THE AM NEWSLETTER | EDITION #12

💍 A Story in Three Dresses 👰🏽‍♀️

Eyad and I celebrated 15 years of marriage this past May and I never really realized it until my lovely friend Luma pointed it out, that I’ve been supporting regional fashion since my 20s. Not sure if I took it as a norm because I’ve only lived in this region my whole life or as my wonderful husband puts it, its small wins that create this one big discovery. That supporting the regional talent, is a core to me even back when it wasn’t ‘trending’.

Don’t get me wrong, I love fashion from across the globe but regional talent has and always will be a pillar to everything I do especially professionally.

The masses have responded well to the story of my dress which was literally made from scratch in the studio of Krikor Jaboutian back in 2010. A fresh graduate at the time, I had asked my friends, Marya and Tania, to look for Lebanese talent for wedding dress. Little did I know that I’d fall in love with Krikor and his unbelievable work which then lead me to purchase not one, not two but three dresses from him. My sisters dress was designed by him as well. It truly was a family affair and super grateful it was!

We were meant to get married by the beach, I wanted to enjoy my زفه to be in a long dress but in the spirit of transformation, be able to step out of the ‘longer’ layer into the midi I ended up wearing for the rest of the evening. Little did we know that the Arab spring would kick off, my mother in law to be would be ill, and that our beloved island would be subjected to marshal law so that big wedding became an ‘intimate’ one (we’re Arabs-small weddings don’t really exist) at my grandfathers house. We also combined our milcha (كتب كتاب) to take place earlier in the day so had two parties in one. My mom, aunts were troopers of pure support & energy to be able to pull all of it off honestly.

I wore my thobe for the morning ceremony made in Bahrain by Saleh Al Zarey and then we rested and changed for the evening. My mother asked my childhood bestie’s mama to fly out of Cairo with these giant candle sticks as a surprise so we can recreate classic Egyptian Movie scenes with my maids of honor walking down the stairs carrying those ornate candles.

I’ve never been able to relive those memories because I don’t a lot of photos in physical form but I’m eternally grateful I still have my dress, my veil, my shoes and the few I have. Each piece ornate, carefully designed from A to Z by the amazing Krikor & his team! Yes, even my shoes were made in Beirut to match my wedding dress & my milcha (which I never got to wear sadly).

 ♥️