The New Indian Bride

(the names have been changed to protect the innocent)

I don’t know Kuldip and I don’t know his parents.  I am pretty sure they don’t know me either but they will be at the wedding. 

This New Indian Bride is having a relatively small affair (by Indian standards, that is).  Just 250 of our closest friends and family plus a handful of people I cannot figure out who they are or why they are invited.  Nevertheless, they will be there and we will welcome them with open arms. 

If it were truly up to me (and it’s not…it takes a village, remember?) my guest count would be significantly less.  But there are those people we are inviting because they are related to so and so or someone sees them regularly at such and such.  The so and so and the such and such have RSVP’d and they will be there to partake in the food, the drinks and the fun. 

I hope they enjoy themselves and I hope they become people we actually know before my sister gets married. Otherwise the so and so and such and such guest count will just continue to grow.

The Presidential election is my Super Bowl, my NBA finals and my World Cup all rolled into one.  Simply put, I love politics. 

No election had my juices flowing more than the 2008 Presidential Campaign and the historic election of Barack Obama. Like most of the nation, I was riveted by Barack Obama’s speeches and baffled by Hillary Clinton’s oddly colored pant suits.

My romance with My Leading Man sizzled during the campaign as we found yet another thing we both enjoyed doing together.  We would rush to one of our apartments after work, have a quick meal, open a bottle of wine and watch CNN to track each and every twist and turn of the election.

As we started planning the guest list for our wedding, it seemed only natural that we should invite the very couple who brought us closer together.

Yes, that’s right.

I invited the President of the United States and the First Lady to our wedding.

They are not able to make it (I guess being leader of the free world, two wars and an oil spill in the Gulf Coast keeps them busy) but they did pass along a lovely note. 

Invite the President and First Lady to your wedding too! http://www.projectwedding.com/wedding-ideas/how-to-invite-the-president

I write notes to loved ones. I write in a journal.  Now, I am writing this blog.  The easiest way for me to express how I feel is to write it down.  

Which is why I invited my guests with a personal hand written note.  I wanted each person to know how much they mean to me and how honored I am to have them as part of our wedding. 

What inspired me to go down this path?  My sister’s friend, Nadia.  For her intimate wedding in the South of France (sounds fabulous, right?), she hand wrote invitations to each and every guest using a beautiful pen and the prettiest stationary one could lay eyes on.  A simple, touching, hand written note.  Exactly the kind of thing this New Indian Bride endorses.

Such simplicity is easy to achieve for a wedding with 20 guests, like Nadia’s.  However, when the guest list is closer to 250 it can pose a bit of a challenge.  None the less, the challenge was met and after many evenings of writing my heart out I was able to personally invite my nearest and dearest.

I received so many heart warming phone calls and emails as guests received their invitations in the mail.  The hours upon hours of note writing was well worth it! 

Merci beacoup Nadia pour l’inspiration!