I’ve learned so much in the past six months: about myself, my relationships, the whole wedding industry. But most importantly, I learned that you can’t get to this day alone.
I know I speak on Ahmad’s behalf as well when I say we couldn’t have done it without the support and love and dedication of so many people in our lives.
Our parents of course first come to mind. We both come from such close-knit families and the whole process has happened with their blessing and guidance. Sure, sometimes we didn’t agree of things but at the end of the day, we honored and respected their wishes and even included things in our wedding for them: such as playing Arabic favorites during our dinner portion.
Their marriages have been and continue to be inspirational to us and if we do half of a good job as they do, I know we will spend a long and happy life together.
On the subject of families, we would also do nothing without all the advice we got from our extended families. It is always hard integrating a new member, but on both sides, the transition was seamless and neither one of us has ever felt out of place. The greatest indication to that was when we sat at our head table at the wedding, we were surrounded by familiar and loving faces to each one of us.
Our friends are incredible. Some made the journey out to Beirut just to be with us- and I can’t tell you how much this all means to Ahmad and I. They heard all the stories and still wanted to be with us, our friendships stronger than before. In that vein, I would like to give a huge blog-hug to my incredible bridesmaids. I don’t know who was happier on my wedding day: me for marrying the love of my life or the ladies happy for me. In summary, they were and are a force to be reckoned with.
The vendors were integral and did not disappoint. Dealing with the wedding industry in Lebanon is hard and frustrating. It is very rare that someone will let you do what you want without forcing their own vision upon you and then doing it with that high level of professionalism. All the feedback we got about the catering, the music, the decor, the organization was extremely positive. And we were a happy couple because we didn’t have to deal with any last minute emergencies. No one even noticed we had to rearrange our whole schedule after one guest interjected.
And finally, the greatest thank you of them all goes to my husband. I am not the easiest of people to deal with especially when I have my heart set on something but he took my sometimes stubbornness and channeled that into a lot of great ideas that happened at the wedding.
My husband is the greatest example of a groom who is involved and happy in planning a wedding, despite tradition dictating that this isn’t his concern and he should just show up. But Ahmad put in so much effort that in the end our wedding turned out exactly how we wanted it to be: a reflection of both our personalities and who we came to be together.
All in all, I have no regrets and I have no issues with anything that happened. The best part to me will always be having those 100 people by our side, celebrating.
Beyond Beirut 