The Mandwo!
So, the start of the wedding is marked by a ceremony called the mandwo. It is an Indian cultural tradition and varies between religions. Our mandwo went up on Friday just after the afternoon prayers and was started with a recital by my brother in law from the Holy Qu’ran. Starting with a recital ensures that the wedding will go smoothly and well.
After this, my four little helpers came outside to the front of the house. The girls who are part of this ceremony have to be pre-puberty. Luckily, I come from a big family and a few of my friends already have children so I wasn’t short of any little princesses to help me out.
The first part of the ceremony involves planting a stick covered in a flower garland into soil next to the house. This acts as a protective guard throughout the wedding. It keeps your house and the people inside (particularly the bride and groom) safe.
After this, we came inside and my uncles and dad had prepared some hooks into the ceiling the shape of a square. 
The four girls in turn, starting with the youngest then looped a red cloth into the hooks that had been prepared.
Once all four corners had been hooked into place, I had to add a coconut into the middle of the cloth.
Look at the crazy concentration on my face 🙊
After this, the four little princesses were all given presents to say thank you for their help.
Finally, all the family and friends that had attended were fed. One of the key dishes is a sweet coconut rice that marks a sign of a happy occasion.
And lucky me, my gorgeous friends gifted me with my wedding present. I will do a separate post on friends wedding presents at a later date 🙂
I did get myself ready and kept my make up simple as this was a pre-wedding function. 
Sorry I’ve been so rubbish at posting. I hope I can get better! I’ve got so many posts I want to share with you- even wedding unrelated!
Hopefully I will get to it’s all and it won’t be posted too late. It might mean some of the wedding posts have to be put on hold, but I promise I will get back into it as I do miss blogging!
Lots of love,
Attonitus! Xx
Attonitus 