We were married on May 27th 2006 at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

The Baltimore Museum of Industry patio – still being set up for cocktail hour. But you can see the cool sign above, the colors and flowers, and all the tea lights lining the sidewalks.

Some decorations above the “mandap” – the stage where we got married.

Our beautiful programs.

In Hindu wedding ceremonies, fire is a binding element. We asked all of our guests to bring a candle and light it, so that it could be a part of our “havan”, our blessed fire.

The groom walking in with his parents.

No shoes on the mandap!

We were both pretty choked up as I walked down the aisle with my parents. Here is he is, waiting for me.

My parents walking me down the aisle… it was extremely difficult not to bawl… and I didn’t quite succeed in NOT bawling!

Good thing I was wearing waterproof make-up!

After I got on the mandap I leaned over to hand my bouquet to my maternal grandmother.

We exchanged flower garlands.

And we sat down on stools on the mandap for the ceremony.

This gives you an idea of the mandap decor. We were married underneath the pavilion at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Here we are listening to long-married couples giving us marriage advice.

I know a lot of the pictures are blurry… I can’t wait for the professional photos! Here we are exchanging vows.

Next we had to walk around the fire seven times, each time making a vow: the “Sapta Ferra”. We were tied together by a red sari. His mom is helping us wrap it around us.

A friend of the family did our ceremony. Here we are listening to him describe the next circle around the fire.

Anuj said walking around the fire was kind of an out-of-body experience for him... he had seen other indian couples get married and just couldn’t believe that here he was, this moment, doing what many had done before. He said it felt amazing.

I think one of the reasons our wedding was so gorgeous was the presence of all the incredibly beautiful people in gorgeous silk saris and lenghas… This is my sister in law and a friend of the family.

My aunt congratulating us in the receiving line. (she was one of the couples who advised us during the ceremony)

And my dad being awesome by coming over to hand me a beer – though he “classed it up” by putting it in a wine glass. Ha! It was beer bottles for me the rest of the night!

Having friends and family there to share this day with us made it all incredibly special.

Talking too much to smile!

I didn’t really get to see this, but these were some of our stationary hors d’oeuvres. We also had passed hors d’oeuvres. I didn’t see those either!

Our flowergirl looking for her name on the seating chart. We had wheat grass low over the whole table, and then a laundry line of escort cards pinned with tiny clothespins to it.

More seating chart... I just loved it.

Some of the awesome modern flowers that Bouquets By Bell made for us.

Sneaking off for a private moment after the receiving line.

I have to say, I felt incredibly gorgeous in my dress. I loved the way it fell around my body.

The Baltimore Museum of Industry for a wedding is perfect, don’t you think?

Rejoining the cocktail hour.

Me with my amazing husband.

Honestly, it was a magical evening.

I bustled my skirt after the cocktail hour.

Love love LOVED our location.

“Honey, check out how drunk our friends are getting already!”

I think that’s the only hors d’oeuvres I got to take a bite out of during the cocktail hour!

My dad jumping into my uncle’s “family shot”!

They’ve added this sign to the patio since we’d seen the venue last – it totally added to the awesome atmosphere.

We had little green paper bags with candles in them all over the place outside. (This picture and the following two were taken by my amazing photographer friend Roy)

I was on the crew team when I went to university in Baltimore. I used to row past this sign every morning at dawn. You can see it right across the water from where we were married. I loved that.

The patio was open all night for people who wanted to get away from the music for a bit. I thought it looked magical.

My sister, who has very classic taste, designed and ordered the wedding cake for us. It was a surprise the day of. Doesn’t it look amazing? It’s surrounded by the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets. We also had pin spot lighting on the cake table (as well as on all the dinner tables).

One of our tables. The “orange” one.

And the lime green one. We also had a fuschia one but I don’t have a picture yet.

Being announced into the reception! We came from a side that no one expected us to, so we walked into the room with all the guests’ backs turned to us. It was pretty funny – they all figured it out after a few minutes…

All the guests seated for dinner.

Addressing the guests, after we were announced.

Ack! Red-eye!

My dad was one of the many who gave a great toast.

Boogy Bride

And a boogying groom.

I always pull that face when I’m dancing. Bizarre!

I think we pretty much danced until our feet fell off that night…

Sangeet Night

The night before the wedding, my in-laws hosted a “Sangeet Night”, a traditional Indian song and dance night.

Lots of the Belgian family and American friends borrowed clothes from my Indian family, and there was lots of bustle as my Indian aunties helped everyone get dressed…

This is me with my parents, sisters, and maternal grandmother. I bought all their outfits on that trip to India three months before the wedding.

Husband and me.

We’re both really, really sweaty. From all that dancing!! Such a blast!

My in-laws, addressing the party. Just my younger brother-in-law is missing from this picture.

I simply cannot get enough of Indian food. You can see that my marriage was a strategic move on my part!

Probably laughing at someone’s toasts. I LOVED all the toasts, all weekend long.

You might not guess it from this picture, but there was actually no alcohol at this party.

Working the dance floor. My father-in-law (over my shoulder) is seriously into it too!

Our ring bearer in the little Indian outfit I bought for him in New Delhi.

More stunning outfits.

We danced with “dandia” sticks, which was hilarious. The Indians concluded that white people emphatically have NO rhythm.

My sister is all “how the HELL do I do this dance?!?!”

Talking to my flowergirl and ring bearer.

As party favors, all the women received jangly bangles, and the men received “dupattas” (long scarves). Both are good accessories when bhangra dancing!

I could just eat these children up with a spoon…

This kind of reminds me of the hora – in any case we got thrown into the air by a bunch of crazy people. Scared me half to death.

Anuj dancing with his turban on… It’s an Indian wedding tradition that he didn’t want to miss out on. Also, I believe this was his dad’s actual wedding turban.

And actually, I totally loved it. I mean, LOOK at this guy!

We were in our element!

Me with all my siblings – aren’t we HOTT?

Post-Wedding Day Barbeque. Kent Island, MD (parents’ summer house)

At the BBQ at my parents’ house the day after. Notice my husband’s wedding ring… awwww!

Kent Island is so gorgeous… this is sunset in my parents’ back yard.

Me with my dad and my sister.

We opened some presents.

These were HILARIOUS. I guess because we live in Amsterdam we need… protective rain gear for biking in inclement weather??

Also conveniently allows for private make-out sessions.

No doubt our absolute STRANGEST wedding gift… a porcelain Lenox… ummm… bedpan??.

Still laughing over everyone’s conjectures of what it could possible be…

We also got to eat the top tier of our cake the day after the wedding. I was psyched, since I didn’t get any the day-of. It was delicious!

It really was an awesome post-wedding day. Friends from college, family, lots of people came to basically nurse their hangovers and rehash the wedding day.

Post-POST Wedding day Garden Gathering – In-Laws house

The Monday after the wedding, my husband’s parents did the last of all the wedding events – a gathering in their backyard.

I wore a red sari and Anuj wore a Kurta Pajama.

It’s not a great picture, but I thought I’d share.

And of course… more dancing. Though as I mentioned, my feet pretty much fell off at the wedding, and I was pretty much spent at this point…