The First Dawat...

My husband and I chose not to do a walima (reception) event, partly because we didn't want to spend more than we already had, and also partly because we didn't feel the need. My husband doesn't have a lot of family and neither do I, the wedding was a celebration which felt enough for us and we were happy to have one, joint function which was split in half by us in terms of costs and work.

We also chose not to do one in case we decide to go Pakistan (we are planning a trip next year, but who knows!) where more of our extended family are, in which case we may have a small party out there - what could be more fun than to have a Pakistani function in Pakistan itself! That's still in the future yet, and we've still got our registry to go as well, but that won't happen til next year, most likely.

We did choose to have our first 'dawat' or formal dinner with our immediate family, which was two days after the wedding day. We spent the day after the wedding in our new hour putting stuff away, sleeping (!) and generally winding down and gossiping about the wedding, so it was nice to see everyone the next day when we'd had a good rest.

I didn't wear a bridal outfit on this day, but I did choose something heavy to wear, especially because I was in 'newly-wed' mode so it felt appropriate. I wore an outfit given to me by my in-laws, out of the ones they have given me, this is my favourite, classic, flattering and very pretty. This was a creamy champagne coloured maxi dress with soft pink and purple accents, which had gold and silver work on it. I didn't have any jewellery or shoes apart from the ones from the wedding day, so I wore my wedding shoes and bangles with this outfit, and a purple scarf!

The outfit was very comfortable, and I got a lot of compliments on the day I wore it - it's something I can definitely see myself wearing again and I loved it, I've been looking for an off-white outfit and this is perfect. I don't have any pictures of the outfit itself because I didn't have my camera, and I forgot to take pictures, but here's a few that I took with my husband (who was less impressed with all of my posing). My favourite thing about these photos are the mehndi still dark red on my hand - it really makes me want to put some more on again!