A Friend's Engagement

Last night, it was one of my closest friend’s engagement party. I was supposed to go with another close friend of mine, but unfortunately, she was out of the country and so I was a little hesitant about going alone. Nonetheless, I didn't want to miss N’s big day, so I prepared myself for a makeover. I hate makeovers, getting your nails done, your makeup done, your hair done, and high heels, Lebanese engagements and weddings are over dramatic, but I guess that’s one of the thing I love most about them…

It was supposed to start at 8:30PM, so by the time I arrived there at 9:15PM, I thought I was pretty late. And arriving 45 minutes later is supposed to count as being late, but when you’re taking “Lebanese Timing” into consideration, I was one of the first arrivals! :-P I was lucky to see some familiar faces greet me at the door, N’s Mum & Dad, I then got introduced to N’s fiance’s Mum & Dad, and then N and A, her fiancé. They were all standing at the door, greeting the guests. I then saw and greeted N’s brothers, one of who escorted me to the table I was supposed to be sitting at. I of course didn’t know anyone at the table but shortly after, another friend of N’s, Farah, arrived. No sooner had we introduced ourselves to each other, I saw a familiar face coming to sit at our table. It was Maz!

I’ve known Maz since fifth grade, and I hadn’t seen him in well over a year. He seemed surprised to see me too. “So, you’re here because of N, right?” “Yeah, You?” “I’m here because of N’s fiancé, he’s actually my second cousin. I didn’t really want to come, I don’t like engagements or weddings; I don’t understand them. But Mum made me come, and, here I am!” Maz was always funny. “What do you mean you don’t understand them?” “I mean how does it work? Is it like hey, I’m looking for a wife, you’re looking for a husband, want to get married?” “Well it’s not always like that, Maz” “Yeah,” he smirked, “You know what they should do? They should like, have a vote at the end, like, have everyone there vote if they want people to get married and if the majority say yes, then let ‘em go for it”. Like I said, Maz was always funny, even though I didn’t always understand his sense of humor. But before I could comment back, the music started and N and her fiancé walked in between all the tables to the two chairs placed for them at the front of the room. After the music died down, Maz commented, “What, they just walked in to The Pirates Of The Caribbean Theme Song, couldn’t the DJ have been a bit more creative?” and I couldn’t help but giggle…

But then, a romantic Italian song came up and the two shared their first dance. It was so beautiful, and they looked so beautiful together. After the song ended, the mood was reserved for romance, as “You’re Beautiful” for James Blunt got all the couples to get up and slow dance. Maz’s mother came to ask him to dance with her and they had a little squabble about him not wanting to dance until he gave in and got up to escort her to the dance floor. And me, as hard as I try to resist it, deep down, I am a romantic. And I couldn’t help but flash-forward to my wedding and the all the songs I’d dance to with the one…

Sitting there alone, watching all the love people show on the dance floor makes me dream. In my head, the entire dance floor transforms into my dance floor, the guests become my family and friends, and I picture myself dancing with the one, and with the ones I share this beautiful night with…

But in events like these, you don’t really get much time to dream because halfway through my reverie, when the music had changed to Arabic pop, N’s mum took me by the hand and dragged me to the dance floor (note-to-self: consider dance lessons, Nour!) where I tried to dance and then gave up and just clapped. We then did Dabke, which luckily I know how to do (to a certain extent). After that, I tried to sneak back to the table, but this time N’s brother caught me with a “where do you think you’re going?” look and took me back to the dance floor. By then, the music had luckily changed from Arabic to English, and I was able to move more freely to the music…

After about two hours of dance, the music softened and it was time for the cutting of the cake. There were firecrackers and applauses and then an invitation to the buffet. The food was delicious, and the desert was to die for. A perfect night for them indeed…

N is one of the sweetest, most pure-hearted girls I know, and I can’t help but wish her, from the bottom of my heart, all the love and happiness that there is, for both her and her fiancé… Congratulations N&A! :-)