached their peak and finally exploded. Amrita felt that slowly her body is feeling the sense coming back. The moment she felt all her senses coming back, she was just to drained to even move.

Shivanesh was also drained from the intense moment they just had. He saw Amrita looking at him with a shy smile on her face. He placed soft kisses all around her face while adoring her feel of her body to his.

“I love you, wife. Happy wedding day.”

“I love you too, husband,” Amrita said placing a peck on Shivanesh’s lips before hey both drifted off.

Chapter 2- The Wedding Planning continues

A month after the engagement ceremony, Amrita’s parents and Shivanesh’s mother decided to meet to make progress on the wedding planning. Each of them already had a few things in hand that they were going to need to make decisions about as the wedding in only 5 months away.

They decided to all meet at Amrita’s parent’s house for dinner and discussion. Amrita helped her mother prepare dinner for the guest they are having over tonight. Shivanesh was going to drive his mother over and the both of them will join the discussion tonight.

 At about 7.45 pm, once Amrita’s mother and her were done with the preparations, Shivanesh and his mother came knocking on the door.

“Hi, Shivanesh. Hi, Mrs. Shankar. Come on in,” Amrita heard her father greeting them as he answered the door.

“Oh, please. Just call me Veni. Don’t have to be too formal now right?” Shivanesh’s mother said as she walked in.

“Hi, Uncle,” Shivanesh greeted Amrita’s father with a handshake.

Amrita’s mother came out to greet Shivanesh’s mother as well. Amrita followed her mother after she placed the last dish on the table to greet her in-law and her future groom.

Shivanesh could not help but to smile when he saw Amrita in a red and white apron on her. He never knew an apron could make someone look so charming and beautiful. It is not that he wants Amrita to cook for him everyday once they are married, but it warms his heart to think that he would probably sometimes come home to a warm home-cooked meal prepared with love by his wife. Imagining all this is making it harder for him to wait for the next 5 months.

“Come, please come join us for dinner. I hope it taste good,” Amrita’s mother said as she guided Shivanesh’s mother to the dining table.

“Oh my, Anu, you didn’t have to prepare so much. I really hope it was not much of trouble,” Shivanesh’s mother said seeing the amount of food on the table.

“No trouble at all. I had some help,” Amrita’s mother said signaling to her daughter who was at the kitchen at the moment preparing beverages for the dinner.

Shivanesh walked in the kitchen, being careful about making any noise. He stood at the entrance of the kitchen, enjoying his view of Amrita working around the kitchen. He really wanted to just wrap his arms around her waist and place a kiss on her shoulder, but he knew he should control himself as their parents were around. So, he decided he would try to be helpful to her instead.

“Need any help with that?” Shivanesh asked.

“No, I am almost done. But it would be nice if you could carefully carry this tray of glasses to the dining table. I will bring the tray with the jugs with me,” Amrita said.

Shivanesh carried the tray of glasses to the dining are and placed it on the table before going on to take a seat beside his mother. Amrita then came with the jugs of drinks and started serving it to everyone before taking a seat between her mother and brother.

“It is just simple food. I hope you would like it,” Amrita’s mother said.

“Thank you so much. I am sure we would like it,” Shivanesh’s mother said.

They enjoyed the diner that was served while sharing small talks around the table. Shivanesh’s mother took some time to get to know both Amaran and Amarika. She found them intelligent and cheerful just like Amrita. After the dinner, Shivanesh helped Amrita and her siblings clear the dining table which they would be using for their discussion and do the dishes while their parents went on with their discussions. After they were done with all the cleaning, Amrita’s siblings went up to their room after greeting Shivanesh’s mother. Amrita stayed at the kitchen with Shivanesh to prepare some peppermint tea and fruits for their parents and them to have while having the wedding discussions. As she finished preparing, Shivanesh helped her to bring the tray of cut fruits to the dining table while she brings the tray of teacups and a teapot to the front. She went on to serve the tea to everyone before taking a seat next to her mother facing Shivanesh who was sitting next to his mother.

“So, I guess we need to finalize on our plans for the wedding. Only 5 months left for the wedding,” Amrita’s father said.

“Yeah, I have some quotations for the catering, decorations and such,” Shivanesh’s mother said taking out some papers from her bag.

