Now I'm a forever after twosome

By Konnie Kara on 26 Apr 2011 No comments

It’s three days since the Indian wedding. Vinnie and I are married and that’s that! No more ceremonies, no more parties, no more will we/won’t we worries, we’re now a family and all that’s left is to paraphrase that line from a film, start enjoying the rest of our lives together.

We are catching our honeymoon flight out tomorrow afternoon and Vinnie, who is back at work and trying to tie up loose ends has left me with the formidable task of packing his suitcase. I never did this before we were married, and while I am doing it for him on this one occasion, I am not making a habit of turning into his mum.

The biggest advice my mother gave me as I departed from the reception three nights ago was this: ‘start as you mean to go on.’ She’s said this to me in my dating life too which is why I Vinnie and I work. We’ve been upfront and honest with each other from the beginning. No game playing, no pretending we’re something we’re not. I see me packing his suitcase not as a traditional subordinate wife duty, but as an actual team effort. I’m sure he’ll do the same for me whenever I need a hand. 

So while I am still on cloud nine and looking forward to the biggest holiday of our lives let me tell you all about the wedding day! It was a bit of a blur, and still is. I do wish everything had slowed down – and by everything, I mean the universe – just so I could cherish and savour each and every single moment from the time I woke up to when Vinnie arrived on a white horse with a brilliant turban, looking like an Indian prince.

I styled him on Arun Nayer’s wedding look and he pulled it off. Even though poor Arun and Liz have split, I am going to make a massive point here: as a wedding journalist, I often get inspiration for weddings from celebrities. The difference is, I never follow celebrity marriages for inspiration because of the high break up rates. For marriages I aspire to – I look to grandparents, parents, friends parents and couples whose love has lasted nearly their whole lives.

Anyway, he looked delightful and I squealed in excitement (under my breath albeit as to not look like a pig in my beautiful pink sari) as I walked down the aisle with my brother. The Hindu ceremony was beautiful in every way. The flowers smelt divine too and all our guests smiled on us as we walked around the sacred fire.

Even though we didn’t understand the Sanskrit vows our priest repeated them all in English and our guests, by way of ultra modern touch were included in our vows and when prompted by the priest, promised to collectively help support our union and days upon earth. It was an electric moment hearing the congregation get involved (I saw this happen at a friend’s Protestant wedding and decided to shake up guest’s involvement in the Indian ceremony as usually they are too busy gossiping and yakking away during the ceremony!). It made everything really public – we were no longer just a couple saying I do, but making a commitment to stay married and in love to all our families too. That’s a big deal. A really big deep and spiritual deal.

The two banquets were amazing too – guests loved the morning Indian fried breads (big carbs overload to keep them going) and the food and drink just kept flowing all night at the reception. Vinnie and I had a great time at the photocall, and got to finally kiss each other in celebration. The champagne went missing however at the crucial moments before the toast and we had to send Josh’s dad on a wild goose hunt for that Magnum of Dom Perignon which turned up in the kitchen somewhere – lucky he found it or I definitely might have had a bridezilla moment!

Vinnie and my father gave amazingly calm and poised speeches – Vinnie just had to drop the story about us meeting that fateful night and how we stayed up till the sunrise and the birds started singing. I cried as did my mother, and my father just looked relieved that the sun was the only thing I saw come up that night! Vinnie’s best friend Tom meant well, but stumbled a fair bit over his speeches until my uncle – thankfully – grabbed the mic off him, spared him of his misery and called us all on to the dance floor.

We performed our first dance while our guests made a circle around us. I can’t remember anything else but dancing entire night away without actually drinking as much as even a full glass of champagne! I never intended to get drunk anyway, but I did think I’d need a few hard drinks to get me relaxed. But that’s the thing about the happiest day of your life; you don’t need anything but love, baby!

I’ve got to head off again now, I am sure to tell you lots more about our honeymoon and also the wedding after Vinnie and I have finished piecing our individual memories together.

Love Konnie xxx