The marriage of Russell Brand and Katy Perry can hardly be called unexpected, but it seems to be the only fact about the event that wasn’t sensational or dazzling. But how could it be anything else if the venue they settled on was Northern India?
Saturday, October 23, was the day chosen for the wedding ceremony which was called “very private and spiritual” in the official confirmation of the marriage issued by the celebrity couple’s reps.
Mr. and Mrs. Brand, who were just Russell Brand, 35, and Kate Perry, 25, but a week ago, invited only the nearest relatives and closest friends and had the ceremony performed by a Christian minister who had been the Hudsons’ friend for years.
First, the luxury resort the couple was staying at welcomed two elephants who walked in stepping on a red carpet rolled out especially for the occasion. The elephants, Laxmi and Mala, showed excellent deportment in spite of the place being crowded.
The rules of bharat, the traditional Indian wedding ceremony, stipulate that the bridegroom, accompanied by his male family members and friends, approach the bride waiting for him on a set place. The bridegroom is commonly expected to ride a white horse, but maharajas and other high-born Indians preferred to ride on elephants as grander animals better fitted for their lofty social state.
The path leading up to the ceremonial spot had white and gold illumination installed in the trees along it.
That eventful day at the Aman-i-Khas resort was backgrounded by Indian music performed on national instruments – the santoor, the sitar, traditional Indian percussion. Now and then singers broke into Rajasthani folk songs. Chanting of Vedic verses could also be heard, partly drowned by the guests applauding and hailing the newlyweds.
The days preceding the ceremony were just as memorable, with Brand and Perry limbering everyone up for the nuptials with elephants. The night before the occasion was marked by party done in a Bollywood movie style, Perry elegantly attired in a red sari and Brand sporting a classical Indian kurta pyjama of loose trousers and a long tunic, white and flapping.
Some of the guests chose to follow suit; children in Indian turbans looked especially pretty, according to Rafiq Khan who looked after the performance arrangements.
The guests trooped in to a spate of music welcome from a band of kettle drummers accompanying a turn of acrobats and jugglers also dressed in traditional clothing.
There was singing and dancing as the evening wore on.
Shopping was scheduled for those preferring more sedate entertainments; for those of the guests who were in a more daring mood safaris were arranged.
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