By Jody Thompson
Last updated at 3:03 PM on 24th October 2010
Russell Brand and Katy Perry has earned his stripes as a husband already by buying his new bride a tiger to celebrate their marriage.
Brand spent thousands buying Machli, a female Bengal tiger who lives in the Ranthambhore National Park where the pair wed yesterday.
It's said that the comedian picked her from the dozens of big cats roaming the park as she was regarded by the park rangers as 'the epitome of beauty' - reflecting his feelings for singer Katy.
However Katy, who already owns a slightly smaller domestic cat called Kitty Purry, will leave Machli to prowl in her jungle home and the money Russell paid for her will be invested in the tiger's welfare and the park's conservation schemes.
And the bride wore: Katy sported a red bag on her head as she went on a tiger safari in the Ranthambhore National Park ahead of her marriage to Russell yesterday 
'Epitome of beauty': Russell Brand gave his new bride Katy Perry a tiger called Machli as a gift during their wedding yesterday
Floral display: Staff arrange white blooms to adorn tables at the wedding reception Russell was also said to have given Katy a ruby which is said to possess 'protective powers', while Katy decided to give her man a baby elephant as a love token.
Both gifts are also early birthday presents, as the California Gurls star Katy turns 26 tomorrow.
The extravagant ceremony also featured a Hindu guru and a fortune-telling parrot.
According to witnesses, the bird foresaw a long life, long marriage and long and successful careers for both bride and groom by picking out cards in response to guests’ questions – translated into Hindi for it by handler Pandit Rakesh Joshi.
Russell and Katy tied the knot in a lavish, colourful Hindu ceremony at the Aman-i-khas resort on the edge of the Rajasthani nature reserve with 85 friends and family in attendance.
The bride started off in a blue sari, but was said to have made several changes during the day.
Russell meanwhile sported a nude-coloured traditional kurta before later wearing a long, elaborately embroidered coat.
The wedding is reported to have been a very authentic affair, with Indian musicians singing and playing the sitar, santoor, tabla and nagaras (Rajasthani kettle drums) while the guests cheered and clapped.
The pair made sure to have an authentic wedding procession known as the 'bharat', where the groom and his relatives walk to wherever the bride is waiting.
Two elephants named Laxmi and Mala arrived at the resort on Friday night in readiness for the procession.
While it is considered perfectly adequate for the bridegroom to ride on a white horse, the Indian royals used elephants, so naturally enough Russell wanted one.
However, tradition won out, and the groom arrived on horseback – while the elephants, camels and more horses formed part of the wedding procession.
Anticipation: The local helipad gets a quick brush down as local police look on
She bangs: The nagaras, or Rajasthani kettle drums, arrive before the ceremony The couple then sat in gold wedding thrones under a mandap (traditional wedding canopy) strung with red and yellow ribbons and garlands of marigolds.
The pair then made speeches, with Katy - unusually for a bride - making one herself.
However, it was said to last a bum-numbing 30 minutes as the star rambled about her belief in reincarnation and how she's convinced her and Russell were together in a previous life.
The sounds of sacred Vedic chanting could also be heard coming from the resort.
According to people working in the nearby Ranthambhore wildlife sanctuary, staff were instructed to leave at around 5pm local time.
'I hadn't even finished the lighting I had been told to do. They just told us to get out fast,' one worker told People magazine.
And it looks like Katy, 25, and Russell, 35, spared absolutely no expense with their celebrations.
In the days before the celebrations kicked off, the local store was asked to order 1,380 cans of soft drink and 5,000 bottles of mineral water. The wedding feast was traditional Indian and vegan.
And the guests made an effort to keep it traditional too, with the majority of them in Indian dress.
Indian musician Rafiq Khan says,'The young children looked very pretty, with the boys wearing small turbans too.
'As the guests entered, my troupe of drum players played the our Nagara drums (Indian kettle drums) to welcome them.
Last minute preparations: Florists work on intricate flower arrangements to decorate the wedding venue behind the scenes 
Shady character: Another wedding guest is chauffered in for the ceremony 
More than a dozen cars were seen ferrying guests including David Baddiel into the resort beforehand.
Other celebrity wedding goers were expected to include Jonathan Ross and his wife Jane Goldman, though Katy's best friend Rihanna, who organised her hen do in Vegas, couldn't attend 'due to work commitments'.
Jumbo wedding: Two elephants wait in the car park before their starring roles in Katy Perry and Russell Brand's betrothal in India - the pinnacle of a six-day celebrationKaty was pictured earlier this week wearing a nath - an Indian bridal nose ring - while Russell has had a henna tattoo done on his hand.
Guests were treated to a traditional dance by Indian supermodel Jesse Randhawa and her husband, choreographer ?Sandhip Soparrkar, dancing for them.
There were also fire jugglers and fire eaters, snake charmers and dance troupes.
The festivities continue today 100 miles from the wedding venue with a gala reception at the Taj Rambagh Palace Hotel, the former home of the Maharaja and Maharani of Jaipur, which was converted into a five-star hotel in 1957.
The party is expected to have an 'East meets West' theme with a rumoured performances by rap mogul P Diddy, even though he was still in the U.S. today having hosted a night at Pure nightclub in Las Vegas last night.
Brand proposed to I Kissed A Girls star Katy at the Rambagh Palace during a holiday their last year after a whirlwind three month romance.
Wedding dance: One of the highlights of the ceremony was a traditional Indian dance by celebrated choreographer Sandip Soparrkar and his supermodel wife Jesse Randhawa
In the jungle the mighty jungle: The tigers might not be sleeping tonight
In tents ceremony: Russell and Katy celebrated their union after making their vows in this vividly coloured tent in the Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan As previously reported by MailOnline, local police threatened to close down the reception if festivities got out of hand to stop tigers in the surrounding jungle being startled.
Armed officers said they would intervene if there was any raucous behaviour, fireworks or if music went on after 10pm.
The park is also home to leopards, wild boars, hyenas and sloth bears.
Happy couple: Katy wearing her nath, a traditional Indian nose ring worn for weddings, as she arrived at Jaipur airport earlier this week, and Russell, showing the henna tattoos he's had done for their big day 
In love: The Mr and Mrs Brand got engaged on holiday in India so decided to seal their love on the subcontinent too
No comments:
Post a Comment