I was lucky to arrive in time to not only attend the Mehndi (the pre-wedding ceremony and dance competition — and where the bride gets her henna done), but to also perform in it at the last-minute.

Leaving the bride’s house

Heading towards a huge tent

Since new laws in Lahore decree you can’t have public events last past 10pm (due to worries over people from outside Lahore getting into harm’s way if they return home too late), we arrived at 7pm:

Commence family phototaking on the bride’s side!

The bride’s sisters

Mariam’s father (she took this photo, FYI)

Mariam’s mother

The groom’s family arrives:

After everyone settles in, a dance performance/competition ensues between the bride’s side and the groom’s side, with choreographed sets over bhangra, hip hop, and bollywood hits.

It’s a dance-off! We go first:

Brrrrrrrrrrruuuuuaagghhhhh!

We go into an intermission:

The bride seems pleased with our performance

The groom offers his terms of surrender

After intermission the groom’s side retaliates with a few sets of their own:

Judging by the look on his face, it doesn’t seem that he likes what he sees

Same goes for her

Mariam is obviously paying attention:

We then send in a rebuttal to kill the competition if there ever was one (at this point it’s an exhibition, *ooooh*):

This back and forth continues until late into the night. By the end of the performances it was already midnight and the police were approaching our doorsteps. Seeing them, we cut the music and take a final few group photos:

The victorious

Then it’s back home we go.

Fruit market stay open late in Lahore!

Tomorrow: we visit one of the largest mosques in the world — the Badshahi Mosque, and preparing for the actual wedding (the Bharat) the day after. The celebrations continue!

 

- At time of posting in Lahore Airport, it was 41 °F -

Humidity: 75% | Wind Speed: n/a | Cloud Cover: nil significant cloud