Another update (I'm not sure what number I am at now) =)

Well yesterday, Allison came by to take me dress shopping. For both the wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses. She's so cute, she brought a list of stores to visit. We were headed to one in Stittsville, but stumbled accross another one and went in for a visit. Wow!

Yup, the dresses were beautiful! Allison and I each picked a few out, and headed to the dressing palace, err I mean room. It was huge! Anyway I tried on the dresses, and the first one I tried on, looked amazing! Wow - it looked beautiful. The train was a little longer than I expected though, but it looked amazing. So we practised dancing in our dresses (She tried one a great bridesmaid's dress too.), it was a lot of fun. The second dress looked pretty good too, it had a hint of lilac in it - and I loved that. (It's still one of the colors I am considering) The third dress I tried on was just hilarious - definately not for me. All in all, bridal dress shopping was about ten times more fun than I anticipated. One thing is for certain, "banana" is out. ;)

We then headed to another store in Stittsville, when we got there, I told the saleslady about the two designers I really liked after my online search. We browsed through a couple, and then she lead me to the "Perfect Dress". It was amazing trying it on, and Allison was super excited when she saw it too. It had the exact features I had described for what I was looking for, plus an extra one (which I haven't decided yet if it makes the dress better or not). I'll have to check it out again, when the store isn't closing. Two bonus's though - 1 - it's cheaper than the other dresses, AND they give the bridesmaids a 14% discount (no matter how many bridesmaids there are), AND the bridesmaids dresses were a little (about 5-10%) cheaper than where I had bought mine last year. =)

It was a great outing! Much better than what I anticipated. Did you know that you have to order the wedding dresses more than 6 months in advance?

Cheers,
Nora

Traditions

Wow it's really interesting how different traditions and culture can actually be! There are a lot of tradiations I've learned about so far (through experience, and reading bridal books/magazines). Here are some that I can share with you, that may affect our wedding.

Egyptian traditions include:
Groom is in charge of getting the place to live (matrimonial home)
Bride is in charge of furnishing it
Groom's parents pay for the wedding
(Yup, a lot of the money comes from the Groom's family.)

Wedding ceremony and reception-
Your "attendants" are family. Traditionally, the mothers do a lot of the planning, in conjunciton with the couple of course. But there are no attendants. No Matron of Honour, or Bride's maids... people already know that the family helped you out.

The ceremony is an intimate affair, or only your closest friends (just a couple), and your family. The reception is widely celebrated though.

Candle Girls - yup that's right, there are candle girls. I was lucky enough to be a candle girl at one of my aunt's weddings. I think it's instead of the flower girl, since the ceremony is an intimate affair usually done 1 day to 2 weeks before the wedding reception. For my aunt's wedding, each girl (like 20 of us) got candles to hold. I'll explain soon how it's done and what I remember now (15 years later), or how I'd like to do it.

Zaffa (prounounced Zeff-a) - is the entrance to the wedding reception. This usually includes: belly dancers, daffouf (spinning dancers/artists), drummers, candles, and loud Music. Although seeing it would be best, I'll try my best to describe it simply. hmmm - it's kinda like a parade party. Yup, summed up it's a "Parade Party". It's like taking the crazy indian twins (P&P) we know, multiplying them by ten, and releasing them to party and dance there way to the reception hall, with drums, etc. Puj, if you are reading this, it would be like you participating in the "I like to Move it, move it" scene from Madagascar while dancing your way 500m to the reception area. =)The Zaffa continues until the Bride and Groom reach their "throne". At that point the Zaffa performers continue the show for the couple for a while.

Chair lifting - is common at Arab weddings. Usually the equivalent of the groomsmen, would get together and lift the chairs of the Bride and Groom up above their heads. Yes, while the couple is still sitting on the chairs. They then parade the couple around the dance floor, and make them chair dance together. It's a lot of fun to watch! =)

Dancing, dancing, and more dancing. Dancing is always the theme of the evening whenever Egyptians get together. There's no sitting around waiting for the first dance, the second dance, the bridal party dance, the father-daughter dance, the mother-son dance, the sibbling dance, the ... dance .... The bride and groom would be lucky to make it through their dance before the guests come up and dance. =) Through the whole time they are still bobbing (even clapping and singing) to the music while you dance. It's fun! =) It would seem that this dancing theme would require a lot of alcohol (for some reason it's as if Egyptians are the drunkest party goers because of their constant smiling and dancing), but that's the thing - it's just natural. No Alcohol required (or in many cases, even permitted).


