magazine cut outs and drawings of my dream wedding dress. Don’t get me
wrong, it’s not like I was against the whole idea or anything. I’m just
not a girl who cares that much about “the most important day in my
life”. And then in February this year my best friend of 12 years asked me to marry him.
The high school sweethearts pictured back in the day.
Cue a small destination wedding with my closest friends? Nope.
Cue My Big Fat Lebanese Wedding.
DESTINATION WEDDING MY A**E
I
wanted a small wedding on a beautiful beach with our closest friends
and family. I’m talking 50 people for a really nice and intimate
gathering.
“Hahahahaha”
Do you hear that noise? That’s my dad laughing after I told him about my grand idea.
At
this point we realised this isn’t going to be OUR wedding after all.
Everyone makes a big fuss about how it’s YOUR big day and you can do
whatever YOU want.
No, no, no. That’s definitely not the case in
Lebanese families. In order to survive this journey with our sanity
intact, we accept that this will be a mission to keep everyone else
happy.
Angie had to forget about her small destination wedding pretty quickly.Source:Supplied
WE HAVE TO INVITE YOUR COUSINS, NEIGHBOURS, FRIENDS, UNCLE!
So
not only did my intimate “Destination Wedding” get erased from the
equation, now I’m getting married in a church, with a big reception in
Sydney with a guest list of 350 people (and counting).
Who are these people? Why do I have to invite them to my wedding? Am I ever going to see them again?
General
responses include but are not limited to: “It’s rude if we don’t invite
them!” and “They invited us to their son’s wedding so we have to invite
them back!”
I can just imagine the awkward moments we’re going to encounter.
Me: “Who are these people smiling and walking towards us?”
Husband: “I don’t actually know, just smile back and say thank you”
THE IN-LAWS
Unfortunately this content could not be viewed due to explicit language
YOU CAN’T HAVE A WEDDING WITHOUT A PRE-WEDDING!
What
is a pre-wedding (also known as a Laylieh in Arabic) you may ask?
Basically the bride throws a big party and only her family and friends
are invited. They eat, drink (a lot), dance and make lots of noise.
Then
at some point during the night, the groom crashes the party with his
family and friends bringing with them a lot of noise. They come; they
dance, drink (more), eat dessert and hang around for an hour or so
before they leave.
The pre-wedding symbolises the last big family
gathering as a single woman and the groom crashes the party to show he’s
stealing her away. Just in case the wedding day isn’t obvious enough …
When
I simply asked if this party is necessary I was accused of “not being
excited about getting married.” How does this make sense?
Angie and her fiance getting in the spirit.Source:Supplied
NO, YOU CAN’T EXPECT YOUR GUESTS TO DRIVE FOR HALF AN HOUR
We
originally found the perfect venue for our reception. It had a lovely
garden and a unique vibe and atmosphere that we fell in love with but we
couldn’t choose it. The reason … it’s a half an hour drive for MOST of
our guests.
Oh and I forgot to mention my second “grand” idea.
Once the destination wedding went out the window I then thought “How
about the Hunter Valley?”
A beautiful garden wedding, less than a three-hour drive from Sydney sounds perfect right?
The
reaction: “It’s very selfish of you to ask your guests to travel that
far”. SELFISH? It’s my wedding and I’m the one being selfish?
So yes, that was another idea down the drain.
I
feel the next thing will be … “What do you expect your guests to do for
the spare half an hour they’ll have between the church and reception?”
How dare you make people wait!
It’s now less than eight months until the “big day”; between now and then there will be approximately 257 events.
But I guess I can stop my complaining because let’s be honest, I probably don’t have a fiance anymore right?
Maybe I should have titled this: “How to lose a fiance in 800 words”.
Somehow we think these two lovebirds will be OK.Source:Supplied
