Memories Part II

6. When it came time to do the traditional garter and throwing of the bouquet, I realized I didn't have a mini bouquet to toss to the single women of the group. As Este made a show of throwing the garter, I frantically went around looking for some options. My eyes zeroed in on one of the centerpieces. It will have to do, I thought. So... complete with soil and all, I launched the centerpiece at my guests and turned around just in time to see Aria's hand go up to catch the flowers. (Don't ask me why he was even there to begin with.) At the moment his fist closed around the centerpiece, the arrangement exploded in the air and dirt rained down on everyone around him. Aria shrugged his shoulders and handed what was left of the centerpiece to my cousin Mahsa.
Mahsa took a seat as Justin prepared to put the garter that he caught on her leg. Now, I am not sure what the protocol is, but I'm pretty positive he was not supposed to slide the garter up her leg with his mouth. I tried to stop him and tell him that that action was reserved for the bride and groom, but I think Justin was enjoying himself too much to listen or even care. Poor Mahsa!


7. It's funny how quickly something fun can turn scary. When the last song was over, my mom asked Este and I to sit on two chairs and had all the guys carry us out to the club for the after party. We sat down and awkwardly rose above the crowd, feeling like an Egyptian king and queen.
"To The Club!" "To The Club!" "To The Club!" My fist pumped with the rhythm of our slaves' chant. "Yeah! Faster!" I said as I motioned an imaginary whip.
Then, I don't know how it happened, but someone (my guess is Borzou) had the brilliant idea to change the chant.
"In The Pool!" "In The Pool!" "In The Pool!" And just like that, my royal fantasy turned into visions of a soaking wet wedding dress, mascara running in black streaks down my face, and my hair a soggy rat's nest on top of my head. NOOOO! They can't be serious!
As we made our way closer and closer to the water, I realized just how serious they were. I thrashed my arms about and grabbed and twisted as many ears as I could. "Don't do this. Put us down now!" I pleaded with my brother and tried to poke Dara in the eye, but no one would listen. I called out to Este to stop them, but he was the one chanting the loudest.

And then, just as the blue water came into view, I saw an angel with curly brown ringlets and hazel eyes run up to the front of the procession and issue out a final directive: Enough.

No questions asked- Este and I came straight down and the guys dispersed.
I owe Sepideh one big hug for saving us that night.

8. I vaguely remember all the guys linked arms at the after party and started doing leg kicks. I wish I knew what song would make someone want to do this but maybe it's something you do when you are so happy you feel the need to kick your legs eye-level in a chorus line with your friends. I dunno. I had to take a picture of this.



9. I wish the weirdness would have ended with the leg kicks, but after all the dancing we decided to head down to the beach. We left the club and joined my mother, Aryan, Goli Kaviani, Susan, both Mehrans and Kamran Nikseresht by the water. (Forgive me if I left anyone out, my memories of that late night are spotty!) In those calming moments by the sea, some of us passed out on the chairs and others hummed distant songs from their youth. Goli, ever the life of the party, started doing cartwheels in the sand. Susan, a bona fide yogi, led a stretching and meditating session. And everyone else just emptied minds and cleansed souls with a series of "Ohmmmms..."
Naturally, the OHMs became OH Snaps. (Don't ask me why.) Ajay stood up and took his place as conductor of the Oh Snap Chorus. We would all start very low at first "ohhhh" then Ajay would bring his arms up to fever pitch.
"ohhhhh HHHHHHH HHHHHHHH....."
We'd all look at him in desperation as the last breath escaped from our lungs.
When he finally brought his hands down, our "SNAP!" would ring and echo into the night.
We did this several times.

10. After laying out in the sun all day, we decided to head back to our rooms and get ready for dinner. I took one last look at the ocean and noticed a couple on a private photo shoot with the resort photographer. I nudged Carly to watch, because things were getting hot and heavy. The man and woman were rolling in the sand on top of each other as the tide came in and the photographer was clicking away to capture the romance. Out of nowhere I see a lady in a pink bathing suit walk up to the couple. I did a double take because not only did she stay in the shot, she got closer and started to pose with--and on top--of them. The other reason for the double take was that the woman looked familiar.
"Is that....LILI?!?!" Yes, yes it sure was.



11. I will cherish memories of my grandma and grandpa enjoying themselves on this trip. They may not always have the facts right...(Babajoon had a long conversation with his seat mate on the flight over and was bragging about going to his granddaughter's wedding. "She lives in New York and works in publishing, and I'm so proud of her" he said. "Oh, publishing! Which company?" "Flamingo."
They may not know exactly what's going on all the time....(During our tango, Babajoon asked, "Who hired the professional dancers?")
But they laughed, danced, swam, ate big buffet meals, drank alcohol and freshly squeezed pineapple juice with equal gusto, and participated wholeheartedly in all of the festivities.
If I were invisible, I'd follow them around all day and learn as much as I could, because if anyone knows what it means to live a full life and find happiness with the one you love- it is Mommyjoon and Babajoon.



