Last night I helped host a "mehndi" party for a fellow specialist (art) teacher who is getting married this summer. The tradition here is for the bride to have intricate henna tattoos artfully drawn on her arms, hands, and feet. The women family and friend members also sometimes have the henna applied (but nothing as elaborate as the bride). During the party there is much laughter and fun as everyone has to wait for the henna to dry, all trying not to smear the highly staining ink.
My favorite thing I learned was the tradition of hiding the groom's name somewhere in the design, left for him to find once the
newly weds were left alone (an interesting thought, especially as this tradition stems from the time when brides and grooms did not know one another prior to the wedding- games to help them get better acquainted ;-)
Amazing! Beautiful! How long/how many artists/did it take to decorate the bride and the rest of you?
ReplyDeleteNeat-o! Way cool about the hidden name.
ReplyDeleteThere were three ladies total. One was the master and the other two were more like apprentices. The master obviously did the bridal mendhi!
ReplyDelete