PREWEDDING PARTY PICS

Here I am getting desguised along with four others.




All dressed up... ready to meet Andy and HOPING he can pick me out!




My mother and father along with the Kitchen party host, My great aunt, Nyanya Rose Selma




My granmother having a word with her future grandson-in-law. She adores Andrew!


~ with peace, love and joy,
Tindi & Andy Amadi

KITCHEN PARTY PICS

Skookie, Tindi's friend, meeting Mrs. Uku and reconnecting with an old friend, Blanche.



At the kitchen party, the women on my side of the family wore outfits made from the same "kanga". It is a coastarian custom, it unites the bride to her family. Here is Skookie and I in our outfits.



Sylvia, my sister, in her outfit.



Ahenda, my cousin, posing in her outfit made from the kanga chosen for the occasion.



Mrs. Deborah Okumu, my best maid's mother and my mother's closest friend.



My aunts on my Dad's side, My Aunts Jane, Taifa and Pamela, all wrapped up.



My Aunt Eva in her cute outfit.



Sylvia and my Aunts Eva and Jemima

HENNA HEN PARTY PICS

For fun, the ladies and I decided to get henna tattoo on our hands and legs. Traditionally, henna has been a bride experience for over 5000 years in many cultures in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. My mother is originally from Rabai on the coast of Kenya. We grew up around the use of henna. It seemed natural to include the tradition as a fun activity.

So many of the women around me, friends and family, indulged in the henna tattooing from an artist, Hadija. The designs were different for each person. Hadija didn't have to think about what she was drawing on their hands or feet. She went with the flow. Everyone seemed pleased with the results.

Below is Hadija tattooing my legs:



She starts from the bottom and works her way up.



Inspired, she has the fowers winding up my ankles towards my ankles and calves.



Beleive it or not, she is fast. This did not take hours to complete. Each foot and leg took her about seven to ten minutes.



My only problem was staying still long enough for the henna to dry.



Now these decorated legs were worth the trouble!

The designs are temporary and fade away after a few weeks. While it is on the body it is a constant reminder of the special events surrounding the wedding. New brides are traditionally excused from housework until their henna patterns fade away. The henna designs are to mark the bride, she is queen for the day, and thus must stand out as such.



These are Skookies and my hands, beautifully decorated by Hadija.



Henna-ed hands of a few of my guests.



My cousin, Ahenda, did something different, she had her back tattoed.



My other cousin, who happens to be six months pregnant at the time, got her belly tattooed.



Ahem... yet another cousin, Sally, got her lower back tattoed.



And lastly, me... being cheeky, I got my... uh... tattooed. :-D

Hope you enjoy the pictures of what we did!

HEN PARTY, KITCHEN PARTY AND PREWEDDING PARTY

PARTY! PARTY! PARTY!

On Friday, the 23rd, I had a few ladies over for a “Hen” (bachelorette) party. It was small and simple. We hired a young lady originally from Kilifi, Mombasa, who made the most amazing designs with henna. As the bride, I had them all over my hands, arms and legs. Along with some great red wine, good food and girl chat, it was great!

On Saturday afternoon, the 24th, I had a blast with over forty women of all ages at the kitchen party (bridal shower). The leader of the "pack" is usually someone close to the bride. For me, it was my great aunt Rose Selma. I was named after her. She was one of the few relatives that stuck by my mum when she was marrying my dad. She was perfect. So that you can get the feel of the party, traditionally, the Kitchen party is an opportunity for the women in my family to advise me on how to keep a happy home. To be blunt: secrets on how to keep my man. Now, it tends to be a lot of fun and more often then not, naughty! It was a hoot! There always seemed to be a dirty joke lurking behind the “good advise” on body care, bedroom etiquette and kitchen responsibilities. A few times, I forgot that I was talking to my aunts and not my age-mates!

Later that evening, we had the pre-wedding party. This part included Andrew. Andrew arrived with his siblings and friends as our guests. It was intimidating for Andrew and his crew. They were in the minority and facing my family, who were checking them out with great intrigue. I was not allowed to come out to greet them… that would have been too easy. Instead, I was talked into following a coastarian tradition of disguising myself, along with four others, and Andrew was faced with picking me out of a line up. Boy, oh boy! I wasn’t sure he would successfully pick me out. Nevertheless, he did, and on the first try! Of course, my family was disappointed; they wanted to have a bit of fun!

The family and I had a ball, and were gearing up for the big day. Andy was glad that one huge part of the process was out of the way, leaving the wedding... count down to the 28th...

~ with peace, love and joy,
Tindi & Andy Amadi

The Road to "I DO"

Don’t let anyone tell you that a wedding is about the couple.
It is not.
It is all about the family. What they want, what they need, what they wish you would do.

Our first hurdle was the date.
We chose May 28th, 2008. Yes, it is a weekday. Yes, it may inconvenience those who have jobs. However, it was our day. Sadly, we learned on in this part of the journey, that is “their” day too. However, we held on not wanting to make changes.
“So, why the 28th?”
The 28th day mirror’s Andy’s birth date in October. It is also the same date in January that we expressed our feelings to each other. It came naturally to us.
Bottom line, we both felt that those wanted to share our special day with us would make the effort if they could.

Our second hurdle was the church service… or lack thereof.
Neither Andrew nor I are religious. We are spiritual people, with love for our maker, but we have no love for any church at this time. For us marrying in a church to please either parent would have been hypocritical and inauthentic. This did not go over well with either parent, but we held firm and compromised with a blessing from a pastor.

The third hurdle was whether to have our nuptials open to family and friends. We liked the idea of only having our witnesses at the Attorney General’s office. We wanted to celebrate with family and friends, but yearned for a private “I DO”. Again, I believe both parents would have preferred to be present, but they were kind enough to honor our wishes.

Well, other than the above, the only other hurdle was the number of guests at the reception. Boy, did we lose this battle! We started with a guest list of forty. Then it climbed to fifty within a fortnight. By the day of, I was wondering if one hundred and sixty chairs would be enough!

I remember my friend Liza saying that her sister seemed so glad to be married. Unfortunately, what I think Liza’s sister was excited about it was that there was no more “wedding planning” after the wedding date. Believe me, Andy and I KNOW the feeling!
~ With peace, love and joy,
Tindi & Andy Amadi