The morning of our wedding, one of my bridesmaids, my Maid of Honor, and some family members were staying at our house. Two of my uncles hosted a huge breakfast at my parents house that morning, but I was obviously too frantic to eat. My MOH and my bridesmaid were helping me pack and get ready to head over to the hotel. I had let one of my uncles borrow my car to run few errands early in the morning, and he had accidentally left the lights on, forcing the battery to die. "Awesome," I thought, "already off to a great start."
I tried not to panic, luckily my bridesmaids kept me pretty calm. I borrowed my dad's car and we high-tailed it off to the hotel. I was wearing a white "Bride" sweatsuit my MOH had made for me.
The hotel we had our ceremony/reception in was the only one of two venues we looked at. I went to a wedding at this hotel years and years ago, before I had even met Hubs. When we left the wedding that night, I turned to my mom and said, "Just so you know, I'm probably getting married here."
I loved this hotel for many reasons. One, it didn't look like a hotel. To me it looked like a palace or a mansion. Two, it was off the beaten path, tucked away in the woods, which was a perfect match to the bright colors of our fall wedding. And three, I liked how the interior decor of the hotel sort of matched our color theme. I tried to stray away from hotels that had pastel carpeting or drapes... I just didn't want our room to clash.
I checked into our bridal suite which was a monster of a room. My hair/makeup stylist immediately began working on me. There was a small glitch with my hair style... I wanted to wear my veil during the ceremony, but it was SO HEAVY, my hair stylist said that it would weigh down on my hair style so when I took it off before the reception, my hair would be all mushed. I refused to wear my hair down because (as gross as this is), I sweat SO much that I knew my hair would be soaked half-way through the night. Instead, we came up with the idea for my hair stylist to just curl my hair and then put on the veil, then, I'd run up during the cocktail hour (after the ceremony and before the reception) for her to finish my updo. This worked, but it put us wayyyy behind as far as timing. If I could do it over, I'd have either chosen a simpler hair style or made sure my veil didn't weigh a million pounds.
While I was getting ready, all my bridesmaids shuffled in and we all got ready, hung out, drank champagne. It was nice to just hang out and spend time with them, since the ceremony didn't begin until the evening. Hubs sent a gorgeous Tiffany&Co. Bracelet up to my suite for me, and a card that (of course) made me cry. My MOH helped me put my gown on and the photographer took a few pictures in the suite...
Meanwhile... I had sent some cigars and a bottle of Crown Royal to the groomsmen.... Betcha can't guess what they were doing.
When it was down to the wire and everything was ready, is when I first started to get nervous. Only because I wanted everything to be perfect, I was anxious, and I was worried about tripping/falling/crying in front of so many people. When I walked into the lobby of the ballroom, my photographer could tell I was nervous. He told me to stop, ("Aliya, trust me... they won't start without you!), take a deep breath and collect myself. Thanks for that, Jason... I needed it!
It took everything in me to hold myself together when I saw the way my dad looked at me for the first time..
I also chose to have both my parents walk me down the aisle. I wanted them both by my side.
Our ceremony was short (about 25 minutes), but traditionally the bride and groom are always sitting. I loved what our decorator did with the stage, the lights, and the couch. It was a beautiful setup.
During the prayer, Hubs even recited a bit of the marriage ceremony in Arabic. I was so proud of him! Even I don't know Arabic! Everyone asked if he had practiced that since he said the words so beautifully. A ring exchange also isn't 100% traditional, but we incorporated that into the ceremony.
I heard from a lot of our guests that our ceremony was very emotional. I think part of the reason for this is that immediately after we're pronounced "husband and wife," we don't leave the room, but rather all our family and friends lined up to come congratulate us one by one. It was very touching to see everyone's faces... especially that of my parents and my new family. My father was the first one to hug me and I don't think he'd ever held me so long or so tight. When he looked me in the eyes and said, "I love you,'' I just about lost it. I was also brought to tears when my 21 year old brother, who NEVER shows emotion, was bawling like a baby the moment he hugged me. I'll never forget those few minutes when we embraced our families and celebrated the first moments of our marriage.
After the ceremony I had to run back up to the suite so the stylist could finish my hair. I remember sitting in the chair while she was working on my hair, just STARING at my wedding ring and thinking, "OHMYGOD, I'M MARRIED!"
While our guests were enjoying cocktail hour, we went outside to take group/couple pictures. It was already dark, but our Photographer worked it!
Then we headed back into the hotel for our grand entrance..
Next up.... Reception!