“I have some too. Let’s crosscheck and compare them,” Amrita’s mother said.

They started looking through al the quotations they have collected in the past month and decided of the vendors for the wedding. They confirmed on the decorations they would be having for the wedding and the menu to be served. They decided on the venue of the wedding and each of them had a task to complete for the wedding. Amrita’s father was in-charge of making bookings for the venue and work on the invitation cards while her mother was in charge of the making bookings for the food to be served in the wedding. Shivanesh’s mother oversaw the decorations and the setting the itinerary of the wedding. They each also had their own task for the pre-rituals in their ow houses. Shivanesh was given the responsibility to look for a good photographer for the event while Amrita had to look for the bridal makeup crew for the event. They decided to divide the task among themselves to make thing go faster and smoother.

As a result of the discussion, they have decided to travel to India to do the shopping for all the attire that they would wear during the wedding as the price paid for attire in Malaysia can be very expensive and it seem more relevant to travel to India on their own and get the shopping done there. They also decided to leave in two moths and did their flight bookings that night.

As decisions were made, Siavnesh and Amrita was excited and nervous as it was starting to hit them that they are really getting married very soon.

#

Amrita and Shivanesh arrived at Chennai International Airport with their parents on the next few months as planned. While there were there to do their shopping, their parents wanted them to also visit some temples to pray for a peaceful procession of the wedding and a happy marriage.

Amrita mostly stuck to her mother and Shivanesh’s mother during the whole shopping process as it was easier to make decisions and pay good price for the items needed when she has two ladies good in bargaining to be with her. Shivanesh has already given his mother the money he has kept aside for Amrita’s sarees and jewelries for her to spend during the shopping trip. After very much research and discussion with the two elder ladies, Amrita has decided that she would get Kancheepuram silk sarees for her wedding because they have very traditional designs that looks luxurious and last for a very long time. She opted to not have much sequence work on her saree as she feels that it would take away the beauty of the saree. Her mother and mother in-law also decided to use the same silk sarees for the wedding as it does look luxurious with a reasonable price. Therefore, they all decided to travel down to Kancheepuram the next day to look for the wedding sarees and all the other sarees for the ladies on the family to wear during the wedding as they were sticking to traditional luxurious theme for the wedding. They also planned out to get the grooms attire and the other attire for all the male family member in Chennai. Jewelries for the bride and her team would also be bought in Chennai.

The next morning, everyone woke up early to travel for about 2 hours to Kancheepuram. Once they were there, they decided to pay a visit to the famous Kanchee Kamakshi Amman temple. The temple was big and beautiful yet peaceful. Amrita’s father made some arrangement for prayers to be done by the future newlyweds. Amrita and Shivanesh did the prayer procession, with a deep wish in their hearts. He prayed and promised to love her with all he has for as long as he lives, and she prayed for his health and endless love. After they were done with the prayers, they went to saree emporium suggested by some relatives, Vara Mahalakshmi Silks.

Once they entered the building, Amrita’s father told a salesman that they were there to look for sarees for a wedding. Language was not really a barrier for them as they all spoke fluent Tamil. They were then brought to a room that had racks around on all the walls with thousands of sarees stacked in them. The salesman then spread a huge cotton cloth that was thicker than a blanket on the floor and invited all of them to sit on the cloth. The salesman then asked them the budget they have for the sarees, colors and designs they were looking for. He then walked around taking out random sarees from the racks around the room and brought it to them. Both the mother then started opening up the sarees to see the designs on the saree and the details of the embroidery on them. The salesman also spread a few sarees in front of Amrita for her to have a look and make a selection. Amrita saw all the sarees but did not seem to find one she really liked.

Seeing how Amrita has not made any selection, Amrita’s mother asked the salesman to bring more sarees in. he walked out of the room and brought in another stack of sarees in. Among those in the stack, Amrita found two sarees she seems to like. She took both the sarees and had a more detailed look to it. She always envisioned her wedding saree to be a bright red plain saree with minimal embroidery on it. She saw the red saree in her hand that had very minimal gold embellishments on the body and a 3-inch gold border at the end. She could not help herself from falling in love with that saree. She showed the saree to Shivanesh who was sitting next to her to ask for his opinion on it. When she saw him show a thumbs up with a smile, she knew that that saree was her wedding saree. She signaled her mother who was sitting on her right about the saree and left it to the expert to deal with the price.

