My first Indian wedding is an experience that I will never forget. It was a complete surprise that a fellow student in our class had extended an invite for our entire class to come to his sister’s wedding. We ride by bus through the busy city and made it to the venue. It was to my surprise to see just how many people were attending the wedding, which amounted to over 3,000 people. We were taken into the huge room filled with people wall to wall who were handing out pieces of flowers to throw at bride and groom, who were standing on a big stage. We were taken to the front, allowed to go onto the stage to take photos and congratulate the bride and groom.

What was really amazing to me was the fact that these people invited complete strangers and foreigners into their wedding without hesitation, and treated us like family. We were directed up to the stage to meet the newly weds and take pictures as if we all knew who everyone was. It was a very amazing experience in which I enjoyed immensely, and something I was grateful to be apart of.