Wedding Day Outline

Kirsten & Atul’s Wedding - July 3, 2005

Preface to the Outline:  Our first ceremony will indeed start at 12:30 PM sharp.  After that, all times are estimated! We’ll do our best, but we also may go with some flow. =)

12:30 PM :  Our first ceremony begins at 12:30PM at the Main Line Unitarian Church (MLUC.) There is ample parking at the church.  This first "Chapel Ceremony" will be followed by a light reception with food, drink and wedding cake.

2:30 PM : The bridal party will leave to get ready for the next ceremony.  Guests now have a two-hour break in which to travel back to Malvern and rest.  We encourage guests to take naps, have a larger lunch if they like, return to the hotel to change or just go straight to the site of the second ceremony and evening reception. The Farmhouse will be a very pleasant spot to relax, congregate, have a drink and catch up with friends and family.

4:30 PM : The second ceremony begins with the Baraat— the procession of the groom’s family and friends.  This short procession will kick off in the front yard of the Farmhouse .  The actual Vedic Ceremony will follow, and will take approximately an hour and a half or more.   

 Important Note: While guests are welcome to sit and watch the entire ceremony, they are not required to do so. In fact, guests are expected and encouraged to get up and down from seats, get snacks and drinks, talk with one another and generally be comfortable during the ceremony.  (The whole bistro will be available for sitting and chatting.) There will be appetizers, and the bar will be open from here on out.

Approx 6:30 PM : Dinner will be laid out in buffets as soon as the ceremony is over and will remain available for a few hours.  There is no formal sit-down mealtime and guests are encouraged to eat whenever they like.  We expect a lot of milling around, visiting the bar, taking of group photos and general enjoyment of music as evening falls.

Around 8:00 PMish : There will be an informal program of song and dance on the central dance floor beginning around 8:00 PM.

Afterward : A selection of mithai (Indian sweets)  and our second cake of the day will be placed out for your sweet-tooth’s pleasure.

Meanwhile : More dancing and celebrating in earnest.  Our “No Macarena” DJ is most excellent, and plays both Indian and Western dance music.  Anyone who thinks they “don’t know how to dance to Indian music” need not worry—it is irresistible and there is no “right way” to dance to it.  But check with two of the groomsmen—Atul’s brother Ronak or his uncle Pratish— for demonstrations of some especially fly bhangra moves. They are very impressive, madhu!

At some point:  DJ will play Daft Punk’s “One More Time” and we will go crazy because we love that song.

Midnight:  County-mandated party closing time! Bride and groom take off, lamenting that the day had to be over so soon.  Guests grab a shuttle bus back to the Staybridge Suites to continue any after-parties there.  Or perhaps to gather in one person’s room and watch the DVD of vintage pre-Bollywood gem “Namak Halal”, thus either finding out once and for all who the heck “The Kale Muchhar” is, or re-appreciating how great he is. 

The Kale

Muchhar says:

Hai Mitva! Locations for lunching and relaxing after the first ceremony and reception will be provided in the program.