My Big Fat Indian Wedding (part one)

As the big day approaches I thought I would share my experience of preparing for my wedding with you. Luckily I am the anti-bridezilla and have been pretty relaxed about the whole thing (well in comparison to a lot of brides in my experience) which has been useful with our... lets call it "Fluid" guest list ("we have 40 guests, definitely." "Shiiiiit the UK list is down to 10% of the confirmed, we now have less than 30...".) Now apparently we have cousins (his), cousins of in laws (again his), and erm an elephant (claiming that as MINE) so a guest list of about 55, however, there is a week to go so who knows what we'll actually end up with!

So, I hate most weddingy things, never been one to plan my magical day with my prince charming, never really thought about my dress, I absolutely HATE wedding fairs, I find wedding magazines an absolutely obscene waste of money (are you classical? Rockabilly? Shabby chic? Obsessed with VW's? Downton abbey? How about your cake, and have you got your bridesmaids in a lovely shade of dishwater? are you jazz band or ironic dj? Hog roast or buffet? BORE OFF!!!) and i cannot imagine anything more tedious and soul destroying than picking out chair covers, I hadn't even realised that was an actual thing. Next time you're at a wedding please take a moment to appreciate the well used piece of fabric tied round your chair, it probably cost about £5! The wedding industry must be huge, people just seem to go mental and think spending £500+ on flowers is totally normal. For me, it's about making a life long commitment to the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and celebrating the joining together of 2 families with said families and friends.

In spite of all this anti weddingness we are having 3 weddings! A court wedding, a hindu ceremony and a traditional beach wedding. Well, as traditional as you can get with an elephant in the crowd!

When it comes to a colour scheme, I have 3 rules. 1 - there is no colour scheme, 2 - NO PASTEL COLOURS 3 - nothing too matchy matchy.

I had a teensy bride panic when it transpired the only thing I had done traditionally, order stuff to make favours, had gone wrong! We got a load of sweets, some a bit personalised (check out the vast array on ebay) and we ordered some little bags to put them in.... Which never arrived! My parents were due to bring them over with them but they just never turned up! Weirdly these were the only thing I bought based on a recommendation in one of the bridal mags my mum got me. So today I decided, I can sort this, I'll just buy a load of fabric, some ribbon and make my own little pouches - easy!

Yeah, it would have been if there wasn't a strike going on and all the shops are closed! We walked and walked through central Pune, it was extremely hot and a bit weird, what with most of the shops being shut. We found a couple of shops with their doors half open so slipped in and sneakily got a load of brightly coloured fabric, 4 metres for about £3. So far so simple.ish. We then needed ribbon, i could see loads of roadside tailors hunched over their sewing machines so figured they would be able to help... Wrong! All the shops selling ribbon were shut. Amazing HOW many shops in Pune sell ribbon when you look. I was a bride on a mission though and eventually found a man selling sequins and ribbon out of a window, I could have cried. He charged us 60p for 50 metres, I thought I was hallucinating ! I got home and spent the afternoon crafting our little creations with Sushil and his Mum. I am quite proud of our efforts and now feel like we've added a very personal touch to the event, as well as brightening everything up! I'll let you know how the gifts went down in a couple of weeks!

Wish me luck, and if you are a bride to be yourself, save your cash, do your research online rather than through magazines, I could go on but i kind of feel unqualified to dish out advice until my wedding is done!

Thirsty for Thirty!

Firstly huge apologies for lack of blogging lately! I was home for 6 weeks and in that time i saw as many people as possible, dragged sushil up and down the country for 2 weeks and ate and drank a LOT! Since being back in India i have been busy planning my big fat indian wedding which is in just over a week - argh! You can expect a post about that in the future as i'm sure i'll have loads to share!

So as i was thinking about what to write next i realised this time in my life is pretty significant, this year is my last one of my 20's, i'm about to get married... Its all change for me so i figured a coming of age/self indulgent blog post was about due!

I really feel as though things are falling into place for me now. My early 20's were a whirlwind, i went to new zealand with my ex, ended that relationship on my 21st and then went on to have a lot of dates, a lot of dalliances and a few pathetic relationships. None of which i regret, you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince! I partied hard, watched my younger sister get married and basically went in the opposite direction, living alone surrounded by girl friends and gay friends and a lot of sauvignon blanc. My mid to late 20's have mostly been spent in India where i feel i have experienced and learnt enough for a lifetime. I've learned to be patient, to reserve judgement, to just say no, to be selfless (ok, less selfish!) and to embrace life. I have also been lucky enough to visit Thailand, take in quite a bit of Europe, have a few mad minibreaks and do some charity work in Uganda. The constant throughout my twenties has been my friends, funnily the people i am closest to now are the ones i went to school with. I haven't learnt anything from the stream of "inspiring" quotes we seem to be subjected to on Facebook (maybe a friend cleanse is also due?).

Now as i face turning 30 in a few months, i also will become a wife, i will stop travelling to India so much and i'm starting university. This does all scare me, who isn't fearful of change after-all? But if my 20's taught me anything its that it will all be ok in the end, nights spent awake worrying about men, money, my weight, my job, my family, only give you dark circles. I'm so excited for the future, the adventures i will have with my new husband, the lessons i will learn, the sights i'll see, the people i'll meet.

As i approach 30 so too are a lot of my friends and peers, facebook is a constant reminder. I see a lot of friends (sadly mostly girls) talking about "that birthday", i say bring it on! Its a lovely milestone and an opportunity to look back on a decade of fun and look forward to the future! I like my laughter lines, i don't have frown lines yet but i'm armed and ready for when they attack, i am a sucker for soap and glory products!

I may be starting uni 10 years late but i think its ideal timing, I'm studying something which i am passionate about and care about - international studies. When i was 18 i didn't know what i wanted to do next week never mind the rest of my life! I am lucky the job i fell into ended up taking me halfway across the world where i met my fiance and now i feel i have the experience, the stability and the will to study and learn, i really am Thirsty for Thirty!