Cherry Blossom Candy Leaf

Before Seema's July 9th wedding, her parents hosted the traditional Mehndi party. Mehndi is also known as henna. At the shower, I practically begged for an invitation and after some convincing ;), the girls let me come. I thought about it every day leading up to the event. I researched mehndi and printed out designs that I wanted. I was looking forward to it so much and even now it was one of the highlights of the summer.

Traditionally, mehndi is done at the home of the bride's family a few days before the wedding. The bride's henna usually includes her future husband's initials or name in the design on her hands. Because many Hindu marriages are arranged, the bride and groom may have had very little or no contact before the wedding ceremony. Traditionally, they see each other for the first time on their wedding day, during the ceremony when the veil between them is dropped. So on the wedding night, the husband looks for his name in his bride's hands as a form of foreplay.

Seema is not a traditional Hindu bride in that her marriage is a "love marriage". She has known Bryan, a non Hindu, since her college days. Seeing the way they mixed the two cultures and wedding traditions was cool (and twice the party!!!). Bryan was at the mehndi party as well, as were other men, and some of the more tricky ladies were trying to get him to get some henna done on the palm of his hand. This is not appropriate for men in Seema's cultural group and she defended her man's honor and helped him to deny the ladies' requests.

The henna is a thick paste, and is put into plastic "cones" that look like a smaller version of what you would use to frost a cake. It is squeezed out of the cone with an artist's touch. The longer you keep it on your skin, the deeper the coloring will be when the paste falls off or is washed off. I had mine on for over 5 hours before I started peeling it away. A henna amateur may not consider that you have the paste drying on your hand(s) for such a long time, which limits what you are able to do, like eat or use the bathroom. So remember this when getting your henna tattoo and selecting where you will put it on your body.

When I arrived for the mehndi party, the girls dressed me in traditional clothes. They said I could wear a sari, but I would have to wear a shirt that shows your midriff, so I declined. I'm sure a "beer belly" (in quotes because I don't drink often... maybe a "junk belly" would be more appropriate) looks awesome hanging out of a sari.

If I could have my way with the henna artist, I would have had a completed body suit. Because there were so many guests to "tattoo", all the women had one hand or one foot done. But because Swapna and Seema know the man paying the bills (their pops, Suhas) I had my hand and foot done. Here's a picture of my hand the following day (with a baby lizard that Ben caught in the backyard).

Because Seema was the bride, she got the henna started. She only did a small design because her hands and feet would be completed closer to her wedding day. Check out Jaya's golden sari - I love it!