Up all night! Day 2 Monika & Mohit’s Wedding!

Posted on February 25, 2026 by robin

Its 6am the morning after the wedding and Monika & Mohit have just finished their final ceremony. We have not slept for 24 hours except for a 1hr nap in the middle of the day. I don’t know what kind of magic is in Chai, but i think its what got us through the whirlwind of events!

What an amazing day of ceremonies, dancing, singing and the food, all incredible! It’s hard to put into words how beautiful the wedding was. The colors, the traditions, all of the new friends we have made and how welcoming everyone was to Karen and I. By the end everyone felt like family, we are forever changed and grateful to have had this experience. 💗

The day started with chai (of coarse! 😅) and the with the married ladies in Monika’s family along with some of her uncles and me giving her blessings again before the start of the days events. It was an honor to be included in this ceremony.

Next was a ceremony for Mohit where Monikas family presented him with gifts to welcome him into the family.

The Haldi ceremony felt like stepping into another world — one entirely dipped in yellow. Everywhere I looked, there were shades of marigold, saffron, lemon. Monika had gifted us two beautiful outfits for the ceremonies, one of which was a yellow outfit specifically for this event.

The space was also decorated in bright colors and fun decor. This was going to be a lively event! Monika and Mohit came up the aisle surrounded by family looking incredible in their brightly colored outfits. All through the event cannons of confetti and flowers were going off, it was awesome! Ok enough describing ill get to the pics!

we had a few hours to rest and get ready for that evenings events which started with the Grooms Baraat, all of Mohits family and friends coming down the street in Jabalpur as a giant mobile party bringing him to the wedding. We could hear the drumming and music from a far and one of the guests offered to take us to go see the procession. It was so exciting to see people dancing, fireworks, confetti cannons strobe lights and the Groom in a horse drawn carriage, it was spectacular!

It was a spectacular two days and a wedding karen and I will never forget! We are so grateful to Monika and Mohit for inviting us the their wedding and to their families for being so welcoming and including us. We were truly blown away by everyones kindness 💗

Next stop Jodhpur…

Ubering in Mumbai, Jetlag & Day 1 of Monika and Mohits Wedding

Posted on February 22, 2026 by robin

I dont think anything could have prepared us for the rich sights and sounds of India.

After landing Karen very smartly booked us an Uber from the Airport to the Taj Lands End where we would be staying the night. What we didnt know was that choosing the cheapest/smallest Uber option in India was not the same as the US. We didnt need anything big, afterall it was just the two us. We made our way to our driver and saw a small well worn taxi that looked as if it had seen many traffic wars on the streets of Mumbai, tapped on his window and he motioned for us to load our bags in the front seat. As karen opened the door in the car park and started loading our bags, another taxi squeezed by and slowly took the open car door with him, hyper extending the door… karen stood there in horror looking at me and looking at the driver (😂). He casually told her to push it back and slam it shut 😳. Took a little effort but the door shut and we were off… held together by duct tape and a prayer!

Driving in Mumbai, was a lively experience, the honking cars, mopeds & jitney cabs all moving together with the lane lines as a suggestion for order. 😅 Pulling into the gates and up the winding drive to the Taj the gravity of our uber choice hit us 😬 we were surrounded by luxury cars. We didn’t realize that we had booked a 5star luxury hotel, it was the price of an average nice hotel in the US. To say that our uber stuck out like a sore thumb was an understatement, the porters did not open our doors or help us with our bags. Im sure they were thinking “surely this car has made a wrong turn” 😂

The Taj exceeded our expectations. It was beautiful and the service exceptional! ive never seen so many fresh flowers they treated us like royalty (once we went inside and checked in😅)

That afternoon the jet lag hit us like a ton of bricks, we decided to lean into it and enjoy our hotel and get acclimated to the time zone before our flight to Jabalpur in the morning. We were slightly bummed we didn’t get out to explore Mumbai but our time was limited and our jetlag strong!

The next day we landed in Jabalpur and Karens friend Monika(the bride) met us at the airport. The next 24 hours were a blur of Mehndi (henna tattoos) and colorful rituals, lots of music and celebrations with Monika and Mohit’s family welcoming us as one of their own. The pictures below start with the ritual of married women blessing Monika with herbs oil and spices, Dancing with the groom when he arrived and then the Mehndi (henna tattoos on hands) ritual for the guests while singing and taking pics with the bride and groom. That evening event was the Engagement party and it was nuts! The pictures tell a much better story then i ever could!

Tomorrow the wedding!

Dancing with the groom Mohit when he arrived

its tradition for married women and the bride to hide their husbands/fiances name in their Mehndi

The Evenings Event! Such a beautiful space! We were blown away!

The main event of the evening, the engagement party

Heading To India!

Posted on February 16, 2026 by robin

In a few days Karen and I will be arriving in Mumbai. Visiting India to attend the wedding of Karen’s friend from work. Excited and nervous at the same time! We will be visiting Mumbai, Jabalpur and Jodhpur. Can not wait to be immersed in the sights and sounds of India. I am anticipating a visual feast!!

Stay tuned….