Amrita’s mother continued bargaining for the price until they got a very good cut of the price for the saree. Amrita and Shivanesh were very surprised to see how she managed to get a good cut on the price.

Shivanesh somehow felt proud to see how his future bride was not trying to do what other brides do during their wedding. Instead of being like the brides who likes to overdress with expensive saree, she has selected a classy and elegant saree for her wedding which accentuate her individuality even more.

After 4 hours and 15 sarees, they finally decided to leave. Amrita’s mother bought sarees for Amrita’s pre-wedding rituals, Amarika and herself for the wedding. She also bought some sarees to be given to Amrita’s aunt as it is the first wedding in their family. Shivanesh’s mother also bought numerous sarees for Sumithra and her as well as for their relatives. They then traveled back to Chennai for some rest and preparation for the next day.

The next morning, the family travelled to Tiruchi to visit the well-known Uchi Pillayar Temple. In Hinduism, it is believed that Lord Pillayar symbolizes protection and power. He is known as the Lord of Beginnings and The Remover of Obstacles. So, Shivanesh’s and Amrita’s parents believed that the future bride and groom should offer prayers and seek blessing for the beginning of their life’s new chapter to be filled with positive energy and good hopes.

After completing the prayers procession in the temple, they traveled for 5 hours to come back to Chennai. Once they were in Chennai, they continued their shopping as they were scheduled to leave in two days and there is still a lot in the list to shop for. They decided to focus on a more important item which is the groom’s and all the men attire for the wedding. In a traditional Tamil wedding, all men would use white dhoti with gold border. The only way to differentiate with the groom is the width of the gold border. The groom usually has thicker border on the dhoti. They decided to visit Ramraj Cotton outlet to get the dhoti for the men.

Amrita’s father was in-charge of looking for dhoti for Amaran and himself while Shivanesh’s mother looked for the groom’s dhoti. Amrita and her mother looked for dhoti for their relatives. Shivanesh’s mother has passed her list to them to work on. After about 2 hours of shopping, they all managed to find everything they needed. They then went to another textile outlet to look for materials to make white kurta for the groom, Amrita’s father and Amaran. By the time they were done with the shopping, most shops had already closed so, they decided to continue shopping the next day. They went back to their hotel and retired from the hectic day.

The next day, Amrita and the two mothers decided to go on shopping while the men continue sleeping. They wanted to complete the last item on the list which is jewelry shopping. After looking around in many shops, they decided to select and shop for jewelries in Narayana Pearls.

Amrita was shocked when she walked in the shop. She has never seen that many jewelries in one place. There were so many different designs of traditional jewelries around the shop. She was so afraid that she would no be able to make a choice on what she wants. Deep inside, she was glad that the two elder ladies were there to help her make the choice. As she was seated, she was shown to many designs of jewelries. The more jewelries were shown to her, the closer she comes to the jewelries she would want to choose. After for about 2 hours and trying on 20 different jewelry sets, she settled with a set of statement necklace and long necklace with the same design on it and a pair of temple design jhumki earrings. The mothers also did their fair shopping for themselves and their daughters.

When they got back to their hotel room, they saw the two men preparing their luggage to be packed as they are leaving back home in the next morning flight. With the expertise of the two mothers, they managed to divide their things and pack it well to maintain their luggage weight. The magic of packing definitely is in every mother somehow.  

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Things has gotten more hectic since they came back frm India. With just two months to the wedding, things just kept pilling up for them. Every weekend was filled with something to do. The parents spent their weekends travelling to relatives’ and friends’ homes to distribute the invitation cards while the couples spent their weekend preparing their apartment. They decided to do all the handy work and painting on their own while the furnitures were all ordered months before. They spent all their available time working on the apartment because they wanted the apartment to be ready before the wedding so they could move in right after. Days seem shorter and weekends were more tiring. And before they know it, it was already time for the wedding.

