Last week I was invited to do henna for a Punjabi family. The bride was already getting her henna done by someone else, but the family and friends of the bride anxiously waited their turn for the henna. Remember, having henna at a wedding celebration is traditional. A henna party is a celebration of the happy times that await the family and the bride during the next few days. It is also a means for the bride to be able to relax and enjoy time with the female members of her family, and friends before she gets married.
Since I was supposed to be there for 3 hours or so, each guest got at least two designs done on their hands, if not more. It also turned out that a couple of the guests there had gotten henna done from me a couple years ago for the occasion of Eid. (Remember, Eid -ul-Fitr is a very large celebration among the Muslim community at the end of the Holy month of Ramadan, which will be coming up in August this year).
I ended up staying about 4 and a half hours, but got through so many people! The photos below are about half of the people I did that evening.
Enjoy! And please do tell me which design is your favorite!
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| Mandala style flower with dainty fingers. |
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| A Moroccan inspired flower for a lady with long and beautiful hands. |
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| A simple design for an aunt |
Some guests got both their hands done....
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| An elongated bail design |
While some only wanted one design done.
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| Flowers and a band. |
And there was only one little girl there who got her hands done--first with henna.... Then with glitter all over it!
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| Dainty floral strips on the backs |
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| A wide floral strip for an aunt |
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| Full hands for the sister of the bride |
The sister of the bride asked me to do full hands for her and a floral strip on the backs. For the backs, she wanted to strip to be angled towards her ring finger, instead of the standard pointer finger. Well, I got a little too into doing the design and angled it to the pointer finger accidentally on her left hand. But made sure I did it correctly for her right hand the second time around!
The bride's other sister, Aman (who booked me for the party), wanted four floral strips on both her hands. I added a little extra for her fingers, since afterall, she was the sister of the bride!
The backs of both the sister's hands.
One of the aunts wanted something on her feet. I am in love with doing this Sudan-Arabic inspired design on the sides of her feet. They should have stained beautifully!
More henna designs for the friends of the bride!
Thanks for reading!
Love. Henna. Party.
