Sunday, December 14, 2008

Mehndi Party - hands across America and India

















so as many of you know by now we are catering our wedding of the year and in fact the last wedding we are catering in NYC this year (no not the last wedding - don't start any nasty rumours)

Jenn and Venkats indian fusion wedding (the hind-jew wedding of the year) is both funny and fun, touching and touchy feely, amazing and over the top, and full of great times, great memories and fantastic new friends and family. Our ever expanding family of brides and grooms and their entourages has blossomed once again. This time we have been priviledged to spend time with Jenn and Venkat and both of their families in the many many hours of planning this historic event!
OM SHALOM and welcome to the tribe Venkat - whose new pet name for my purposes will forever be BEN KATZ MOT (that's another blog and I need to finish getting ready for the feastivities later today)

but back to the story at hand (you all know I can never make a long story short!)

so when the e-vite came to
attend Jenn's Mehndi Party - promising samosas, mimosas (mango no less) and henna,
the day before the BIG DAY, there was no way I could miss the comraderie of so many loving women surrounding Jenn and sending her on her journey into marriage

and besides how cool does this look
forget about getting a manicure - henna is the way to go for beautiful hands at any age!!! and Renee your love for your daughters and her friends shines beauty from within that completely bedazzles us, despite your attempts to hide your hands...



Sandhya (pronounced Sandi) must have sat there for three hours at least, painting hand after hand FREEHAND NO LESS, and even an ankle or two, with designs of our choice. The younger members of the party had to wait to do it again, but by 4:00 she had touched each of us and delighted the crowd of 40 or so woman and young girls with her creations. We all admired each others choices, so different and yet with a similar thread. - a bonding, a sisterhood that bridged any language or cultural gaps - and that spoke the language of love and smiles.















Sandy@hennastudio.com
www.hennastudio.com 917.587.2616
like you Jenn found Sandy online, so please send my best regards when you contact her and remind her that she and I are going to work on henna designs for wedding cakes for CuisinEtc's indian fusion weddings

this was right after Sandhya painted on the intricate design (which took her all of 12 minutes since she is so talented and quick but the details are amazing. Now, hours later the black has chipped off leaving behind the red stain that should last for a few days. I am now part of a sisterhood of friends and family that watched and admired and hung out and ate and chatted and hugged and laughed and basically are all soo thrilled for Jenn that she has found such a kind good gentle and loving man and that he has found his soul mate too!











So for this party, I got to be a guest and eat some delicious Indian food and take photos of the wonderful hands that make up our sisterhood of friendship and family.


















Look at the expression of love that Lakshmi and her daughter have for Jenn and the wonderous gaze at her lovely hands as she prepares to enter into a new and expanded family while mingling the traditions of new and old cultures, religions and languages. Love does conquer all - and we are were all enriched today by this touching touchy feely experience!

and Andrew and I now have family to visit in Madras - have already started to plan the trip in my head