Sari Party.

When I saw Rami and James' engagement photos, I knew this wedding would be worth the 10,000 mile trek - and boy was it! They were thoughtful down to every last detail, and nothing went unnoticed. They pored love and attention into making their day special and unforgettable for themselves and the guests alike.

Because we do not have a mailing address in Tanzania, I did not actually get to see any of the paper invites sent to guests ahead of the wedding. The evening before the wedding a friend handed me an envelope. I cried reading it. "21 Saris: Ranmali and James' Bridal Party" it read on the cover. Inside contained an invitation from Ranmali to her 21 best friends to form a special part of her wedding day. Just because she and James decided not to have an official wedding party to be part of their ceremony and celebration, did not mean that she could not have 21 of her best friends dress up in saris to match hers!

It is a Sri Lankan tradition for the bride's home to be filled with all of her female friends and family on her wedding day, not only did Ranmali invite us to spend this special moment with her, but she invited us to have her aunties wrap us up in saris to wear to the ceremony. While Ranmali looked like pure royalty in her wedding sari, the rest of us looked a little less convincing, but this wedding will surely go down in the books as completely memorable and unforgettable.

 

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Photo Credit: last photo - one of the male counterpart's to (from left) Ryan, Hanni, me, Dana, Elise

P.S. Yes, those are bugs flying around in the air mid-ceremony. They are not so coincidentally called "Love Bugs" and they only come out one time per year in Florida to mate.