12. There are so many more memories that I'd like to record here, but now new memories are coming in and I don't want to lose those either. I must close the book on this chapter of my life when Este and I got engaged, planned a wedding and with the help of our parents, made it come true. This picture was taken after most of our guests had left, and Este and I were feeling post-wedding calm for the first time. Was it all a dream? Did we really just get married...on the beach...with 101 of our closest friends and family? YES and it was awesome.

One Month Ago...

One month ago this time, Este and I had just exchanged vows, and we were mingling with guests at the cocktail hour, munching on hors d'oeurves and sharing a cigar with friends as we all waited for the reception. Now with Northern Virginia under at least two feet of snow with more on the way and New York expecting a major winter storm with possible power outages, a month ago seems like a world away.

It was one of the greatest trips of my life and I could not have asked for a more perfect wedding. Already my mind has blurred all the good times together so instead of separate thoughts, I just get one overwhelmingly happy feeling every time I think back. We all have our own memories of the trip and wedding but these are the ones that will stay with me:

1. The Foroughi family was with us the entire flight down, and it was reassuring to have them there in case something happened. I was nervous about checking in my gown, losing my luggage, missing the transfer, etc. When we finally got settled in the shuttle to the hotel, with gown and luggage intact, I let out a sigh of relief. As if on cue, Kamran appeared with 4 el Presidente cervesas. Este and I clinked our bottles together and smiled. Our vacation and the rest of our lives had just begun...


2. Dancing till the morning hours, drinking nonstop, walking barefoot on the beach and ordering room service--we made every night count. We even had an impromptu bachelor and bachelorette party one night (the details of which I cannot share with you, but for the sake of recognizing them, I will say the Tooth Bump and Shrimp Fried Rice were two moments that made my bachelorette party awesome.)
Este and I put our arms around each other after reuniting at the disco and drunkenly made our way back to the room. What a crazy night! I thought. We partied hard and I felt rebellious as it was clear we were the last two people still awake at the resort. As I was thinking how we are such big party animals, the sound of my dad's laughter rose above a corner of the lobby.
"DAD?!?! What are you doing still up?!?"
"Heyyy...What do you mean? We are enjoying the night."
My dad was sitting around the table at 4 in the morning with a few of his buddies and several empty glasses of tequila in front of them. So much for me being hard core, I thought. My parents clearly have more partying in them than I ever will.
"If you guys are hungry, they are serving burgers and pizza at the lobby buffet."
"Thanks, Dad."


[Dad pictured here showing the chef a thing or two about flipping burgers.]

3. I woke up one morning to a throbbing in my left heel bone. Damn, must have been all the foot stomping I did on the dance floor the night before, I thought. But the pain kept getting worse the more I walked on it. A quick inspection revealed that I had a splinter in my foot. Can't be limping down the aisle! Help! I grabbed my mom and dad and we had an emergency splinter pulling session on their balcony. Could I have done this on my own? Probably. But there's nothing like being a baby sometimes and having your parents take care of things. My mom used a needle to dig out the splinter, and my dad held my hand through the process. Every time a wedding guest walked by, we would sit up straight, smile and wave like we were just sitting on the balcony having family time. Once they were out of sight, the emergency surgery would resume.


4. Feeling like a celebrity during the ceremony with all the crowds of paparazzi. Everyone looked HOT and famous, looking good in their dresses and suits, sporting perfect tans and Ray Bans. We were the main attraction on the beach that day. There was even a helicopter buzzing around. I was not anticipating the crowds of people who came to watch, but then again, this was no ordinary wedding. I could get used to this, I thought, as I walked down the red carpet towards my husband-to-be. If only I pronounced his name correctly when we exchanged vows!


5. My nerves were a jumbled mess the entire day of the wedding. Not because I was getting married, but because Este and I had a surprise tango planned for our first dance. Because no one knew about it, our practice time over the holidays was few and far between and not nearly enough to guarantee success. We had taken seven private lessons in the course of two months. One spin in particular had me sweating bullets. You see- 90% of the time I practiced this spin, I would spin out of control and fall on my face. This is one of the first moves of the dance, so if I fell, the entire dance would have been a disaster.
Before the reception, Este and I frantically practiced the dance in the room, and nothing went right. We considered trashing the dance completely but then realized we had no back up song. No tango- no first dance.
I guess this is it! We stepped out onto the dance floor. Everyone looked confused at my red dress and Este's all-black attire. Music comes on, and I am supposed to do a sexy walk towards him. My left foot slipped on the sandy dance floor and I stumbled. I heard a smirk from the audience, and I knew it was over. My worst nightmare had come true. I messed up and someone laughed at me. But then I put my hand on Este's shoulder for the first basic step, and I miraculously relaxed. The worst had happened, and I made up my mind to have fun. I've always wanted to learn how to do the tango, and here we were tearing up the dance floor. Now Este, spin me like you've never spun me before!



To be continued....