Indian weddings often begin with the groom and his entourage of family and friends arriving at the wedding hall in a grand fashion. Back in the day, the groom’s side would make their way to the bride’s village, singing and dancing all the way, and the groom would be seated on a horse or carriage, or if their families were particularly important, an elephant.
When my husband -S- and I got engaged, we were asked many questions about Indian ceremonies and traditions. One of the most common was whether we would have an elephant at our wedding. In the hopes of getting people excited about attending, -S- would say, “of course!” I would either roll my eyes or shrug my shoulders in response. I was pretty sure there would be no horse and no elephant; most likely -S- would be arriving in his brother-in-law’s convertible.
One day, I came home to my laptop and found that the last words searched for were “elephant rental.” Putting more fuel in the fire, -R- let -S- know that her sister was in vet school and had some circus connections which may help in his quest for an elephant.
The hype around the elephant was growing larger and larger. We created an FAQ section on our wedding website, including “What’s this I hear about elephants?” as one of the questions. -S- insisted that I not edit his response: “Typically, the groom arrives at the wedding hall in a grand fashion with a dancing entourage and seated in a fancy car, on a horse, or even on an elephant. We are partial towards elephants.”
In an email sent to our friends, explaining how the festivities would start, we wrote: “The wedding festivities will begin in typical Indian wedding style with a groom's procession or baraat. The groom, along with his family and friends, will gather outside the wedding hall at the parking lot gate. Our DJ will be in a van blasting music while the procession dances their way to the wedding hall, accompanying -S- in a car/horse/elephant/???.”
Luckily, -S-’s brother-in-law’s convertible made a pretty damn good elephant:
Recently, one of my mom’s coworkers informed us they had sent in pictures of the elephant car into a contest at Car and Driver magazine. It won! So look for it in the January 2008 issue.
For more information on Double G's wedding, you can see my old entries here and here.
14 comments:
I forgot to say thanks for the great post, Double G! And I am totally buying that magazine in January!
That is an awesome story. And now I am wondering what other benefits might be served by R's sister's "circus connections."
This was brilliant! I want that car!
That is amazing. I love creative wedding moments!
That car is great! What was the prize in the contest? I hope they're sharing it with you! ;)
I love it! That car looks great! And it's nice to see that no actual elephants were harmed in the making of your wedding.
I am thinking of trading my boyfriend in for an Indian man just so I can have an awesome Indian wedding. Can I borrow the elephant car?
3carnations: The prize was something like a sweatshirt and $50. I think S's bro-in-law deserves most of the credit, but he'll probably live without the prize.
op pink herring: The elephant car turned into a pumpkin that night (sis and bro-in-law had to get home!) All the paint came off the next day in 4 car washes. But perhaps I will let them know there is demand for an elephant car business.
Thanks for the use of blog space, -R-! Guest blogging is fun! Maybe I will play again.
p.s. 14 years? Wow!
Great story and great car! Thanks for making me smile.
That's so great- do you do freelance work in the greater Boston area?
Awesome story!! So many people get completely burned out from weddings, it's nice to see something fresh with a little "hype."
That is so great. And you didn't have to worry about the "elephant" getting enraged and running away with the groom. ;)
That is so freaking awesome! And what a great memory and story for any future kids.
This? Is awesome.
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