The Official Engagement...

After the blessings were completed by the priests, there was a ceremony in which Davinder became officially engaged. Then there came a series of blessings from family members, many of which included gifts of money. Although the bride didn’t make an appearance, her closest family arrived bearing baskets of food (we were surprised to see Pringles and Cadbury chocolates). Since Sikhs don’t believe in dowries, these gifts were brought as blessings for Davinder’s family. Afterwards, there was a very nice luncheon buffet for 100 guests.

More Chanting...

After the priests finished their blessings, several elderly ladies went on stage to chant additional blessings for another hour. They played bongos, a table piano/accordion and funny colored plastic tambourines.
Afterwards, I was greatly surprised when the ladies came up to me to thank me for being there. Davinder’s grandmother also touched my arm as she wanted to feel a freckle since she’d never seen one before.

Sunday’s Religious Service...

As there wasn’t a written schedule for the weekend, we often joked about whether the timing of the next event was Indian time or UK time. As it turned out, all of the events were Indian time and started anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours late. This religious service was no different.

Three priests from the honored Golden Temple came to give a blessing, which is chanted and lasted about an hour. Luckily we were able to get up and down as sitting on the ground for that long wasn’t as easy as you’d think. You can see what a wide range of colors and designs that the ladies wore.
The Sikh’s holy book was covered unless it was being read from. The scriptures are a spiritual guide of 1,430 pages long, composed by the ten Sikh gurus between 1469 to 1708.

Preparing for Sunday’s Service...

As we would be attending a religious service in the presence of the Sikh holy scriptures, we had to cover our heads and remove our shoes. I was loaned a tan scarf that matched my skirt, but James and Mark didn’t blend in as much with their orange handkerchiefs.
The family actually hired a security guard to watch over our shoes during the service.

The Big Party Tent...

We were extremely impressed with what we saw when we arrived at Davinder’s uncle’s on Sunday morning. The big tent was finished with one half set up for a religious service, as shown above, and the other for a luncheon for 100 guests, as shown below. We were extremely lucky with the weather as this tent would not have offered any protection from wind or rain, but that wasn’t a worry as it had warmed up just that week and was perfect for an outdoor event.

Before and After Sunday’s Service...

Since Friday night, we’d watched a much larger tent being built directly next to the tent we’d already had three meals in. We’d heard that the workers would be there through the night to finalize everything for Sunday morning, but yet were still surprised at all that had been accomplished. The above photo shows the workers still have a long way to go. The below photo was taken Monday morning after the enormous tent was dismantled and the park was being swept clean.

Saturday Night’s Party…

Despite the hotel only being less than a mile away, there was no safe way to walk back. We hitched a ride so we could change for Party #2 that evening. I didn’t realize there would be so many parties, so I didn’t have anything to wear. Mandy loaned me one of her outfits combining Indian trousers with a European blouse and sweater.

Soon after we arrived back at the tent, a singer and band started performing. The women were told to sit on the chairs in the front of the room. Shawn’s mother tried explaining what was happening, although some of it is still a mystery. Much of the ceremony revolved around a variation of the money dance (the money was actually given to the band rather than the bride and groom, mostly in $0.25 increments) and feeding the groom (a sweet concoction of flour, sugar, butter and water—all that you need to sustain life).