A Kashmiri wedding

Ever wondered how wedding celebrations differ among cultures? The Washington Post has a colorful report from a Kashmiri wedding in India.

Somehow, the wedding procession — in theory, groom first, then his father, followed by close relatives and friends — makes it to the Cardoba Hotel, where lights strung around bushes and gates make the neighborhood glow. Once the procession moves inside, it’s SHUSH, SHUSH. Quiet. Quiet.

The women and men are seated separately. Not a sound is to be made as the bride, Tamkeen Masoodi, a medical student, and Qadri, already a doctor, sit in a room carpeted with hand-stitched Kashmiri rugs. The “Nikkah Nammah,” or marriage contract, is read and signed. It’s written in calligraphic Urdu and festooned with painted flowers — climbing roses in pastel colors…

On the staircase on the women’s side, dozens of the bride’s smiling friends and giggling relatives lean in, with stacks of purple and orange bangles jangling, almond perfumes wafting. They are decked out in gold earrings and necklaces, hands covered with orange henna paint and black hair hidden under flowing silk scarves of pink, saffron and green.

The bride’s hands and feet are also coated in elaborate swirls of orange henna. Over her hair, she wears a wedding shawl, hand-stitched with intricate embroidery, the Kashmiri version of a veil.

After the contract is signed, the bride and groom quickly separate. The bride rushes off to a backroom to coo with her family — sisters, mother, other female relatives — and to be congratulated.

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