Nora and Yaz's Bangladesh-style wedding feast

The Bengali wedding consists of a series of sophisticated celebrations, including the bride's holud ceremony (sort of like the bridal shower), which I had attended 2 weeks ago. The wedding reception of course was even bigger and better.

Over 200 guests, consisting mainly of the bride and groom's relatives and family friends, were invited to this cultural extravaganza at Conca D'oro, in Riverwood.

Following custom, Yaz and his mates had to bribe their way through a barricade of Nora's family and friends. I witnessed a hilarious episode of banter about different currency accepted for admission. Dressed in an amazing costume and headpiece and after some pushing and shoving, he eventually made his way in and sat alone on the swing, waiting for his bride to arrive.

The bride's entrance was more grande. Suspense was built up with clouds of heavenly mist and guests oohed and ahhed as she was hoisted in a classic sedan-chair down the red carpet. Her sari was a stunning red and green ensemble with gold trimmings. Beautiful gold ornaments were studded in her hair and her arms were patterned with henna. It was tradition for the groom's family to present the bridal sari on the day so lucky Nora didn't have to stress about finding the perfect wedding dress!

In between speeches, starters were served on a 3-tiered stand which had been decorated with luscious lilies and roses. The batter on the cauliflower pakhora was thick and absorbed the natural fresh flavours of the vegetable but the other items were delicious. There were fish cocktails, Indian potato scallops, and lamb seekh kebab which were cooked on a charcoal BBQ. I usually don't eat lamb but these were so tasty and surprisingly didn't have the stench I often dread.

The main meal was a feast of plain pulao, which is rice cooked with a mix of Indian spices. This was fragrant with its garnish of fried glazed onion. There was also lamb korma, garden salad, roast chicken, a vegetable curry of mushrooms, shami kebab (lamb with grounded chickpeas), really salty but delectable pickles (achar), raita and naan bread. We had enough leftovers to feed another table of 8!

Dessert consisted of traditional Indian sweets - gulab jamun (donuts in sweet syrup) and rasgolla (milk balls in sweet syrup), followed by espressos and dark chocolate and hazelnut truffles.

The evening ended with a bit of dancing and lots of queuing for personal portraits with the newlyweds.

A huge congratulations to my gorgeous friends Nora & Yaz. xoxo
And also special thanks to Chanderika for dressing me :))

Groom pushing through barricade of bride's family and friends

Bride hoisted on sedan chair

The very pretty swing

Nora's lovely family

The newlyweds

Performance of Thank God I Found You, with Nora's sister on the piano

Wedding cake

The menu

Chandelier

Me in a saree (sari)

Zen and Daniel (Eugenia's hubby)

Floral arrangement

Starters on 3 tiered stand

Entree of seekh kebab, Indian potato scallops and cauliflower pakhora and fish cocktails

Plain pulao, rice cooked with a mix of Indian spices and garnished with glazed onions

Naan bread

Garden salad, mushroom curry and shami kebab (lamb with grounded chickpeas)

Raita (yoghurt, cucumber, mints and mix of spices blended together in natural yoghurt

Achar (mixled pickles)

Lamb korma, diced lamb slow cooked in a marinade made of onions, tomatoes and mix of Indian spices

Roasted chicken quarters

My big feast

Indian sweets, gulab jamun (donuts in sweet syrup) and rasgolla

Espresso coffee

White and dark chocolate mud cake

Zen & I with the bride

Me and my (uni-classmates) girlfriends dressed in saris [L - R] Me, Sarah, Olivia, Laurachel, Rennae, Jenny, Eugenia, Jodie

Guests hit the dance floor

Zen & me smiling

Me growling :)

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