A Hindu Wedding

In a time and age where digital photography has become so accesible to everyone, one would think it should inevitably make life a lot easier and more eco-friendly. After all, organizing photos is just a click away, and there’ll be no more tons of paper wasted on unwanted prints, right?

I find it quite the opposite. I’ve been feeling this constant, nagging guilt from neglected pictures that sit in my digital camera’s SD card from the year before last. That’s right, circa 2007.  So, I finally decided to pull up a comfortable chair, get my tea ready (and get another pot going–yes, it is a long task ahead), and finally dig through the thousand-or-so pictures.

Voila! What a pleasant find — pictures of the wedding program my husband and I designed and made from scratch, for my sister in law. She was one of those lucky people who had two weddings at-a-time, a Hindu wedding, and the other one, a Catholic wedding. Both were equally beautiful. Theirs was a fall wedding, with plenty of vibrant oranges, scarlets and gold highlights.

The programs were laid out on the reception table for the Hindu ceremony.We used paper roses and red-dyed raffia to hold the programs together. Every single one was hand-tied and knotted.

..every single one was hand-knotted and assembled by hand..

The stage in the back was where the ceremony took place.

Heavy cream textured cardstock was used for the inside pages of the program.

It was so much fun doing the programs–all 120 of them! By the end, I had a much deeper appreciation of all things handmade… I am completely obssessed with paper –all kinds and colors–, and would have gone on to use different textures and maybe even some washi – Japanese paper – since Papersource has such a good selection of paper, including washi paper. However, the bride wanted to keep it simple, what with all the bright colors and patterns on the saris the bridal party was wearing.  It was truly special to have something handmade for a special occasion.

 

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