Chapter 1- The Wedding Planning

It has been 2 months since Shivanesh Kumar Shankar proposed to Amrita Raman and she said yes. After about nearly 3 years of courtship and 2 years of dating, Shivanesh is glad that they are finally going to get married and starting another chapter in their relationship. Being born in an Indian family means wedding ceremonies are usually done big and grand.

First and foremost was the engagement ceremony which means Shivanesh’s family would have to go to Shivanesh’s family would have to go to Amrita’s parents to properly ask for her hand in marriage. Even though both Amrita and Shivanesh are already engaged for the last 2 months, they decided to do it the traditional way as well to please their parents and other family members.

Amrita’s parents were slowly preparing their house for the wedding planning, especially to have Shivanesh’s family over during the engagement ceremony as it would be held in their house. Amrita’s father hired some contractors to repaint their house. Shivanesh’s family are set to visit next weekend. During this ceremony is when they would decide when the wedding will be held and other decisions relating the wedding will be taken during this time.

Amrita was excited yet also nervous for the planning as she does not know what to expect for the function. Shivanesh was also getting worried for the planning and he keeps reminding his mother about how they wished to have the ceremony as simple as possible but his mother was stubborn as it was her firstborn’s wedding.

As time passed, the day Shivanesh and his family to visit has arrived. Amrita was up early in the morning to get ready for the day and to help her parents prepare everything for the afternoon event. She was exceptionally nervous today as Shivanesh’s relatives would also de attending the ceremony that she was not sure if they would like her or not. Her parents has also invited some of their close relatives for the event. They are expecting a crowd of 50 people in total over at their house and the event was expected to start late in the morning and stretch till lunchtime. All amrita prayed and hoped was for both side of the family would be able to establish a good relationship among them and become one big happy family.

Shivanesh was also nervous since morning. He woke up in the morning and helped his mother and his aunts prepare all the gift trays that they would bring to the Ramans’ house as offering in exchange for their firstborn’s hand in marriage. It is the traditional Indian way of proposing to a girl and Shivanesh has been out for the past 2 weeks preparing all the gifts for Amrita that would be placed in the gift tray. For Shivanesh, he wanted to be the one who buys all the gift for Amrita. Even when his mother was very against it as his family members were supposed to buy it, he was adamant that he would do it. So, his mother had no choice but to give in to her stubborn son as he inherited the stubbornness from her.

As it is an engagement ceremony, Shivanesh and Amrita had to also prepare rings for them to exchange later. Amrita has chisen a simple yellow gold ring with her name and his engraved along the inside of the ring and coincidentally, Shivanesh also got the same yellow gold with the same engrave. However, they both do not know that they have got the same ring design for each other as they got the rings separately.

About 10 in the morning, all of Shivanesh’s relatives who were invited to the function arrived at their house and was getting ready to travel in a group to Amrita’s family house. He texted Amrita that they were leaving home and should be arriving soon.

Shivanesh:

We are leaving now. See you in a while.  

Amrita:

Okay. Can’t wait to see you.  

After getting the text from Shivanesh, Amrita informed her parents that Shivanesh’s family were already on their way. Her father who was also nervous about his girl’s engagement went around the house for the last check to make sure everything was in order. Amrita’s mother helped her to get dressed for the event.

“I can’t believe you are getting engaged today,” her mother said. Tears brimmed in her eyes while she smiled at her beautiful daughter.

“Oh no. Amma. Please don’t cry. If you cry, I am going to cry as well. We don’t a happy day to turn into melodrama right?” Amrita said.

“I know. I am happy for you, but I know I am going to miss you once you get married. But I am happy you found the love of your life and taking a big step in your life. Nothing makes me happier than seeing you happy,” her mother said.

“I love you, Amma. Bu I really need you help right now,” Amrita said with a chuckle.

Her mother giggled and started helping her to get dressed for the ceremony. Amrita decided to wear a pink and purple double tone saree with gold embroideries on the border. She had some gold-platted Indian themed jewelries around her neck and her waist with a medium-sized two-level jhumki earrings and some gold bangles on both hands. Her long black hair has braided in a long French braid decorated with jasmine garlands and a gold tikka on her head falling slightly down her forehead. She did a natural makeup for her face and finished it with a dark red lip and a gold bindi between her eyebrows. She looked at the mirror and was satisfied of how she looks. Now all she has to do is wait in the room until she is called to make and entrance and greet everyone. All she can hope now was for the event to end soon and perfectly.

