FWP Chennai Style

 

January 23, 2026, Thursday

Abid told us that once Pongal was over, it is the start of the new year and wedding season. He said that Indian weddings can last for five days, and the party goes on and on. He told us we should take the opportunity to pop in and take a look. We asked if that would be strange and he says everybody in India talks about crashing a wedding. He said it is called "FWP", which stands for free wedding party. It's a thing. Karl said, "We already tried "FPP" free Pongal party, so why not?

As we were going back and forth to our hotel room, we kept running into different members of a wedding party. We met the groom and he invited us. We met the photographer and he invited us. We met the father of the groom and he invited us. So we decided, why not?

Entrance to the party venue. This was just an ordinary hallway earlier in the week.

Photo opportunity spot for an afternoon event.

We came back in the evening and this was the hallway transformation.

The guests were just coming in from a 2nd floor dinner. The evening activity was what they called a carnival. They divided the room into two teams, one for the groom and one for the bride. The groom is the man on the left with the polka dot shirt and white classes. They passed out light sabers and they blasted loud music and turned off the lights and waved them around.

Then they had an MC who led the two sides of the room in some group games. We met the bride, and the mother of the bride. Everyone was thrilled to have us there and the photographer took lots of pictures of us. 

It was a competition to see who could make the most noise. After that game we slipped out the back door. It actually put us into the shopping mall! 

The hotel staff threw us a farewell party.

We fully recommend E-Hotel for your next trip to Chennai!

Our farewell lunch with the group was another Thali meal. Some of the dishes were too spicy for me.

Checking into the the airport, we had to show our passports to just get in. The hotel packed us sack dinners. Security let us through with full bottles of water and juice boxes. 

Just when we got on board, Emily got a text saying the hostel we had booked for this leg of our trip canceled on us. She quickly reached out to our local assistant, Gautham, who booked us in a different hostel last minute. The students and Elisabeth were all staying in a different hostel but they didn't have two extra rooms, so we are at a different location.