This weekend I went to an Indian wedding and I participated in the mehndi and sangeet ceremony and got really pretty henna on my hand.
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It was so cool!
The bride had already had her mehndi done the day before so it would "peak" just at the right moment. The rest of the friends and family got it done the night before the wedding.
There were two young and incredibly skilled women who came in and stationed themselves at a table, and then we all took turns getting the henna applied to our palms. The artists were so quiet- I am pretty sure they spoke English but they hardly talked- and they just designed freestyle without any patterns or guides or examples.
Everyone's came out differently. I really like mine, and there were just so many amazing patterns.
I was hoping she would do my fingertips, but I didn't want to be greedy and ask for it, so I was especially glad when she finished my palm and then seemed to read my mind and go for the tips. Not everyone had their tips done.
It smelled so good and fresh, too.
It was harder for some people than others not to use their hand for things and let it really sit and dry. Especially when it was time for dinner and you had to figure out how to hold a plate and serve yourself from the buffet with only one hand.
This was the only wedding I've ever been to that I could eat everything at! It was great. Both the bride and groom are Jain and vegetarian, and I never knew how cool it must be for most people to just go to any wedding and think "hey, all of this food is for me and it is going to be good.'
At a lot of weddings I've been to, the veg option is an afterthought at best.

Anyway, at the Sangeet (which is a ceremony where people sing and dance for the couple), the friends of the bride and groom (a good mix of white, east asian, and south asian people) all performed a very simplified Bollywood dance we learned.
The couple was really surprised to see that we learned a Hindi song and a few moves, and that we had all coordinated and rehearsed for them. It was so much fun!
The song we did was Maahi Ve. If someone posts a video of us performing it, I'll show you all. Everyone was wearing Indian garb, which made it so much prettier.