Part of the preparation of the bride in an Indian wedding is the mehndi ceremony. It is sort of equivalent to a bridal shower because it is all women. Basically, all of the female friends and family get together and have their bodies decorated with mehndi, which is sort of a temporary tattoo made with henna. The bride's family hires some professional mehndi artists, musicians and caterers for the party, and then the women sit back and sing, eat and get decorated.
The longer you leave the mehndi on, the darker it will be and the longer it lasts. It is very important for the bride to have very dark and intricate designs because the darker it is, the happier the marriage will be. You are supposed to leave it on all night long, and keep moistening the henna with oil, sugar and lemon. Keerti (the bride) seemed totally shocked that I hadn't brought coconut oil with me to India. Then she said, "oh well, if you don"t have it, you can just use baby oil." Haha! I don't think I have ever owned baby oil!
You are supposed to leave it on all night, but I felt too oily and gross, and didn't want to mess up the hotel sheets, so I washed mine off when I got home from the party. It was still pretty dark, but it wasn't as dark as everyone else's. Good thing my marriage isn't depending on it!
