Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/162483
"When I first looked up and saw her, I was blown away at how beautiful she looked" Top: Sharon's father welcomed Keith's father at the Gurudwara. Middle: Guests arriving at the Gurudwara paid respect to the Guru Granth Sahib, or Sikh scripture. Bottom: Sharon says Keith was nervous during the ceremony "because he was a bit out of his element." 42 were done," says Sharon. The week preceding the wedding was filled with the traditions of Sharon's Sikh upbringing. "Wednesday was the ladies' party. Thursday was Mehndi night and I had my henna done. It was very intricate and I had to leave it on all day and night. I was immobilized!" On Friday there was a party for close friends and family. In a ritual known as Mayaan, "Family prepared me for the wedding by rubbing turmeric into my skin to give me a healthy glow," Sharon explains. That was followed by the Chura, or bangle ceremony, in which Sharon's maternal uncle — her mother's brother — adorned her wrists with bangles. On Saturday morning, their wedding day, Sharon and Keith arrived at the Bear Creek Gurudwara in Surrey. They hadn't seen each other for a week. "When I first looked up and saw her, I was blown away at how beautiful she looked," Keith recalls. "We couldn't talk, so I gave her a smile and wink to let her know how much I missed her." Sharon entered the Gurudwara carrying a silk cloth to place over the holy book. She sat next to her groom as guests continued to enter the temple, and the ceremony began. Sharon's father took an end of the sash that Keith was wearing on his shoulders and placed it in Sharon's hand, signifying that she was leaving her father's care for her husband's. "I'm supposed to hold the sash throughout the ceremony," Sharon explains. "It would have been bad luck if I dropped it, so I wove it into my bangles." The priest read a hymn, after which Sharon, holding onto the sash, followed Keith as they walked around the holy book. They repeated the ritual four times. After final prayers, Karah Prashad, a sacred pudding, was distributed marking the conclusion of the ceremony. The newlyweds felt a wave of relief as they made their way to the park for photographs after the formalities of the ceremony. Keith remembers Sharon smiling and laughing in the park as one of the highlights of his day. After the park, they returned to the home of Sharon's parents for the Doli — a ritual in which the parents give the bride away. Sharon went into the house, but Keith had to earn his entrance by paying off Sharon's cousins who were barring the door. In exchange for his payment, the girls were to give him scissors with which he could cut the "no entry" tape stretched across the entryway. But the groom had a trick up his sleeve — he'd brought his own scissors. Once inside, Keith had to sit and endure taunts and teasing from the women gathered around him R EA L WEDDINGS p36-45_Our Story Worth Wait.indd 42 4/24/12 3:02:22 PM