Of Weddings and My Ramblings: Part I

Only 8 days are left before my cousin becomes a husband of a blushing bride officially. And only 5 days to go for my 3^rd wedding anniversary. Yay!

Yeah I cannot stop rejoicing and you guessed right. It’s marriage season and hence today I’ll talk about how I prepared myself for my special day, about 3.5 years ago.

Gaachkouto, name of the red item in the Bride's hands here.
Symbolically, it is supposed to be held in the hands of Goddess Lakshmi.  

To begin with, this post will be divided into two parts. So part 1, will focus on my preparation 6 months before my wedding date was finalised. And part 2 will discuss my beauty regime and tips 2 weeks before the Big Day. Here you go!

Part I

6 months to go: My Ramblings

·         My wedding date was finalised in Aug 2009. This gave me 6 months to rejuvenate myself for the D Day. By the way, I am a Bengali, and I did deck up as typical Bengali bride.

·         As soon as the news was broken to me, I felt goose bumps. Why? Because I was overwhelmed to know that my life would be changing 6 months down the line.

·         I would not be able to plan my life for myself. Instead my plans and life henceforth would revolve around my husband and his family.

A typical Bengali Bride

Plus Points:

·         I knew my husband for quite a long time, before I wed him. And we got along very well and are great friends to this day! So the fear of getting married to an unknown man was thankfully not there.

·         My friends and seniors and my aunts were very helpful in bolstering me. They advised me that though a wedding changes a woman’s life in many ways, yet it’s not an earth-shattering event. So all will be well in due course of time.

·         This frank tête-à-tête gave me a lot of confidence.  

A Bengali Bride and Groom

The Basic Problems:

·         Body Weight: My mum reminded me of this problem that I was always happy to ignore previously. But now I could not, since I knew I would be scrutinised keenly by a lot of people on the D Day.

·         My strategy: My work timings and my long commute did not allow me to go to a gym for a workout. Plus, I was living on my own, which compounded the problem manifold. A very good friend G (who’s very senior) came to my help. She suggested me to alter my diet. I ate less of rice and more of chapattis. Green vegetables and fruits became part of my diet. I opted for plain ghar ka khana and seldom ate at restaurants.

·         Beauty Regimen: I always followed a beauty regime before. So I just made slight alterations to this. My skin is combination type with a fair complexion, and by God’s grace, I am blessed with a smooth and glowing complexion. But my only problem was acne. And of course, as a would be bride, I wanted my skin to glow more.

·         My Strategy: To tackle the acne problem and to add more glow to my skin, I resorted to internal care. That is, I took the help of a skin purifying tonic. Many people, including my roommate, recommended Safi, which is extremely bitter. So I bought Baidyanath Surakta. Being sweet, I drank 1 tbsp of this tonic every night. And I did see results. Often I also drank Triphala soaked in water, when my tonic would finish and I could not buy another bottle due to lack of time etc. J

·         Natural skin care: I began using natural herbs like fresh Aloe Vera gel to moisturise my skin and to reduce acne and acne scars. I applied a solution of honey and lemon juice all over my face for 30 mins at times. At times, I made a paste of mint leaves and left it for 20 mins on my face. The results were great I must say.

·         As advised by a lot of people, I adopted natural skin care and did not get facials done until before my wedding.

·         Hair Care: I have always used Ritha, shikakai and awla to wash my hair. And I continued that. The addition here was head massage! I went in for a head massage every fortnight and boy, how relieving it was!

And lastly, I would just relax and enjoy the last few days (read months) of my spinsterhood, read books, laze away and think Positive! 

That’s it for today ladies... And as I leave, here's a sneak preview of how I looked during the Haldi ceremony.

In the next part, I will discuss what I did 2 weeks before I got married. And you will get to see a few more of my wedding pics in that post itself. So wait and watch! Until then Tada! :)

What did you do as part of your preparation for your Wedding Day? Pls share