The last in my wedding trilogy series and the best of the lot. Presenting #42 – a gorgeous ranee colored benarasi silk, and more importantly, my wedding saree 🙂

A saree that looks as grand today as it did 20 years ago. A saree that even today earned me truck loads of compliments from my biggest critic: my daughter! The silk satin smooth and the zari gleaming with the bright optimism of the New Year, as it did 20 years back for the newly wedded couple. My special day, my special saree. All decked up and standing next to the man of my dreams, this is the saree that was witness to all proceedings that day. The saree that saw me greeting so many hundred friends and well wishers, allowing me those fleeting moments as I smiled at him and he smiled right back; the saree that watched as I left my home of so many years and so many happy memories and tentatively stepped into a new life in a new family and a new city. My warmest moment of that day…. as I walked out of my parent’s home after the wedding sobbing uncontrollably, feeling my hubby’s hand slip comfortably into mine, and a soft whisper…you are moving out of their house, not their lives…

All of this and much more came rushing back to me as I draped this saree to a wedding. This is just the 4th time I have worn this saree, this time after a gap of over 15 years. Emboldened by the pact and drawn by my own wedding anniversary coming up later this month, I wear this 20 year old Benarasi with pride today. Standing next to this vintage car that today’s very much in love just married couple drove in today, for their wedding reception, and even while posing for this picture, my memories going back to my own special day, feeling very much the Ranee that this color stands for 🙂