10 Typical Egyptian Wedding Mindsets to Avoid
Planning a wedding can be a very stressful and hectic experience. Whether it’s satisfying your partner or your family-in-law, or finding the right fit for your dress, the process will exhaust you. There are far too many details to keep an eye on, the song you’ll choose for your first dance, your hair-do, or even just how to keep a balance of music between the elderly and the young. It usually comes to a point where the wedding becomes tailored for the comfort of others, rather than your own. Things like lengthening your engagement period to gain the approval of others, or inviting people you don’t want to invite, are traditional mindsets we should shift away from, especially when they interfere with the wedding you want. For those reasons we have gathered for you 10 typical Egyptian wedding mindsets to avoid when planning your own version of an ideal wedding.
The length of your engagement means something
Why do people feel the need to put a time expectation on other people’s engagements? There is no benchmark that defines the “appropriate” period of an engagement. Select a period according to what is fitting to you. There are so many reasons why you decide to wait or not to tie the knot. Maybe you want to explore the nature of your relationship before permanent commitment, maybe you are working on yourself, maybe you want to rush, maybe you don’t. Whatever the reason is, it does not define you nor does it add or take away from the value of your relationship. To cut to the chase, satisfy your needs, not society’s expectations.
The size of the ring correlates with your partner’s love for you
Your family and friends need to chill out! You may want a sparkler, you may want something simple and dainty, whatever you want the ring on your finger to look like, is completely and utterly up to you. What it weighs, how much it costs, whether it’s a gem or a diamond, goes back to you, not as a measure of how much your soulmate loves you.
Everyone has to know about it
Just because it’s not everywhere on Facebook, Instagram, or whatever social media platform you fancy, does not mean it did not happen. Your wedding does not have less meaning if not everyone knows about it, so if you don’t feel like advertising your experience, you really don’t have to.
Nothing can go wrong
It’s true things can go wrong in weddings, however, it is also true that these things can be laughed off. Don’t spend the wedding planning process focused on the right amount of present give-aways, or the correct ordering of the playlist, because odds are, things WILL go wrong, and it is okay.
You need to invite your parent’s friend’s friend’s friend…
You don’t have to invite Tante Gihan or Uncle Gouda. It’s not your parents’ wedding, it’s yours. If you don’t feel like having guests that you barely remember celebrating your big day, then don’t invite them!! It’s that simple. “The bigger the wedding, the more important” could not be farther away from the truth. You want to have an intimate experience with your loved ones and close circle of friends, and having the acquaintances of your parents attend your wedding is not a necessity.
“The more bridesmaids/groomsmen, the more popular”
It doesn’t matter how many couples walk behind you as you walk down the aisle, it really doesn’t. A wedding is a celebration, and we all celebrate it in our own way. You are not any better or worse than a bride or a groom who have enough friends for the photographer to stand meters back to fit them all in. This is not a popularity contest, it is a day of love, so spend it with the people you love, regardless of their quantity.
It’s a one in a lifetime experience
The more you think of your wedding as your one and only chance of love, the more you will suffer trying to make it so. You will have plenty of opportunities to celebrate with your husband or wife in other precious moments. This is not to say that your wedding is not a big deal, but it is to remind you that it is not the only day that matters, so don’t treat it as such.
Lazim Amr Diab w Oka w Ortega
This is a good one. You don’t need to get the most elite, expensive, or popular sources of entertainment to show people a good time. Yes it would be nice for your guests to have fun, but they are not here to get Diab’s autograph, or to take a photograph with Ortega. More so, you are not here to show off. Pick the band or musicians you want, if that happens to be Amr Diab, fine, but it most definitely does not have to be.
You have to toss the bouquet to all the single ladies
“All the single ladies, all single ladies,” Beyonce surely said. But she also said, “give it up for my sister!,” and maybe that’s exactly what you want. Whether it’s between a circle of best friends, to all the single ladies, or to the maid of honor, it’s completely up to you who that bouquet is thrown at. As we mentioned before, you are not looking to merely impress the guests, you are here to do what makes you most comfortable, whether or not that sits with the guests is not your business.
It’s about everyone else
Finally we would like to say, it’s your day, so make it your own. Maybe you want a small band, maybe you want a domestic honeymoon location, or maybe you don’t even want a top notch wedding dress. All of this is irrelevant in comparison to creating a day that one day you’ll look back fondly on. In other words, do you..because no one else will.
