Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Onwards and Upwards

So it's over. Words I never want to hear again:


  1. boubounieres
  2. decorations
  3. bride
  4. invitations
  5. anything to do with one thing matching the other

Things I organised via the internet:


  1. the wedding dress designed by me and created in the Home Country, which was made so lightly for the heat that I carried it around in a handbag.

  2. the invitations in half Greek half English, printed in India and since I typeset them, the Greek part was full of mistakes. But so what. As far as I know no one turned up to the mayor's office at 11pm instead of 11am and that was my biggest error.

  3. starfish charms for the wedding favours

  4. marigold coloured tissue paper for decorating

  5. mini incense and boxed bindis for the henna party favours

  6. floating lotus lanterns for the beach

  7. Maro from MAC on Ermou street, who I discovered via a comment on this blog and who helped me pick a foundation so perfect I looked airbrushed

  8. MAC pigments in sample sizes from http://www.thebodyneeds2.com/
*Things that were not right on the day: Nothing

*My favourite thing about the wedding was: having all my family together for once.

*Now that it's all over I feel: Like I never, ever want to do that again as long as I live. Never. Ever. Ever. I'm so happy to be lounging around in my crappy clothes again, growing out my moustache and letting my fingernails break with abandon.



On the day itself I had a surprisingly good time. Not that I expected to have a bad time, it just was a lot better than I had hoped for.

When you're a bride, people break your balls about absolutely everything. It's worse being a bride who doesn't care much for weddings, because no one believes you when you say you're not into shabang type weddings and think you're just being a boring old fart.

The morning of the wedding was stress free and I was ready nicely ahead of schedule because I booked myself into a hotel and got dressed with my sisters. The rest was like a domino effect. Since the day started well it ended brilliantly with everyone in their swimming gear partying at a beach bar till the early morning.

Halfway through the party my sister and I walked past the bride from the other wedding party going on at the hotel of the beach par and couldn't help but laugh at the contrast. She was looking perfect in her white wedding dress, makeup and hair, and I was in a cotton beach dress, barefaced and barefoot. I had to show a little girl at the beach photos from the morning because she wouldn't believe her mother that I was the bride.

The next day though I was feeling major evil eyes so I burnt some sage and walked all the way through the flat with the windows and doors open, passing the smoke in every corner and all the cupboards. No jokes people, the evils were super bad. I got up at one point the night after the wedding and felt such a big weight press on me that I fell to the floor like a dead weight and couldn't get back up again. Mr Zeus heard the thud and had to come pick me off the floor because my legs had turned to jelly. You might say lack of sleep/low blood pressure, but it was evils I tells ya!

I will not give any advice for the bride, since it will all be useless anyway, except don't bother with diets. You will go through your own crash diet in the days before the wedding as the stress blow-torches the bumps and lumps away.

I will however advise you if you are a friend of a bride/groom to be:
  1. Do not offer advice. Just listen


  2. The bride will turn into a total bitch before the wedding. This has nothing to do with you. It's because she's sick of being asked unimportant questions and people freaking out around her about stupid details. Don't pay too much attention to the things she says when she's having a psychotic episode. She only means about half of them.


  3. If you say you are going to do something, do it. The biggest disappointment for me when I was buckling under the stress was all the people who said they would help who then disappeared and turned up later to have a good time.


  4. Do whatever the couple asks you to do, and don't complain about it. If you think you're tired you have no idea how exhausted they are.


  5. In the days immediately before the wedding, take some food over. Otherwise the couple won't eat.


  6. Take the initiative and fix any problems that you can fix yourself.

That's about it! I had a wedding day full of colours and happiness with the people I love all in one room. I would not do it again and I'm glad it's over, but I am equally happy that I had such a nice time. The mayor's speech before we signed the papers was very short but wonderfully to the point about respecting and lifting each other up and building a happy and secure environment for ourselves and our children. Many of the guests agreed that it was the nicest political marriage they had seen. So all's well that ends well.

ps. Al in Athens has left a comment here saying she wish she could have done more. I met Al through this blog, and we have since become good friends. Her gift to me were the flower decorations at the mayor's office, and there could not have been a better gift than the breathtaking job she did. Al, I could not possibly have asked for more than what you did as it was perfection.

22 comments:

AL said...

ohh dear! It was a lovely celebration... and it was really nice to see what a close bond you share with your family.
I wish i could have done more for you in your time of stress, really do. Somehow although with the entire week off i managed to get myself all stressed out and busy over the weirdest stuff.

Maria said...

Congratulations BB! Despite all the stress, it sounds like you had a wonderful time on the day at least. Now you will have the wonderful memories that will last a life time.

Although...you might start thinking about boubounieries for any baptisms in the offing... ;)

jinjir minjir said...

