Weddingbee Blog

Our mendhi party was held at my house in Orange County the Thursday before the wedding. My mendhi artist insisted that I get my mendhi done the night before the party to let it really set in and get dark before the wedding. This forced me to stop running around like a mad woman and actually relax. Nothing like getting henna put on for five hours to slow a person down. Lucky for me, my MOH, bridesmaid B, and one of my best friends from college were there to keep me company, and even take my contacts out. Yeah, I know gross. I forgot to take my contacts out beforehand, and with all the henna on my hands it was up to my friend to take them out. Lucky for me she’s an ophthalmologist, so I was in good hands.

Getting my mendhi applied. The paste was black but it dyes (temporarily) the skin a deep red color.

I had to sleep with the henna paste so my SIL tied plastic bags around my hands and feet. It was honestly the worst sleep I have ever gotten. Not to mention that we (my MOH and college friend) slept Willy Wonka-style, so my tossing and turning all night affected them too.

Terrible picture of me but you get the idea

Willy Wonk styles

I also wasn’t allowed to wet my hands or feet for at least 24 hours, so I couldn’t wash the henna paste off in the morning. Instead, my SIL scraped the henna off my hands and feet with a butter knife. It was actually kind of painful since the henna artist sprayed the henna with tons of hairspray so it was really stuck on. Hairspray really worked though, because my mendhi was pretty dark.

There are many associations with the color of mendhi—some say that the deeper the color the better your relationship with your MIL, or the more your future husband loves you. Just to make sure both those things came true, I rubbed Tiger Balm all over my hands and feet (recommended by the henna artist). Tiger Balm smells intense and makes your skin weirdly hot, but it did help make my mendhi get even darker.

After all the henna was scraped off, I went upstairs to try on my mendhi night outfit. I quickly discovered that the outfit was huge on me! All the wedding stress and running around helped me drop some pounds in the weeks leading up to the wedding. Although its a great feeling to lose weight, I wasn’t happy with only a few hours until the party. I rushed to our tailor in a panic and after much begging, he agreed to alter the outfit in just a few hours. While my outfit was getting altered, I rushed off to get my hair and makeup done at Ziba, took last minute engagement photos with Dina, and then rushed home to get dressed.

Starting promptly at 7, the house began filling up with lots of friends and family. People enjoyed the perfect California weather, ate some delicious Sri Lankan food, and got their own mendhi applied.

M’s Flowers made hanging garlands of marigolds that were strewn all around our house.

Jill from M’s Flowers came up with these modern beautiful flower arrangements—low clear glass bowls filled with rocks, orchids, marigolds, succulents, coxcomb and calla lilies. (Sorry for the bad picture quality.)

Mr. Margarita’s gorgeous Mom (bottom center), grandmother (top center) and four aunts

Me and some of my girls

Mmm, Sri Lankan Food

Close up of my mendhi (Mr. Marg’s name is hidden on my palm)

My nieces getting mendhi (Ignore the timestamp - my Dad had it set to Feb 2006, cause he’s awesome like that)

Me and Momma Margarita

Midway through the night, the families and friends gathered in our living room for some singing and dancing. It sort of turned into a dance/sing off between my family and Mr. Margarita’s family, which was odd but definitely entertaining.

Mr. Margarita’s side of the family singing

Our beautiful family friend dancing to some popular Hindi songs

The dancing and singing stopped a few hours later and our guests began to leave. On the way out, each of our female guests got to take a set of bangles and a packet of bindis. Divying and tying up these bangles took a few hours and left us bedazzled with glitter yet again. I think it was worth it though since I saw tons of our guests wearing the bangles at the wedding. It was also worth it because of the adorable jewelry holders from Pier1.

Up next, the rehearsal dinner, and hopefully soon, some professional pictures.

*All pictures taken by friends and family

For an explanation of the meaning of mendhi, read this article from Nirali Magazine.