Viv and Novie Gupta’s wedding

photo by Rob Eppers

So what follows an over the top bachelor party? An over the top wedding of course! That’s right, after 2 years of an engagement that included a diamond ring that cost as much as a nicely equipped sedan, a helicopter hovering over New York City, and a calculated weekend plan, Viv and Novie got married! The wedding was pretty amazing.; it was exhausting for all involved, but absolutely amazing.

Me and Lili, Photo by Lili’s Papa, Rob Eppers

I was smart and took off Thursday and Friday before the wedding. My line of thought was that since this was a dual wedding (Hindu and Catholic) with two separate ceremonies on two days, with the rehearsal and all the “best man duties” I would be responsible for, it would only be smart to take those days off. At that point I didn’t realize that it would actually be a 4 day long series of events and ceremonies that started Wed’s night, and didn’t end until lat Sat. night/Sunday morning.

So let’s see if I can remember the order here. The first ceremony was the mehndi Wednesday night at Viv’s folks house. This started around 6 or so, and ended near midnight. There was food, drink, and lots of people! The main purpose, as far as I understood it, was for the girls to get their henna tattoos on their hands and feet for the wedding. There was some amazing work that was done! I have never really seen how that process worked, and it was pretty cool to see how it was all done. Most of the girls had a lot of work done, but Viv’s little sister (I know what you are thinking John! and now I know what Viv’s thinking too ) and Novie had very large scale and very intricate art applied to their body. I think Novie’s henna took about 2 hours, and is still very clear and looking good 2 weeks later. They tried to make me get one on my hand, but I was afraid it was some type of ploy to make fun of the white guy. You know…. “Just kidding!!!! Only gay guys get that done in our culture, and that stuff won’t come off for two weeks! hahaha!!!!” So I made Viv get his done first before I would submit to the process. The lady doing the work was Muslim and couldn’t touch men, so one of the friends of the family put some henna on our hands.

Novi’s art

just to tease John and Viv

Thursday morning there was a ceremony at Viv’s folks place. There was a Hindu priest, food, booze and a ritual including a cauldron of fire in the living room that lasted around 2 hours I think. The ceremony was full of rituals and sacrifices lead by the priest, and mainly involving Viv and his family. What struck me as funny was that the ceremony itself didn’t seem to be sacred or reverent. That is, there were people talking on phones in the background, chatting in the kitchen, and coming and going as they please. From my culture, if a pastor/priest is doing a ceremony, unless you want the “I will rip your heart out and show it to you before you die if you do not respect the ceremony” look from at least a grandmother, a father, and maybe an in law…. you had best be quiet, or take your conversation or business elsewhere. It wasn’t that way at all, and that made me uncomfortable at first, but by the end of the weekend I was used to it. Viv also got smeared with some kind of mud at the end of this thing. Any of you who know Viv and his 3 showers and 82 hand washings a day will surely get pleasure out of the pics of him covered in mud. Luv ya brownie! Viv’s mom and sister dressed me in traditional Indian clothing; I’ll see if I can find any pics of the fish out of water.

So that took us to about 1 or two on Thursday. The next event was the rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner. I think the rehearsal was around 3 or 4, and the dinner was at 3 Forks at 6 or so. It didn’t dawn on me until a few hours before the dinner that a lot of Viv’s family who flew in from India (read: a country where the majority of the population considers the cow to be sacred, and never eaten….) might take offense to the dinner being at a steak place. Even with all of the possible drama, the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner went over very well. The food was fantastic, and I didn’t make a total ass of my self on my speech like some *cough*John*Cough*.

Mrs. Kendra Ramick and I at the rehearsal.

Then came Friday. Friday was the Indian/Hindu wedding. The wedding was something totally new and amazing to me. Viv rode in on a horse, and had all of his friends and family dancing around him and 2 drummers as he made his way in. The ceremony itself was very similar to the fire ceremony on Thursday, except this time Novie and her family were there. There were lots of sacrifices, and fire, and just like Thursday, there were lots of people coming and going, talking, not paying attention and doing their own thing. This was still a little odd to me, but I was starting to get used to it. Viv was pretty lost during most of the wedding, and it was comical to watch him try to figure out exactly what it was that he was supposed to be doing. The fire did go out at one point, and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t supposed to happen. After the wedding there was a great Indian meal, and lots of dancing. I got out there and tried to shake my groove thing. Indian dancing is actually pretty cool. Most of the music was real similar to American Dance/techno music as far as the beat and bass were concerned. I didn’t realize that going into it at all. Viv’s sister (settle down John… settle down) gave the white folks some tips on what to do and we had a great time. My goal is to get Rob on camera demonstrating the 3 basic Indian dance move we learned and relied on: Shoulders. The Light Bulb. The super tricky shoulder dip and twist thingy.

Finally came Saturday. The Catholic wedding was held at a church less than a mile away from where I lived. The wedding itself went pretty well. Novie was beautiful along with her bridesmaids, and Viv looked dapper standing there with the groomsmen (who I have to say, in since they were the same folks as were in this post…. were all men I was proud to stand next to and am proud to call my friend). The only real drama came when they had a little issue with the unity candle part of the ceremony…and yet another fire that was not supposed to go out, went out. Then Viv grabbed the lighter and tried to light it, and it would go. The priest tried to help to no avail, and in the end when there was supposed to be the middle “unity candle” burring after being lit by both Viv and Novie, and the other individual candles blown out, there was only Viv’s individual candle burring and the unity candle and Novie’s candle were out.

After the wedding came the reception. This is where things really went over the top. The party was at the Ritz (which just opened in Dallas). I can’t even begin to describe to you what this reception was like. There was a 4 course meal, and a 9 man band. Between each course you had plenty of time to get up and dance on the huge dance floor. Each meal was served at the same time for the entire table. Our table probably had 20 people at it, and 20 people on the Ritz staff came out and put every plate at the table down at the same time. On top of that, I had the best steak that night that I’ve ever had in my life. It was a fillet with some sort of blue cheese topping that I can’t even begin to describe to you, or ther than to say I was born and raised in cattle country and if I say it’s the best steak I’ve had, trust me it was good stuff! I danced with anybody who would let me dance with them, and had a fantastic time. I gave yet another speech, and I didn’t jack that one up too bad either (yay for communication degrees! whoohoo).

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And that ended the 4 day long wedding. It was one of the most busy 4 day periods I’ve ever had, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Congrats to Viv and Novie, and thanks for letting me be a part of your big day!