My Big Fat Pakistani Wedding Part 2!

In my previous post I covered my Nikaah and Mehndi functions. This post will be dedicated to my Baraat (the literal meaning of this is procession - when the Groom arrives to take away his Bride) an event hosted by the Bride's parents and Walima (which is the Reception/Dinner hosted by the Groom and his family.

My Baraat:

The function was held at the Royal Castle Hall, in Rawalpindi near to Islamabad. The venue was beautiful and I loved the way they did the stage

On the podium you can see the guestbook that a very dear friend gifted to me. It was personalised so that made it all the more special :)

I had a spotlight for my entrance that was very effective for both the videography and photography of this sequence. It's a lovely feeling making an entrance all glammed up surrounded by your loved ones :)

 I always wanted to wear red  for my Big Day as is tradition for Brides in the Asian Subcontinent, but also wanted to contrast it with another colour. I chose a fawny gold coloured kameez (top) to contrast against the red lehnga (skirt) and dupatta (veil). The lehnga was lined with jamawar (a type of silk) and had a pearl, stone and thread work border, as did the dupatta.

The jewellery I chose was very delicate, as I wanted the main focus to be on the outfit and rather than have the jewels overpower both me and the outfit; I wanted them to compliment it. I wore a polki style jewellery set with matching bindi (head jewellery).

We cut a lovely cake from Rahat Bakers that was decorated with purple flowers, kind of as an indication of our theme for the next day. 

We also included the cute Pakistani tradition of the Bride's sisters offering the Groom and his friends a glass of milk in exchange for money. The glass was hand decorated by my beautiful and ever talented Mother who was also Chief Wedding Planner :)

The hardest and most emotional part of the day was the Rukhsati (the Bride leaving her family for her new home). A copy of the Qur'an (Muslim Holy Book) is traditionally held over the Bride's head by her Brother, so that she leaves with blessings and prayers. *teary -eyed*

The following day, our Walima (reception) function was held:

I went for a longer gown style kameez (top) with in a pale grey jamawar (silk fabric) with both silver and gold kaam (embroidery). The lehnga (skirt) was a deep purple lined with a turquoise edging, to add a pop of colour

As my dress included both silver and gold, I was able to wear jewellery made of both:

Our photography was done my Mani Studio of Islamabad, and we finished off the evening with a photo-shoot in their studio. Their studio was beautiful and I loved the pictures taken there:

I hope you all have enjoyed reading about and seeing snippets of my wedding functions. There was so much to include so I couldn't possibly include every detail; however I can safely say my family & friends made all my wedding functions ones to remember :)

Thanks for reading!

* All pictures belong to Girl Meets Pearl