Once it got underway (the Indians arrived the usual one hour late, and the biryani that we ordered two hours late!), my mehendi party was lots of fun.
The mehendi party is where all the women of the family, from both the bride and groom’s side, get together to have henna applied to their hands. It’s hosted by the bride’s family a couple of days before the wedding.
Getting dressed up in saris.
The Indians had great fun dressing the foreigners up. It was so sweet of them to bring along saris, jewellery, and bindis for everyone.
Getting mehendi applied to our hands.
Then, we got down to the serious business of mehendi application. It was astonishing how quickly the two guys got through putting it on over a dozen pairs of hands.
Indian mehendi pattern.
There are two different types of patterns — Indian and Arabic. I selected Arabic because it’s more open, and I wouldn’t look like I had two black hands and arms. I kind of wish I’d picked Indian though!
Arabic mehendi on my hands.
One of the fun parts of the mehendi is where the husband-to-be’s initials are hidden in the design. He’s supposed to try and find them on the wedding night.
The mehendi has to be left on for a minimum of one hour while it dries and stains the the hands. During this time we all sat around, ate, chatted, and even learned some Bollywood dance moves.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Ur mehndi looks lovely!Although I luved it, I lyk da Indian style better.In da village home,ders a mehndi tree close 2 r houz.My eldest SIL usually does da job.She gets mehndi leaves,grinds dem 2 a paste alongwid water,nilgiri ka tel,lemon juice & saunth(datz da Bhojpuri word,I dnt knw da Hindi word for it actually)& prepares da cones.She doesnt likes da designer mehndi & she prefers 2 apply it lyk how alta is applied-putting a big dot in da centre of da palm & covering da endpart of da fingers entirely wid mehndi.A neighbour’s girl applies lovely designs from a book she has,mso most of da women in r family get it applied frm her.Da art of mehndi application is slowly bcumin a profession in India.But we usually keep da mehndi overnight & after washing it off,achar ka tel is applied to get a rich,dark brown colour!
I just love mehndi!Infact,I
think most of da women frm da village wud agree wid me.Sometyms we get so bored of applying da usual alta 2 r hands & feet na dat mehndi cms as a welcome change!N what better dan 2 hav a mehndi tree of ur own near ur houz,jab chaho tab lagao
I know, I wished that I’d chosen Indian style mehendi instead after I’d got it done. I didn’t realise there were two different types, until I saw so many people getting beautiful Indian designs. I left my mehendi on overnight, and woke up to it all through the bed! It had flaked off every where in the night.
I was at my in-law’s house on Dussehra, and all the women were having fun applying mehendi to each other. I drew a design on my mother-in-law’s hand and she loved it. Then my sister-in-law wanted one too. My brother-in-law got my mehendi wedding photos out so I could try and copy that design, but my efforts didn’t look anywhere near as good — of course! It was still so much fun though. I loved it.
Wen u keep it overnight,tie a rough cloth around ur hand or wear socks over ur hands.Mehndi stains r really stubborn,so if u spoil a bedsheet/pillow cover,den it would be really difficult 2 get da stains off it.
usually just da reverse of what u did happens during weddings,coz da MIL is da first one 2 apply da mehndi on da bride’s hands.Once she & DILs hav dun da ‘shagun ki mehndi’(which dey bring),da bride can be applied mehndi by anyone else.After da entire mehndi is applied,da MIL ‘nazar utarofies’
da bride wid money & gives dat money 2 da ones who apply da mehndi 2 da bride’s hands.
Oh, that’s such a good tip about putting cloth or socks on hands to protect against mehendi stains. I was thinking, this is so messy, surely Indian women don’t put up with it all the time! But of course, there is a solution.
My mehendi party was chaotic with the combination of foreigners and Indians, and not very traditional/ formal at all!