Having a Hindu Wedding During a World Health Emergency- Oh the nerve! (Part 1)

      It was April 2019. Our wedding date was set: August 11th 2019. Sad news at that time of the passing of my fiance's patriarchal relative held even more significance for us as Hindus.
     Fast forward to early 2020, we were adamant that nothing would stop us from getting married this time around. Dates were set for April 2020; Vendors and Venues were booked.
 (NB: we had no idea how commercialized planning and having a wedding has become. If you would like to hear more about that just let us know and we can post about it.)
Invitations were sent out and with each envelope delivered our excitement grew that much more.
    March 2020. Well, you know what they say about being careful what you wish for. The first case of Covid-19 arrived  on the shores of our small twin island nation. With it came reeling back all the feelings of sadness and disappointment of the August gone by. We felt defeated. We felt betrayed. Tears ran down the faces where makeup and glamour was supposed to be. Temples were closed. Restrictions were indefinite. Public gatherings were prohibited. Now if you've had any experience with Hindu Weddings you'd know that arguably one word that can be used to describe Hindu Weddings is "Public." Who would think one would ever have to consider getting married "illegally."
Check out our awesome wedding invitation video below. We didn't get to use the video as we would have wanted, but we still get excited everytime we look at it.
(PS: thanks to my two lovely sisters for making this video. Shoutout to Trisha and Lisa.)

Who are We

 My wife Kamlaa and I were married in a quiet wedding ceremony at her home on the 25th of April 2020.
It was following country wide lockdown restrictions.
There were a maximum of five persons present: bride, groom, priest and parent included.
A lot of things have been said of the Coronavirus Pandemic worldwide, but nothing could have taught us how to cope with such restrictions for your own wedding. 
Especially when you were looking forward to celebrating this accomplishment for 2 years now. Especially when your families are Hindu and such weddings are traditionally celebrated with numerous festivities over three to twenty one days (depending on where you hail from).
They usually involve large crowds, family travelling from all over the world, lots of hugs, kisses and dancing. In short, everything you can't do during a global pandemic.
In this blog, I will try to bring some semblance of normalcy to a not so normal newlywed life and hopefully encourage others who aspire along a similar path.