Lots of stress….and a dress!
Posted by drifter on October 15, 2011
I know, I know! It’s been 8 months since I last updated my blog, shame on me I know and I really am going to try harder to update it often from now on.
So what have I been doing in the last 8 months you may ask? Well quite a lot actually. As well as managing to still commute to Bahrain every weekend from Kuwait- and believe me it is actually quite stressful- I have also had the pleasure of planning for 3 weddings, our weddings in fact. In July I got married to my now husband Adi and we enjoyed big celebrations in Algeria and England, and a smallish one in Scotland. The ceremony in Algeria was more for the benefit of Adis family who would not be able to travel to the UK; it was also his wish that we did something traditional in honor of his Algerian heritage. I insisted on a ceremony in England for the same reason, that my friends and family would not be able to make it to Algeria and because I have some sentimental ties to Liverpool that I also wanted to honor.
Our traditional ceremony in Algeria was of the ‘big fat gypsy’ wedding kind; lots of people, a lot of dresses, lots of bling, glitter (and frosted eyeshadows) and generally quite fabulous and over the top (by my standards at least). It was an extravagance and privilege that I have never experienced or likely to experience again and it truly was one of the best days of my life. Even better was the fact that I had two of my best friends with me, as well as my sister to share in all of the amazement, and of course Adi and his lovely family. I was lucky enough to wear 4 different outfits in 6 hours; the first dress was a traditional white wedding dress, and then the following 3 were variations of traditional Algerian dress adorned with lots of heavy embroidery and gold.
In the same week as the ceremony in Algeria, we flew back to England where I had 5 days to put together the wedding ceremony in Liverpool. Prior to embarking on our 5 week wedding adventure, I had been working non-stop on my wedding dress for the Liverpool ceremony, which I am proud to say, I made completely from scratch. That dress traveled everywhere with me in a desperate bid to finish the enormous task of beading the 10 meters circumference of French Lace at the hem. Even on the actual day of my ceremony in Liverpool, I was still working on the dress applying the final crystals before I could relax and enjoy wearing it. Despite all the blood, sweat and tears that went into that dress (and there was a lot of tears), it was totally worth it in the end and I must say, one of my biggest achievements to date. The fact that every single one of my friends had a go at sewing some crystals onto the dress (even if it was just one) makes it even more special to me.
The UK ceremony was held at a grade II listed Victorian Glasshouse in Liverpool, 74 of our closest friends and family shared this special day with us. I had 7 bridesmaids and one of my best friends did the ‘blessing’ for us; it was all very lovely, intimate and emotional. The wedding in Liverpool was a real DIY (do it yourself) job, I made everything; the bouquets, table arrangements, goodie bags, a wishing tree, invitations….so you can see what I have been doing for the last 8 months!
The day after the ceremony in Liverpool, Adi and I took a train up to Scotland. Even after 2 ceremonies, we were still not married. Unfortunately it was impossible for us to get legally married in England since we both had to give notice of our intention to marry in person in the UK at least 3 months in advance, it was just logistically impossible to organize. We couldn’t get married through our respective embassies in the Middle East since we are not both residents of the same country (I am a resident of Kuwait, Adi- Bahrain). So the only two places in the world we could marry without having to give notice in person were Las Vegas and Scotland. I actually quite fancied Las Vegas but we opted for Scotland since it was next door to England (and we are not that rock n roll). And so off we went to Scotland where we spent 2 lovely days sightseeing and preparing for the registry office. It was just the 2 of us on the day of the official marriage registration with the registry organizing 2 random witnesses. It was all very romantic, very sweet and very special. And that was it! Officially married!
We ended our whirlwind wedding adventures with 2 weeks honeymoon in Sri Lanka and the Maldives which was amazing.
And then back to the Middle East, back to reality and how difficult it was! After months of running high on adrenaline, I suddenly found it very difficult to adjust to not having much to do in my spare time. So I replaced working on my wedding with working on ‘work’, and as a result got a pay rise and started travelling a bit more. I am also quite chuffed to see a lot of my designs worn on women here in the Middle East as well as in shop windows and local advertising campaigns.
But alas, it seems all my hard work comes at a price and perhaps it’s time to consider slowing down a bit. Its seems my body does not recover so well any more when it gets ill, it’s not so easy for me to recover from just a common cold and it seems I am destined to always be suffering from some kind of infection. Combined with my weekly flights, my demanding job and my diabetes, stress has finally taken its toll and forced me to reconsider my priorities right now.
Anyway, I am happy to report that I am recovering from my latest infection and will be back bouncier and perkier than ever…inshallah!
