Henna Hands

The Mehndi party was a blast. I loved it! The henna artists had some really cool designs. All the other women there went with very elaborate designs, but I stayed kind of conservative. I only had one hand done, and a design that stretched from above my wrist to the tip of my ring finger. My relatives went all out with the designs. It was so much fun!

A Mehndi party is traditionally an event for the women, but my neice and her fiance were combining their traditions for a very personalized event. They invited couples to the Mehndi party. It seems to be all about adorning and pampering the women. Many of the guests were in traditional Indian attire, and it was so pretty! My neice looked like a princess, and the groom-to-be looked so handsome!

There was Indian music, and dancers. The food was all Indian, (except one pasta dish), and it was very exotic and spicy and delicious.

There were far more of my relatives there than I expected! So many people I hadn't seen in ages! It was great. Even my brother came in from Alaska. My brother from Nebraska got trapped by the bad weather, which was ironic since he is a meteorologist, LOL! The sad thing, though, was that he is the father of the bride! He didn't show up while I was at the party, though I heard he finally got to the airport. He was said to be on his way, but I couldn't wait around to see him since I was riding with other relatives, and it was getting very late for our drive home.

I got such a kick out of the henna hands, though. I love this tradition! They use an applicator that resembles a scaled down version of a cake decorator. Then they pipe the henna paste onto your hand in these lovely patterns. It feels very cool (and tickled just a little bit). Then they sprinkle the paste with glitter, and sometimes set faux jewels into it. It looks so neat! But I was concerned with being able to eat and even use the bathroom with this on my hands, so I opted for a less elaborate design. Perhaps at a different event, or if I did this by myself, I might get a bit more adventurous. Anyway, the paste has to stay on your skin for a while, preferably overnight. Then you flake off the paste, and beneath it, the skin has been stained a red or reddish brown color. Mine is a brick red color.

The tradition says that the longer the bride's henna lasts, the better husband her future groom will make. The reason for that is because daily chores such as laundry and dishes and cleaning, all work to fade the design quickly. If her design lasts a long time, it is because her new husband is pampering her, and doing the chores for her. (I like that tradition!)

You can see my 'henna hand' in the picture. This is when the paste was still on. The design is also on my thumb, though you can't see it in this picture because of the way I turned my hand. I'm hoping it lasts a very long time. I really like the pattern. I've never been very interested in having a tattoo, because of the permanant nature of it, but this I would definately do again. I'll have to find out if there are any good henna artists in my hometown.