The prettiest wedding in Lebanon…

There is nothing better than opening my emails on a mid week morning to find a heartwarming note from one of my lovely readers.  As an avid reader of My Lovely Wedding, Zeina submitted her wedding along with beautiful photos and lots of decor details. Zeina and Karim got married on 22nd June 2014 at Pleine Nature, Mansourieh, Lebanon with 250 guests. Mansourieh is about 10 km east of Beirut, and sits on a hilltop overseeing the capital. Lebanon is a beautiful country, and the food is equally as good. I’ve been a few times and once you escape from the stylish yet crowded Beirut city you will discover a jaw dropping view of mountains and sky high views.
So, before I babble on too much, here is today’s gorgeous real wedding feature….

The Planning process…
We decided to plan the entire wedding ourselves, to ensure that it portrayed our identity to the fullest. The planning process was a pure pleasure. The research, the meetings, the decisions… It was nice to see that everyone was on the same page, and we got the chance to build friendly relationships with the suppliers. For the invitation cards, I asked one of my best friends who is a graphic designer, to help me design the concept I had in mind. It turned out to be exactly what I wanted, and totally in line with the theme and venue; its uniqueness made of it a major success. Pre- wedding, we set up a Facebook “Save the date” group where we uploaded teasers, messages and pictures.

The Dress &  Accessories…
My dress was from Pronuptia, a French boutique located in Sodeco, Beirut. As for my necklace and earrings, we got them from Samer Daouk, and the watch from Swarovski. I went for a bouquet made of lace and ribbons instead of the usual flower bouquet. I also had another one made especially for the bouquet throwing, made of baby roses. After the entrance, I changed from heels to my Pink Converse, to be able to party freely J

Finding the dress…
I knew from the start the kind of dress I was looking for. I definitely wanted lace, with drooping sleeves that would give it a classy look. I knew that with the right accessories, hair and makeup, any dress that is your style will look good on you, as long as it suited your style. I went to see several shops, but finally saw the one I wanted at Pronuptia and immediately fell in love with it.

Groom’s threads…
Karim went for a modern, simple, slim fit suit. He also wore cufflinks with his name in Arabic calligraphy which his friends had got him as a wedding gift.

 
The Flowers…
For the flowers, we worked with Terra Flora. We went for a pastel theme, with lace, flowers, bamboo, and accessories such as bottles, jars, etc.… a simple feel all in all, to relate to the image of the venue. The wedding was outdoors so there was no need to overuse flowers and decoration items.

The Decor…
I am a big believer in the fact that “beauty lies in simplicity”. We wanted nothing too extraordinary. Petals of flowers thrown randomly on the tables, pink and white candles, small white cages, and bottles wrapped with lace, bamboo sticks… These are the main decoration items that were used. We also worked on a DIY photo booth. We printed cardboards with funny sentences and took pictures holding them, with friends and family members. Neither Karim nor I are big fans of the traditional Lebanese “Zaffe”, so we decided to go for a “friends’ parade” instead. We got white hats with black stripes for all the guys including Karim. This gave his entrance a very hip and modern feel. As for the girls, we got maracas that were used to cheer during the entrance. Fortunately, those accessories proved to be a success throughout the entire evening, and friends even thought of them as nice souvenirs from the wedding. We also gave away glow in the dark sticks during the evening, which guests (especially the young crowd) wore as bracelets or necklaces; this resulted in nice flashy pictures! A group of my girlfriends and I had also prepared a surprise dance for Karim; Cher’s Shoop Shoop song (the training phase was a hassle but it was one of the most fun milestones of the wedding). One of the details I love the most about the wedding is our nephews and nieces running around, playing, taking pictures and dancing with us.

Our Wedding Cake…
The catering and cake was from Carre Sucre. We went for live stations of BBQ, Pasta and Mini Burgers, and the rest (salads, starters, etc.) was displayed on a decorated buffet based on the theme (Seafood, oriental, etc.) We went for a cake decorated with pink butterflies, with a funny topper
 
The Music & Speeches…
During the evening, my bridesmaids threw us a speech which made us laugh and cry at the same time. For the music, I already had all my folders organized and ready for my meeting with the DJ; I knew exactly which songs I wanted to have in the wedding and working with Nibal and Fadi turned out to be fun and easy. We went for different types of music to make sure everyone would enjoy their evenings (English, French, Spanish and Arabic songs). For Karim’s entrance, we chose Will.I.Am’s “Feelin’ myself”. For my entrance with my father, we played “Zaina” by the Jordanian pianist Zade Dirani. Then for the couple entrance, it was Coldplay’s “Paradise” along with the fireworks. For our first dance, we danced to Roch Voisine’s “Apotheose”, and with my dad I danced to a medley of 2 songs: “Ma fille” by Serge Regiani, and “Daddy’s Little Angel” by T Carter. For the cake, Coldplay’s “Sky full of stars” (one of my favorite songs) and Klingande’s “Jubel”. Finally, for the bouquet, I used Glee’s mix of “Hit me with your best shot” and “One way or another”

The Honeymoon…
We went to Spain for our honeymoon. Our tour included Barcelona, Seville, Marbella, Cordoba, Granada and Malaga. It was so rich in culture, beautiful scenery, lovely people, unforgettable memories…We are hoping to have another shorter one soon, but this time in a more exotic destination 🙂

Our favorite bits…
The entire wedding preparation process was honestly an unforgettable experience. From the research to the meetings to the final decisions… If I were to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a single thing about it.

Advice for other couples…
Maintain your identity no matter what. It is your wedding and it should look like no one but you. Start with setting a budget and believe that you can do everything within that budget, with the right research and proper time allocation. You just need to know how to choose your suppliers smartly. Spend on your wedding as much as you see fit, but not way too much. It’s once in a lifetime, but at the end of the day, it is only one night, so you need to remain reasonable. What is important is that you feel happy and look like it. These are the memories that will remain.
Vendor credits…
Venue: Pleine Nature (http://www.pleinenature.info/)
Photographer: Studio Toubia (http://www.studiotoubia.net/)
Catering: Carre Sucre (http://carresucre.com/)
Florist: Terra Flora (http://www.terrafloraonline.com/)
Hostessing: Sorelle Agency (https://www.facebook.com/sorelle.agency)
Card Design: Sara Aboulhosn
Dress: Pronuptia (http://www.pronuptia.com/en)
Hair & Makeup: Tony Mendelek (http://www.tonyelmendelek.com/) & Rola Riachi (http://www.roulariachi.com/)