Wha-hey! Congrats pitsirika! All the best for the future and, if I may, don't rush to forget the boubounieres... for they'll come back. When you 2 are ready, of course. No rush there either.

vultures said...

Congratulations! I'm so glad your day went amazingly well and you (as well as your guests) had a wonderful time. And the sound of that other bride being in full make-up and wedding gown in this heat makes me wince, poor thing.

bollybutton said...

thanks my dears! But no more boubounieres. Whoever in the family thinks they will lose face by not having any When The Time Comes can make them themselves. I made 300+ of the things and still have another 200 to do for the non attendees. I don't want to see one ever again! I hate them!

Sesi said...

Ooooh I was right! You went and got married and didn't tell us a thing!
Live long and prosper with your Greek God Missy! I just wish I could have watched your colorful party from one corner!

StacyF said...

Congratulations! Thank goodness it all came together and you are now married! Would have been lovely to see the colourful party you had which sounded a much better bet than the other bride you met on the beach! You can now breathe a sigh of relief!

As a friend of two friends getting married this year, I can only say-the stress has already begun-for me!

bollybutton said...

et voila, since girlies like this kind of thing here is my wedding outfit http://tiny.cc/hhv9d designed by me. That's not me in the pic it's the Home Country designer's daughter. She now has my original design as part of her bridal wear range, but I was the first to have it. Guess she liked it then!

Psofofeggaro said...

congratulations dear, live long and prosper with happiness (although a ceremony is just a ceremony, nothing really changes).

bollybutton said...

It's true that nothing has changed, at least between me and Mr Zeus. One thing that has changed is that I'm practically crying with joy at getting back my bummy routine. Having our daily life snatched away, the sitting on the sofa and watching TV, cooking meals, picking through laundry, made me realise just how much I love it. I don't want diamonds, I don't want a mansion, I just want my ordinary life with Mr Zeus. Nothing else is more precious to me.

Sesi said...

By the way, in the post picture, is that you? I suspect it is, the wedding dress is the same, and if it is, you are radiant with happiness!
May all your days be this joyous! It really made me smile when I noticed!:D

teacher dude said...

Congratulations. Great to hear that everything went so well.

bollybutton said...

yep that's me. I found a pic where my face was suitably obscured by falling confetti, and anyway I look so different with my glasses and without the makeup. Plus, I tend not to wander the streets in my wedding gear.

Psofofeggaro said...

you look great and HAPPY! (how could you not be anyway, heheh)

Anonymous said...

My heartfelt congratulations to you, and best wishes for a long and fulfilling life together.

Matt said...

I'm glad the tip for Maro worked out. My reputation depended on it!

So when you get photographed by the paparazzi now with your foundationed face splashed across the pages of Very Sorry, does that mean I get to run to Star News claiming that I discovered you and you owe everything to me? =)

bluetulip said...

Hi bollybutton
Congratulations on your wedding!!

I stumbled across your blog one wet Sunday afternoon, I was hooked!!!

bluetulip said...

Hey bollybutton, you may notice I had written two previous comments...I am new to this..so I actually had written your name as "bollybottom"...hahaha..to my horror I noticed it after I posted...so proceeded to write another comment..oops...sorry about that!!!!...great way to write my first comment on your blog...however some how I managed to work out how to delete them..I actually like the sound of bollybuttom..hahaha... So please forgive me for any future "stuff ups"..I need to put a "LB" in front of my name for "Learner Blogger".
:-)

bollybutton said...

Matt I tell you, Maro was wildly out of my budget for bridal makeup so I did it with my sisters. But, despite being in the middle of a busy Mac store and knowing that I wouldn't be buying her bridal package, she spent at least 30 minutes helping me pic a foundation, removing it and starting from scratch when it didn't look right in the sun and completing it with a makeover. At the end, she only gave me the foundation and eyeliner I wanted, didn't try to push any extra products on me. Also, her foundation was so well matched that I really did look like I was wearing nothing. I've never worn foundation before so I was very happy not to have "tide marks" on my jawline.

Ladies who need to buy any sort of makeup, GO TO MARO at MAC! She's like gold dust!!

AL said...

aisehh..... no need special mentionlah dearrr!!! i think i am suffering from low-self esteem lately... lol (ok not really LOW, just lower than my normal LEO self). I admire you for your go get it attitude and how you managed to pull it all off, pretty much on your own with just a lil help from friends and family. You're a go getter, you have put your mind to it and did it with flair and a good helping of personal style. I did not sense any of your pre-wedding biitcchiness at all.

stassa said...

Na zisete!! I just saw :)

Flubberwinkle said...

Congratulations!

Should we be calling you Mrs Zeus now?
;-)