Another wedding

I'm usually the last to know about things.  Either that or I just don't understand people when they tell me what's happening.  So I was really excited when my Nepali mom told me my little brother was getting married shortly after she found out, which turned out to be a full week before the wedding.  Of course, I thought the event she was telling me about was just my brother bringing his fiancee to meet the family and didn't find out it was the actual wedding until the day before.

The wedding was a fairly small event.  The ceremony took place in the early afternoon, which I am now convinced is the perfect time for a wedding-- you have all morning to get ready and then by the time you're exhausted and just want to have the house to yourself again people are going home.

I don't understand everything that went on, but I'll do the best I can to describe a typical Gurung wedding.  First, dung is smeared in front of the door.  There are two sacred water pots and a fire.  Then a chicken is sacrificed and the blood sprinkled on the stoop.

The bride and groom then approach the house, are greeted at the door and invited in.

Family and friends then take turns giving the bride and groom a white tika, pronouncing a blessing on them.

You don't typically see a lot of smiles during the ceremony, but I promise that they really are happy together.

And then we eat.  A wedding just wouldn't be a wedding if there wasn't food involved.

 

As soon as the ceremony was finished, the bride put on her working clothes and helped the other women with the feast and clean-up.