The wedding ceremonies.

Third-person pov.

Time flew fast, and it was finally time for the Anderson family to fly to India. Even though the wedding will be simple, they still have a long list of relatives coming over.

Mihika was feeling a little sad because her eldest son and daughter in law, could not attend the wedding with the family princes; But Mihika was happy that they finally went for a vacation.

Soon they all landed in India, Mumbai International Airport, and made their way to Juhu, as their family lived in that area. They soon reached their bungalow, and everyone settled in.

Later that night, everybody was dressed up and was ready for the engagement party.

Reyansh was already in a suit and was feeling nervous as he would meet his soon-to-be-wife for the first time. They reached the venue and admired the decorations as the girl's family had arranged everything.

When it was time to exchange rings, everybody waited for the girl to show up, but they were late due to traffic.

Reyansh was standing on the stage, waiting like everybody else. Suddenly his phone started ringing, catching everybody's attention.

He excused himself for it.

Mihika and grandmother- were waiting for Reyansh to return as Elora was close to the venue.

When they found him, he was busy shouting at someone on the phone.

He turned around and came face to face with his ma and dadi with a look on his face. They both understood what he meant.

He has to go.

They both started protesting, but Ansh said that he had to go or else the company will lose its 25% of shares. He convinced them that he would be back in a few hours, though he would have to skip the engagement.

Reyansh's mother, with a heavy heart, agreed to manage something and complete the engagement- without him.

When Elora arrived at the venue dressed in a simple silver top and pink lengha, she looked like a true goddess.

Everybody parted ways as she made her way towards the stage, confidently.

Mihika, on the other hand, was nervous. She was afraid that Elora would be upset with the news of her soon-to-be-husband departure from their engagement. Or worse, she would cry.

But when she broke the news to Elora, she did not react, but maybe she saw a small smile playing on her lips.

But maybe Mihika was mistaken.

Even her family members were not that angry, considering that the girl had to stand alone for the ceremony in front of the guests.

Everyone was shocked when Elora picked up the ring and put it on her ring finger.

Usually, in this situation, the families would have postponed the ceremony.

But Elora just put the ring on her finger.

Everyone was surprised, but they continued anyway.

When everything settled down, the rings were exchanged- via the families.

Soon everyone forgot about everything as the DJ started playing songs, and everybody started dancing to the beats.

~~~~~~~

Everyone was excited and prepared for the upcoming wedding both the families exchanged many conversations and were happy with the marriage. But no one bothered to let the bride and groom talk or meet each other.

Reyansh was still busy with his work and always worked till late. He also attended his meetings online.

Reyansh did what he was told- by his mother about the rituals.

Because he never really paid attention to them.

In one ceremony, Reyansh had to sit on a stool, shirtless. Then, everyone applied Haldi on his arms, legs and face.

Reyansh's sister, Naira, especially poured all the Haldi on his head and later pushed him into the swimming pool.

Safe to say, even though he was not happy with the marriage, he still enjoyed the ceremonies and rituals with his family.

~~~~~~

Elora dressed in light blue floral lengha with a gold sleeveless top, which made her look like a goddess.

Her black hair- tied in a messy bun. And when she entered the venue, everybody complimented her and made way for her.

Girls were jealous of her looks, and the boys were looking at her with lust-filled eyes, even though they were here to attend her wedding.

After some special dance performances by professional dancers, her mom took her to a seat- reserved just for her.

Then 3-to 4 Henna artists surrounded her and started working on her designs individually.

When the henna design- was half done, the Henna artist asked Elora, her soon-to be- husband's name.

Elora sighed slightly and replied with a quick 'Reyansh', before quickly making herself force blush.

Yes, it was one of her talents.

The girls giggled, looking at her expression and started doing their work again.

After three hours, they were all done, and Elora got up from her seat to stretch out. She then started searching- for her father. She hoped that her father could feed her like all the other brides- farther's do; When their daughter's hands- are covered in henna.

When Elora found him, she saw him feeding Eesha and her mom simultaneously. Their hands were also covered- in henna.

She watched intently- as he fed them both, and then when they were both done, he got up from his chair and started making his way towards her.

Hope bloomed in her heart at the thought of her father feeding and talking to her.

But that hope quickly vanished when he switched his path to talk to other guests and gestured them to eat.

She then asked one of her cousins to feed her, and he obliged.

From the corner of her eye, she watched her father as he helped himself with a plate of food and started eating.

Suddenly his head snapped up, and he watched him from afar. She was expecting him to come over and switch places with her cousin- so they both could eat on a single plate.

But she was left disappointed, again, when he yelled at workers behind her to do their work.

The ceremony ended quickly, and all the guests left.

Later that night, Elora started washing her hands filled with henna. She then did the same to her legs and let out a small gasp when she saw the colour of her Mehendi.

It was the darkest shade of brown.

She went down, and all the close relatives that would be staying at the house gawked at her hand and acknowledged how her husband would love her dearly. She just rolled her eyes at them- because the one person she was waiting for to comment on her Mehendi- still did not utter a word.

Her mom.

She went to sleep disappointed that night.

Again.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Elora dressed in yellow lengha with mirror work. It was stunning. But she had to cover up her tattoos with a lot of foundation since the dress was sleeveless.

Then she was made to sit on a stool, and then all the relatives applied Haldi to her hands, legs and face.

She was happy when her mom and papa were also there and applied an ample amount-of haldi to her lovingly.

After a long time, she truly felt happy and content with her life.

~~~~~

The next day was the Roka ceremony.

The families gathered for the first time and exchanged sweets, gifts and dry fruits.

The ceremony was to make an official announcement; That the consent of the bride and groom is taken before their marriage.

Though, both Reyansh and Elora felt the opposite.

After doing everything, everybody retreated to their humble abodes and started preparing for the big day- tomorrow.

The day both, Reyansh and Elora dreaded.

Their wedding day.