Another version of the nikkah

It's 2:45 a.m. local time as I write this -- thanks to a six-hour "nap" this afternoon (I feel weird calling it that; as you can tell, we're not doing a very good job of fighting jet lag), Nick and I are wide awake and waiting up for my sister to arrive.

Although we managed to squeeze in a few zzz's, we had a jam-packed day of wedding events for two relatives: Samia (whose nikkah you saw in a previous post) and Alishba (whom many of you met at our wedding). We'll start with Alishba, since her event was first in the day.

Alishba is an American citizen, lives in New York and works at Bank of America. Because it takes a lot of planning to secure a US visa, she and her fiance, Abbas (who is not a citizen), planned their wedding functions to take place in two stages: their nikkah was today, which means they are now legally married and can get his paperwork rolling back home. The remainder of their events will take place in the summer of '09.

Alishba's nikkah differed from Samia's in venue (this one was held at a local hotel), timing (brunch), and some of the ceremony elements (many of the declarations were made in public, vs. Samia's which were in separate spaces). The event was held at the Carleton, and the view from the event room was pretty spectacular:



















The bride's family arrived first, and formed a receiving line to greet the groom's side. Without taking anyone's eye out, we threw flower petals in welcome -- and Abbas and his parents received huge flower garlands as a sign of honor. All of this was a little more formal than the nikkah we attended earlier in the week.

While the groom's side of the ceremony took place, Alishba was hidden away in one of the hotel's guest rooms. Walking in and seeing my baby cousin (because we grew up together, this is totally how I think of her -- even though she's a grown woman) almost brought me to tears. She looked GORGEOUS.















While I was upstairs with the bride and her relatives, Nick witnessed Abbas' vows with most of the guests. The prayers were sung in Arabic, and although he couldn't understand a word he found the ceremony incredibly moving.



Being a modern woman, Alishba had to check email one last time after saying her vows and heading into the main room. Bride loves her BlackBerry.








Alishba was escorted into the nikkah by a handful of relatives, including me and Nick. You'll see us towards the back, helping to hold up a dupatta owned by her great-great-great grandmother (!!!). It's over 200 years old, embroidered in solid gold thread, and is in impeccable condition. (Note: the guy in the photo next to Alishba, sporting the huge 'fro? That's my cousin Eman, her little brother. The last time I saw him, he was a mere seven years old, and now he's just come off his first semester at UVA. Insane!) We hold the dupatta over the bride's head to signify support from her family when entering the marriage. Since we can't all hang onto her arm, this is the next best thing.


The rest of the morning was full of family photos, gupshup (talking or gossip) and, of course, more food. Check out the outfits!

You'd know that couple anywhere, right? In the group shot, from left to right, are: my cousin Saira, me, my cousin Farrah, Saira's daughter Raiza, Alishba's mom Rubaba, and Rubaba's sister-in-law (whose name is totally escaping me at the moment, but her husband and Nick have become total BFFs on this trip).



It's all relative: Nick, me, my grandma and my aunt, Koko (dad's sister and Saira and Farrah's mom).