The stage being set for a big Indian wedding at the Marriott today. I watched all day as preparations were being done. Much like a float in the Rose Bowl parade, a dome was covered in florist’s foam so that thousands of blossoms– in this case brilliant orange and yellow marigolds–could be artfully applied to it. This took hours to do.

A few hundred guestchairs festooned in orange chair drapes were set up in front of the elaborate stage. Later the guests arrived in traditional garb that glittered with sequins and metallic threads…saris, kurtas, men in tall ornate silk turbans…women with hennah’ed arms and legs, arms further bedecked with bangle bracelets from wrists to elbow.

An article in a local Goan newspaper his week stated that Goa is a popular location for weddings and many of them are extravagant million dollar affairs. This wedding was steps away from where Scott lay in bed looking out the plate glass window…the beating drums of the wedding party blending nicely with the melodic crashing of the breakers against the sands of Miramar Beach.

That’s our neighbor’s deck chair in the foreground to give you some perspective on how close this event was to our Panjim Palace.