OHMMMM....

This past week has been crazy for me and Este. Our lease is up at the end of July, so we've been running around Manhattan, trying to find a decent-sized apartment that won't break the bank. An impossible mission, in other words. And invitations have yet to be sent out, so if you received a Save the Date, just assume you are invited. Thanks. And my parents are throwing an engagement party this Fourth of July that will rival the actual wedding, which leads me to question the point of throwing the wedding in the first place. Ay yi yi!

When my life gets stressful like this, I think back to my meditation session with UCLA psychiatrist and bestselling author Dr. Judith Orloff. She was in the Random House office one day recording an interview with Lifetime TV. They needed a stressed out person to use as an example, and of course, I volunteered. Bridezilla moments aside, I am very laid back, so it was pretty fun pretending to be in need of psychiatric help.

For about half an hour, I talked on and on about planning a wedding and trying to make everyone happy and wanting everything to be perfect, etc. etc. It was like a free therapy session, and at the end, she asked me to close my eyes and meditate. We were sitting in the middle of the reception area, so as I tried to relax, I could hear all these people stop and watch. I thought I was doing a pretty good job faking, until I saw the video. There's no better way to say it--I look constipated, and it doesn't help that they picked the most bloated picture of me to tag to the video! The only saving grace is that they spelled my name wrong, so people searching my name online won't be able to find it. This stays between you and me...

So, without further ado, I present my exclusive national television debut. Enjoy!
http://healthcorner.walgreens.com/display/2355.htm

The Persian Ceremony

Este and I recently went to the beautiful wedding of Hossein and Kat Golesorkhi. As we were witnessing the Persian ceremony, I realized that I had no idea what the guy was saying or what any of the objects in front of the bride and groom symbolized. Since we will be having our own Persian portion of the wedding, I thought it would be good for all the Iranian guests under 30 and all the non-Iranian guests to get a quick briefing before the special day.

As expected, the full explanation is pretty boring, so I'm not going to go over everything here, but for those of you who are especially curious, you can click this link: http://www.farsinet.com/persian_wedding/.

Here are some highlights:
The bride and groom sit in front of a spread called The Sofreh Aghd, which is set on the Eastern side of the room, so the bride and groom are facing The Light.

In front of them sits about a dozen different objects. Most notably, a Mirror (of fate) and two Candelabras (representing the bride and groom and brightness in their future) one on either side of the mirror. Once the bride sits beside the bridegroom she removes her veil and the first thing that the bridegroom sees in the mirror should be the reflection of his wife-to-be.

A scarf or shawl made out of silk is held over the bride and bridegroom's head throughout the ceremony by various happily married female relatives. These women take turns grinding two sugar cones above the bride and bridegroom's head (over the scarf held above their heads) throughout the ceremony to shower them in sugar (symbolizing sweetness and happiness).

A copy of the couple's Holy Book is placed on the spread. For Christian couples, it would be the Bible, for Zorastians Avesta, for Muslims Qur'an, .... This symbolizes God's blessing for the couple. Some couples opt to use a poetry book such as Khayyam's poetry collection or Hafiz poetry collection.

And here is my absolute favorite part! (drumroll)
A needle and thread are sewed into the corner of the shawl held over the couple's head to figuratively sew up the mother-in-law's lips from speaking unpleasant words to the bride! haha

Editor's Note: My mother wants to make clear that this is a very old fashioned custom and we will not be doing this for our ceremony. We love you, Mrs. Perla! :-)

Say Maybe to the Dress

Now that the Save the Dates are out, my next priority is finding a wedding dress. So far I have visited two bridal salons. The first being the famous Kleinfeld Bridal in New York. The same place where that TLC show, Say Yes to the Dress is filmed. My mom couldn't make it, so it was just me and two bridesmaids, Mimi and Heidi.

Kleinfeld claims to have the largest selection of wedding dresses in the world, and I had no trouble believing that. There were all kinds of gowns lined up along the walls from all different designers and price points. Having no clear idea of how I want to look, I felt overwhelmed with all the choices. Skirts can be Ball Gown style, Empire Waist, A-line, Sheath, Mermaid. Necklines are either Jewel, Scoop, Strapless, Queen Anne, Sweetheart, Off the Shoulder, and the list goes on and on. No wonder the sales lady laughed when I said "A wedding dress?" when she asked me what I was looking for.

I tried on about 6 dresses and immediately fell in love with two of them. The problem was that my mom was not there to make the final approval, and we were told the dress would be gone after the weekend. As I stayed in the dress, biting my nails and trying to figure out how to get out of the store without the sales lady biting my head off, I noticed my bridesmaids increasingly turning into the angel and devil on my shoulders.

Heidi: "Ava, you do not want to rush into any decisions. If you don't know, then just tell them we'll come back. I'm sure you can find a similar dress elsewhere."
Mimi: "If you know you love the dress, then just get it. What's the worst that can happen if you just put the deposit on your credit card? Will your mom seriously be upset? You look so good!"

I was able to escape with my head and savings intact. Which is a good thing, because upsetting my mom is far worse than annoying a pushy Kleinfeld sales woman.

We finally had a chance to go together this past weekend, along with my other two bridesmaids, Sara and Tiba. We visited Hannelore's in Old Town Alexandria. A much smaller venue, but the funny thing was that my Kleinfeld dress was on display right in front of us as we walked in. A one-of-a-kind dress, my ass!