Canadian traditions include:
Bride's parents host/pay for the wedding
Groom's parents host/pay for the rehearsal dinner
(Here, a lot of the money comes from the Bride's family.)

Wedding ceremony and reception-
Attendants- are usually close friends, possibly family - if you are close (but not required).

Ceremony- Usually everyone invited to the reception is also invited to the ceremony. This is pretty cool because then you get to celebrate that special moment with everyone who is dear to you. I'm pretty close to all my friends, and vice-versa (usually even more so than I know), so that's awesome!

Flower girl - usually between 3 and 7 years of age. Very cute, and sprinkles flowers in the aisle (or on the carpet) for the Bride who's future husband is already standing with his best man and the officiant, waiting for the Bride (hahaha something most men eventually get used to). =)

Ring Bearer - usually a young boy (good luck for the couple to have children too) who bring up the rings (or model rings) in a pillow for the the bride and groom to exchange. (Correct me if I am wrong, but that's the most common answer I am getting from the magazines.)

Entrance to reception- The MC usually announces the couple's entrance as "Mr. and Mrs. ...), and also introduces the wedding party (usually first).

Dance. There are many slow dances. Bride and Groom, father-daughter, mother-son, sibblings, future in-laws, bridal party, you name it (even a dollar dance?), it exists. lol But pretty much those are the standards.

Toasts. There are usually toasts, champagne/wine, etc.


Yeah, there are a lot of customs, traditions, and differences. The cool thing is that Jeff and I will be able to pick the best of both worlds, to make it our own. =)

Colors and Themes

Well I've finally bought a couple of wedding magazines. Although I was kinda hesitant about buying advertisements set in a magazine format, with a few articles thrown in, it's absolutely FUN! It actually got my creativity flowing.

Most of you already know that my favorite color is Blue (it's even the color of my car), and that I also really like yellow. The Maid of Honour is pretty concerned about looking "washed out" in beautiful yellow dress though - she can sometimes be blinding with her pastiness. I've been looking at colors, and they have interesting names. Some of the colors I am considering are: capri, peri, light peri, blue frost, light blue, blue pastel, lilac, and lavender. If you aren't sure what these colors are, keep in mind that I like blue. If I am adamant about it, canary, stardust, or even banana may be allowed. ;)

Now the super cool thing is thinking about themes. Do we want a theme? Hearts? Flowers? Musical? Beach? Fairy Tale? Egyptian? hmm.... lots to think about. Personally, I like the beach, so I'm going to see if my Mom is up to going there now to see the sunset. =)

...

Nora

Random Ramblings

Okay Allison, you're right, it's time for an update, but here's the price you pay - I get to ramble. Yup, that's right ramble. I don't really have much to update. I guess that recently I've posted about the Downfall to Wedding Planning, the Wedding Party, and meeting some extended family members. So I figure let's update on those things for now. My Wedding party - which hasn't fully been figured out- maybe? Is great, I love my friends, and I've got to seem them a lot in the last couple of weeks - still not enough though - so pencil me in.

Well Jeff and I have unoffically checked out another Venue - that makes two in total. This one seems to be in a more affordable price range, knocking off about 15%. Sweet! We'd still have to talk to the actual manager for more detailed information - but it looks nice, and I have been there before for another cultural celebration. There are still 2 other places we have in mind - so we can give those a try before going on an offical tour of the 2nd place.

As for the Downfall to Wedding planning - I've figured out a way to trick it! Yup, that's right. The trick is to Travel Together. If I am away from all the things that help keep me organised (including my computer), and the actual city; then hey there's not much planning to be done. So by taking a trip to the beach, Toronto, or even someone elses house - you've suddenly elimated a lot of the wedding preperations. This may be something I'll fall back on later when I am procrastinating - one of my endearing qualities. =)