Friday, November 18, 2011

If there's any doubt, give instructuons

For the end of the ceremony, we didn't want to use rice or bubbles--Jon's cousin did sparklers but we were getting married in the afternoon and they're somehow suddenly illegal in Illinois.

EB had an idea of using dried jasmine instead. I would already be wearing jasmine in my hair (a very Indian thing), so we thought it'd be a nice touch of continuity. So I bought a couple big bags of the dried stuff, some tulle in different shades of blue and asked my dad to make little bundles tied with ribbon for guests to throw as we walked back down the aisle as husband and wife. He got tired of it pretty quickly so my mom helped him get the job done.

On the day of the wedding, I assumed people would be told what to do if they didn't know already, but we were so busy, everyone sort of forgot. People held them in their laps, reverently. Not a single dried jasmine bud flew in the air that day.

After we got back from the honeymoon, one of my friends from work asked me on Facebook what those little bundles were about--if they had some sort of cultural or religious significance. I told her nope, people were just supposed to throw the stuff at us but it was an epic fail in our part for not having a sign or some kind of instructions.



They don't smell very strong, but if you sniff up close, there's a very nice fragrance.

I'm keeping one of these pinned up to my bulletin board at work as a reminder of how people are not mind readers and I have to make sure and communicate what I want or risk disappointment. Another reminder is the basket of 200 tulle bags of jasmine flowers sitting in the basement.

But not all of them went to waste. Pp's boyfriend has been keeping them in his shoes.

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4 comments:

Madelyn said...

Was your dad upset?

Syar said...

Oh man, I'd love a few of those to put in my closet and some drawers, maybe even the bathroom (which I share with two stinky boys, so any little bit helps).

A pity people didn't throw them, but hopefully they thought they were nice gifts!

Shalini said...

What the what? Sparklers are illegal in Illinois? That's crazy pants.

cadiz12 said...

Madelyn: my dad didn't really say anything. that day--in true Godfather style, anyone could have asked him ANYTHING.

Syar: I hope so, too. They crush kind of easily, so i think they'd be dust soon enough in a closet.

Shalini: I KNOW. i was so disappointed. The kids would have had fun, but i can just see a couple saris going up in smoke...