two weeks and counting... March 24, 2008 |
Important note to reader: This is NOT my wedding dress!I am finding it quite hard to believe that I will be getting married in two weeks today. The last couple of months have literally flown past and the surreal realization that I will soon be a married woman is slowly sinking in.
Virtually all the major planning has been done and we are now down to the small, pernickety details (which interestingly enough seem to take up the most amount of time!) Take buying wedding shoes for example.
First of all, I have to make it clear that I have a rather strong aversion to "wedding shoes". There is something so kitsch and useless about them that it makes my tummy feel a little queasy. Wedding shoes in Israel are rather special and tend to come in two styles; the radio-active white platform boot and the radio-active white SUPER platform boot:
Classic Israeli wedding shoesI did manage to find a pair of (I thought) comfortable sandals with a small heel, but after wearing them at the dress fittings for less than an hour, I ended up with painful red welts on my toes where the straps were digging in slowly cutting off all circulation. A bride with bleeding feet is not such a good look. Looks like I am going to have to find another pair of shoes. Bugger.
Generally speaking though, I think we've managed to plan everything with the minimum amount of fuss and stress. Organizing the wedding ourselves has allowed us the freedom to do things our way with no interference from anyone. I look around my at other friends in Israel who are planning their weddings and although I feel for my girlfriends when I see them virtually in tears because their almost mothers-in-law are driving them to the point of near insanity, I can't help but smile internally and say "Phew! I am so glad I don't have to deal with that!"
On the other hand, I have really missed not having my mother here with me to plan things. I miss our talks at her kitchen table yakking away well into the night with endless cups of tea. I can picture us talking about wedding ideas, and I can imagine my mother with a piece of paper and pen sketching wedding dress designs because well, that's what my mum does and it makes me a little sad that we haven't been able to have that time together before my big day.
Still, thank God for Skype! We're able to talk all the time and in a way I feel that she has been with me the whole way, sharing each step of the journey. Next week she and my brother will be here in Israel and I can't wait to see them.
Before they arrive, my childhood friend Lisa will be flying in from the States this Thursday just hours (literally) before my Hen's Night (that's Bachelorette Party for my American readers!). Lisa has been an integral part of the evil planning for this party and I can honestly say I am a teeny bit frightened as to what they have planned for me! Lisa has known me for 27 years and that is a lot of accumulated dirt she has on me.
Yesterday, I had my second dress fitting and what a difference a week can make!
I went for the first fitting a week ago and although I had been warned by several people NOT to expect anything from the first fitting, it was still a bit of a shock. Basically the first fitting is to do the initial adjustments for the lining of the dress. You don't get to see the actual fabric for the wedding dress or even get the most basic sense of what it will look like at the end of the process.
I looked at myself in this rather shapeless garment that looked a bit like a night dress from the Victorian era and silently gasped. I think Keren, the designer could read my face and she tried to reassure me. "Don't worry! The is not what the dress will look like. We just to adjust the measurements so we can cut the fabric for the actual dress."
Ok. So fast-forward just six days and voilà! I have a wedding dress! Incredible! Although there is still work to be done on it, I was able to look at myself in the mirror and see myself wearing a wedding dress. When they placed a veil over my head I stood there and slowly sucked in my breath.
I...am...a...bride...
Jesus! I am beginning to sound like Muriel Heslop! (If you are asking yourself "who the hell is Muriel Heslop?" you clearly haven't seen the Aussie classic, Muriel's Wedding!)
Accompanying me for the day was my dear friend Tahlia. Tahlia and I worked together in Sydney and she recently made aliyah. As we were in the cab on the way to the moshav for the dress fitting, I realized how crazy it was that the two of us were sharing this experience together.
Just a year and a half earlier, the two of us would often sit together for lunch in the dining room of Shalom College, UNSW in Sydney and talk about my imminent move back to Israel and all my fears and inner conflict that went along with it. At that point, I truly had no idea where my life was headed and her own plans for aliyah were but a nascent thought in her own mind.
We had a gorgeous day together. After the dress fitting, we went to a lovely cafe across the road from Keren's studio and had lunch before wandering around the adjoining moshav shops and galleries that sell the most divine homewares you have ever seen. Seriously, this place is Homewares Heaven.
I have the feeling that the next two weeks will be somewhat of a whirlwind, so it may be a little while until I have time to blog again.
So until next time...adios amigos and wish me luck for the big day!