After for about 15 minutes of waiting, Amrita could hear people coming in with her parents greeting everyone. Her sister came up and showed a picture of Shivanesh she has snapped in the midst of all that was happening downstairs. Amrita smiled looking at the picture. Shivanesh was dressed in a purple jippa with a cream pants. He looked like a very handsome Indian prince and she felt like she was in love with him again. She could hear her parents being introduced to all of Shivanesh’s relative that were present and her parents introducing her side of the relatives.

After what seem like a long introduction, Amrita was greeted by Sumithra at her room door.

“Hi Akka. Or maybe I should call you, Anni,” Sumithra said.

“Hi Sumi. So, you are asked to escort me out?”’ Amrita asked.

“Yes. So, are you ready?” Sumi asked and held out her hand.

“Let’s get this over with,” Amrita said while accepting it.

Amrita walked down with Sumithra by her side. She got really nervous when she saw the amount of people downstairs. But there was no turning back, so she went on.

After a quick introduction and some discussion, Shivanesh’s mother gave Amrita a tray that consist of a saree and jewelries. In Indian culture, when Amrita accepts the tray, it means she accepts the proposal. Amrita turned to look at Shivanesh and realized that he was looking at her the whole time with a charming smile on his face that made her heart flutter.

Amrita went back to her room to change into the saree she just received. Sumithra and Amarika helped her to change her sarees and jewelries. while Amrita was changing, there were a lot of communications gong on between the family members. Shivanesh was flooded with questions from Amrita’s relatives on his career and his achievements. All he was hoping was Amrita to come down soon as he was starting to get tired of answering the same question over and over again.

After about 15 minutes, Amrita came back down, escorted by Sumithra by her side and Amarika behind her. They then proceeded to the next part of the event which include the family deciding on the wedding date. After some formal proceedings and discussions between their family, it was decided that they were going to have the wedding after 6 months and the families has chosen to have a simple morning temple wedding with a lunch reception thereafter.

After all the discussion, the future bride and groom were asked to come forward to exchange rings as a symbolization of the engagement. Shivanesh’s mother and Amrita’s mother brought out the ring prepared by the couple for each other. Firstly, Amrita was asked to put on the ring for Shivanesh. Shivanesh saw the ring that Amrita’s mother passed to her and was surprised when he saw the design of the ring. He could not help but smile at the coincident and looked at Amrita as she put on the ring on his right ring finger. He then took the ring her has prepared from his mother and turned to look at Amrita’s surprised but happy look before putting on the ring on her right ring finger. Being overwhelmed with happiness, he brought Amrita’s right hand up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles earning a big cheer among their family members and a shy smile from Amrita.

They were then asked to get blessing from all the older couples who attended the ceremony. All the couples blessed them with everlasting happiness for their married life. At the end of the event, everyone was invited to enjoy the wonderful lunch Amrita’s parents had prepared and get to know each other more as they were soon to be a big family. The future bride and groom were taking some couple shots after the event. Shivanesh could not stop himself from kissing Amrita in a few of the shots. She just looked as beautiful as a goddess to him and he was just so overwhelmed with love that he just kept smiling whenever he looked at her. As time went on, he could not stop himself from asking about the ring.

“So, Amrita. What made you choose this particular design?” Shivanesh asked showing the ring on his finger.

“Not sure. I know you like things to be simple with hidden surprise and I just felt it would look good on you. And may I know what made you choose the same design?” Amrita said.

“For the same reasons. I guess now we are also starting to think very much alike, similar to a married couple already,” Shivanesh said.

“Yes. Coming to think of it, we are. So, Shiva. The wedding planning start from now right?” Amrita asked.

“I guess it does. I wish it was shorter though. 6 months is too long to wait. I want to be married to you soon. If possible, tomorrow,” Shivanesh complained.

“Oh, don’t worry you cry baby. We will be too busy with the planning that we probably would not even realize the time going by. Six months will just pass and before we know it, it is already our wedding day,” Amrita said.

“True. I cant wait till the day I can finally call you my wife,” Shivanesh said hugging her before leaving the house with his family members.