Part 241- The Wedding (Part 3)

As narrated by Maariah

Welcome to the wedding of the year!

Well that’s what should have been written across the hall! It was OUT OF THIS WORLD! ! And I thought that the events so far were mind blowing….not that it wasn’t but this, this was something else. It was as though we had walked straight into a fairytale because everything was so perfect!

I had to catch my breath from the second that my Valentino heel touched the first step into the hall! The entrance was decked up in several different colour roses, flowing beige drapes complimented them, candles added a sparkle to the already glistening entrance table and the contents of the table whispered a silent promise that the rest of the menu would be well worth the wait.

I mean at which wedding does the entrance table consist of three different kinds of mocktails, four very large chocolate fountains, tons of fruit skewers that have alot of fruit that aren’t even in season in our country, a HUGE Ferrero tower, baskets of assorted nuts (some of which I didn’t even know existed ) and trays and trays of an impressive variety of kajoor. I’m sure that many jaws must have hit the floor just the way that mine already did😁

Aaaand..Team Groom, minus Arshad, were already busy at the table hogging away!

“Errrr why are you guys here… aren’t you supposed to be at the Masjid? “, I asked Riza, who seemed to be overly fascinated with the chocolate fountain

“We came to fetch Ayaaz “, he grinned…and Ayaaz who was standing within earshot of Riza, raised his eyebrows questioningly..

“Ay hello Immy and I are fetching Ayaaz “, Zoheb laughed as he stood beside me

They didn’t know what to say, and we took in the sight of Nemo and Yazeed filling their skewers with an overload of fruit and Riza busy dipping it for them!

“You guys came for the food! “, Immy laughed, shaking his head

“Well we came to drop Aara “, Nemo admitted, “and then she phoned us like two minutes later to tell us that we must come back for this….so… we just listened ”

“You just listened??”

I was so killed!

“Where is Aara anyway? ”

“Yeah where is she..”, Zoheb said as he tried to peep into the hall

“Making kala kala with Aisha ” , Yazeed laughed

I looked at Yazeed wide eyed!

“Did that just come out of your mouth? ?”

“Aha…I learnt it yesterday ”

“I’m going to turn him into a proper South African Indian before he goes back ” , Nasley said as she too joined us

“And I will not be afraid ” ,Yazeed nodded obediently

My oh my….

The boys scurried off eventually and when everyone was seated…Zainab made her graceful walk down the aisle, with her father, arm in arm. She made such a beautiful, beautiful bride.

A soft instrumental melody played as she walked…and yes we teared as she passed us and gratefully accepted tissues from Shakirah and Humairah.

“My Zainab is married ” ,Farah cried, wiping her tears and I couldn’t help but laugh at Sabeeha and Rezana’s expressions when they heard that!

Zainabs parents were very emotional and even after her father left for the masjid, her mom still bawled her eyes out. Zoheb was right. There would be enough water to fill up the Vaal dam tonight! 😉

———————————————————————
As narrated by Zainab

I tried to stay focused while walking down the aisle, but my eyes drifted towards the little things that I was so desperate to check on. And true to their words, Rums and Fati had perfected every minute detail.

I let out a sigh of relief. I could now easily enjoy the rest of the evening.

I honestly felt like a princess tonight…my wedding was turning out to be everything that I had envisioned it to be. Random thoughts of Laeeka and Maariah fluttered through my mind as images of our school days flashed before my eyes. I never thought that what I used to describe back then, would ever become a reality. But it had…not only did I get my fairytale wedding, but I was most importantly blessed with a prince who surpassed all my expectations of what my husband would be like.

I closed my eyes and listened to the nikah being performed…my nikah….our nikah..

Nikahtuha…wa qabiltuha…wa tazawajtuha…

My mehr consisted of my wedding jewellery and five Kruger coins. I looked at Aunty Sawleha emotionally…They truly had gone out of their way for everything.

I guess that all that glitters isn’t always gold is it…sometimes it’s things that we can’t see…

————————————————————————–
As narrated by Arshad :

Rounds of good wishes poured in from everyone present. I don’t think that I had ever felt this happy in my entire life! I was officially a married man!

The guys hugged me and shook each others hands too, everyone seemed so elated. And I know that the honey dipped kajoor stuffed with almonds wasn’t the sole reason for the huge smiles plastered across everyone’s faces.

“Don’t keep all for yourselves “, Nemo mumbled through his full mouth

“I have a box of it in my car for later “, Riza grinned through HIS full mouth

“Because sharing is caring , right? ” ,Uzair winked

“Obvio bro” , Riza laughed

I looked at all of them and smiled sheepishly to myself… and then I cried.

I cried.

Not the loud kind of crying. But I cried…invisible tears rolled down my cheeks as I watched everyone in front of me…especially them. My brothers for life. The ones with whom my life’s most important years yet, were written.

When people are with you in bad times, it fills you with a sense of awe like no other. But when people are with you during good times, and they are genuinely happy for you..it fills you with a sense of happiness like no other.

The drive to the hall seemed to take forever…All I wanted to do was to see Zainab, I knew that she had heard the nikah being performed. That was the one thing that both of us had in common on our list of requirements for our wedding.

But the walk to my bride was long and sloppy. Long because the hall was massive and sloppy because I had to greet SO many people from both our families, and 99,9% of them had plastered sloppy kisses on my cheeks like it was “Lick Arshad’s Face Day”!

My beautiful, blushing bride was the epitome of beauty and as she smiled bashfully, I felt a tornado of emotions rise up inside of me all at once. She was mine. Not exactly how I pictured getting married, but she was mine …and this was our day, this was our moment….a moment that would forever be carved into our memories, a moment that would forever stand out in our lives, a moment that was written in the skies long before we were even born…a moment that joined Arshad and Zainab as companions in this world…and Insha Allah, in the next too…