On the evening of April 7, the Pakistani Student Association hosted a mock Pakistani wedding, the third since the tradition was established in the Spring of 2015. The PSA invited all members of the NYU Abu Dhabi community in order to showcase Pakistan’s rich culture, in dance, music, rituals — called rasmein in Urdu — and delicious food.

Photo courtesy of Emma Kay Tocci

The evening’s hosts were Ghaniba Ali and Pranav Mehta, whose commentary ensured that the crowd maintained their excitement throughout the evening’s processions. The president of the PSA, Safa Kashaf, kickstarted the ceremony with a commencement speech acknowledging the hard work and effort of all those involved in planning and executing the event.

Kashaf noted how central the wedding tradition is to the Pakistani student population at NYUAD.

“Weddings are one of the center pieces of Pakistani culture,” said Kashaf. “Everybody should have the chance to attend a Pakistani wedding at least once in their lives.”

Photo courtesy of Emma Kay Tocci

The groom, Andréz López Schrader, was dressed in a brown shalwar kameez and red dupatta. He entered the West Forum on the shoulders of his best men, whose energy and excitement were clearly felt in their coordinated dances. The energy of this entrance was in contrast to the elegant and serene one of the bride, Nimrah Khanyari, and her bridesmaids. Khanyari was fully clad in a beautiful green and gold sharara, a traditional Pakistani wedding outfit, with gold adornments on her head and mehndi on her hands.

Photo courtesy of Emma Kay Tocci

Next on the agenda was a Pakistani wedding tradition in which the audience was invited to feed sweets called gulab jamun to the bride and groom and express their best wishes for the couple. After many dance performances, Himag Vaidya performed a medley of Hindi songs that included Raabta, Samjhawaan and Tu Jane Na to the melody of Ed Sheeran’s song Shape of You. This performance was followed by Shreya Shreeraman’s cover of Nagada Sang Dhol by Shreya Ghoshal.

The musical performances were followed by celebratory dances featuring the bride and groom. In the grand finale, everyone present was invited on stage to dance with the married couple. This was immediately followed by a procession leading the bride and groom out of the building and toward the palm trees where an exquisitely decorated golf cart awaited to serve as the couple’s getaway vehicle. Dean of Students Kyle Farley then drove the couple around the palm trees and off toward the West side of campus.