As I mentioned on Friday, Steve and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary this past weekend. We’d been wanting to throw a Bollywood-themed party for years and we figured this was our chance.
My husband applied henna to my hands and a couple of friends and their daughters’ hands. No stencil, all freehand. He also made an arch so people could walk through it. If at this point you are getting the impression that he’s the crafty one and I just take pictures, I wouldn’t argue with you.
Our friends’ and their daughters’ hands:
My hands:
See that on the left (my right) hand? Yep, he put in a fleur de lis for me 😀
Awwwww – ring shot.
Entrance to the “Taj Mahal”
In order to hang lovely swaths of color (i.e. dollar store tablecloths) Steve and our awesome neighbors pinned them around the fan . . .
… and then spread them out to hang away from the center.
The vanilla chai cupcakes were made by my awesome friend J. – the cupcake toppers are from Bird’s Party, so cute!
In my test batch I used a box of French Vanilla cake mix and substituted a cup of strong chai tea (3 bags steeped for 20 minutes) instead of the cup of water in the instructions. The Buttercream is from the Wilton website and has 2 T of strong chai tea. My friend offered to bake them for me and they were a hit, my uncle had six of them, I think!
I found Ellie, our party mascot, during a visit to Goodwill. She was there, right in the end cap and I thought she was perfect, so she came home with me:
Ellie and the perfect-for-our-theme doormat we got at Pier 1:
This being our tenth, we decided to splurge a bit and have a local restaurant provide the food. Everything was delicious, we had Tandoori chicken, Butter chicken, Basmati rice and Naan bread, Salad, Okra masala, and Vegetarian korma. Even though everyone who RSVPd showed up – about 40 friends and relatives – we have lots of leftovers, so we get to enjoy our yummy party food for a couple of days.
My brother, awesome bartender that he is, whipped up some delightful mango concoctions – both family-friendly and with alcohol.
They were frosty and delicious in the warm afternoon. We also enjoyed some gulab jamun for dessert.
My husband got his kurta at a local boutique, we were so happy with the customer service – the salespeople are nice, helpful, will work with your budget, etc. We sent a few friends there to get their costume and they were very happy as well. We never require people to dress up but it was nice to see so many of our dear guests embracing the theme.
I purchased some red glittery fabric – and let me tell you, I still have glitter all over my skin – and the lady from the boutique showed me how to pleat and wear it. My headdress is the necklace I made for my wedding, I was very happy to wear it again ten years later. I wore a teal shirt to coordinate with my husband’s kurta, and teal flats, tons of bracelets (from H&M), and turquoise earrings I already had.
We are so thankful to all the friends and family who joined us, everyone who helped out, and those who couldn’t make it but were there in spirit. I kept thinking my dear daddy would have had a blast at our party, he loved my husband and I know he was happy to know we are happy together.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week, I am off to scrub still more glitter off me!
Casa de Berry 