Being under house arrest by the Pakistani Special Branch Police was quite an intense experience and after a few days of going stir crazy inside the hotel walls we decided to see if we could arrange a wedding whilst we waited another week for Peggy’s parts to arrive via our good friend Jason in the States.

Alex worked wedding magic with a fledgling company called IPlan Events. We were happy to be their very first experimental wedding. A group of young entrepreneurs just starting out, they were filled with ideas, enthusiasm and pride for their incredible culture in Karachi, just a 1 hour flight away.

A visit from the Special Branch

Everything planned and arranged in a matter of days we requested permission from the special branch police to leave the hotel and fly to Karachi for the wedding. They advised us against it stating that once we left the hotel they could not protect us, but the Serena Hotel offered us an escort to the airport and helped us book our flights and accommodation which made us feel happy about going. Our friends at IPlan Events ensured us that we would be looked after in Karachi and would be entirely safe.

Our escort literally led us into the airport and handed us to our next escort who helped us through the airport and onto the plane. Quetta airport was a wild experience, rather like an auction house. People clutching tickets and papers waving them in the air in the general direction of one poor attendant collecting and checking tickets and passing out luggage tags. We were bustled through it all and into our seats and handed a curry sandwich as the plane left the runway.

Arriving in Karachi was like stepping into an oven. The heat in Quetta had been quite pleasant in the shade, the city is at an elevation of 5,500 feet so a breeze often blows cooling the intense burning sun, but Karachi, at sea level and along the southern coast of Pakistan has no such breeze! Temperatures over 100 degrees with over 80% humidity meant that we were instantly wet with sweat on stepping outside. We were greeted by Mutahir of O’Shoot Photography and Mariam, Falak, Uffan and Tahir from IPlan Events with huge smiles, hugs and beautifully scented wreaths of rose and jasmine to wear around our necks.

We tried to soak in all of the energy around us, airports in general are such exciting places and Karachi airport did not disappoint. We watched a car get lifted up on a fork lift truck and taken away for being parked in the wrong place, we watched a couple arrive separately for a wedding, the bride surrounded by a crowd of women and the groom surrounded by an excitable crowd of men…and all this just on the way to Mutahirs car.

The drive through the rush-hour traffic was an adventure in itself. The word ‘busy’ doesn’t do Karachi justice. The entire city is alive with energy and spirit, wherever you look there are people rushing to their next destination, with seemingly not a moment to lose.

We made it to our hotel without actually melting, stepped into our air conditioned room with a sigh of relief and changed into more suitable clothes. Still respectfully covered we went to meet with the team who had been so kind to help us with our wedding adventure in Pakistan. They told us briefly what would happen the following day and introduced us to the sweetest thing we have ever tasted in our lives, golub jamun which is like syrup soaked cake and ridiculously delicious! We also tried ‘Round gossips’ (direct translation into English), a crispy liquid filled shell!

The amazing IPlan team showed us our wedding attire by local boutique Portia and had even bought me a traditional dress to wear during my time in Pakistan. We felt so welcomed and so incredibly excited for what this wonderful group of new friends had in store for us!

The IPlan Events Dream-team…and Alex