Real life wedding: Waheed and Ouzma

The hitches of getting hitched.

Waheed and Ouzma

IT HAS taken me five months and nineteen days to get this stage: with my venue booked, my dress fittings over, and the last tier of my cake just about iced I think its time to take a deep breath…and finally admit to the world that I may be one of the biggest Bridezillas that has ever stomped the streets of Glasgow.

With my wedding less than a fortnight away, my stress levels are on the up and my normal happy-go-lucky self is now a bit more ‘happy-go-loopy’ with a slight obsession for organza. Don’t get me wrong, I am certainly not the type of Bride who would refuse to walk into her evening reception because the wrong colour of napkins were on the table or cry over the slightest wisp of grey cloud, but I think that this may be due to the fact that I have planned - with military style precision - for any mishaps and downright disasters (like drizzly weather and mismatching table linen). One thing that I didn’t plan for however was having to deal with the wrath of a natural disaster.

Yes, as we speak, a certain Icelandic volcano is still spewing its ash into Scotland’s flight paths and disrupting travel arrangements across Europe. This is a slight inconvenience considering half of my wedding party are travelling from Spain! As I said, I think it me be time for some deep breathing, some positive thinking (and that’s just on the part of my future husband) and sparing a thought for all my fellow brides-to-be who are having their full wedding abroad. My forty guests are nothing in comparison to Anssa Naveed’s troop of five hundred people in Pakistan who will be anticipating the arrival of the bride in September this year.

While I feel slightly frazzled with all the preparations for my impending nuptials, Anssa, in stark contrast, is positively glowing.

 “I’m so excited!” she gushes. “I’m not nervous at all. I can’t wait to be a bride!” Happily buzzing around chasing up florists, caterers, banqueting halls and dress shopping for not just one but four wedding outfits, Anssa doesn’t really have time to be worrying over little things like volcanoes. She is more concerned with her upcoming Nikkah ceremony, taking place on the 12th July in her parents’ house in North Lanarkshire before travelling to Lahore with her new husband for her Valima reception. To organise such a spectacular wedding I thought you would have needed to hire an expensive multinational wedding coordinator (or be superwoman). As it turns out, you need a little of both and Anssa has been lucky enough to have an experienced wedding planner at her disposal: her sister!

Twenty four year old Ouzma married her husband Waheed in a lavish celebration spanning two continents in July 2006. The pair were introduced while separately visiting their families in Lahore and it took only a matter of months for Waheed to propose.

“ I was so happy.” Ouzma enthuses. “I went out and bought as many wedding magazines as I could get my hands on, just like Anssa!”

As a student at Edinburgh’s prestigious school of art, it was no surprise that Ouzma immediately sought out the latest fashions for her wedding. She trawled through the best designer boutiques from Glasgow to London in a quest to find her perfect wedding dress and when the search proved fruitless she did what any great artist would do; she designed her own!

“Colour was very important to me,” she explains. “I knew I didn’t want the traditional pinks or maroons. I decided on a vibrant green dress for my Nikkah, laced with ornate gold embellishments. I commissioned a seamstress in Lahore to make the dress to my specification. It was exactly what I wanted; contemporary and original with a traditional twist.”

Ouzma continued this fusion of contemporary and traditional elements throughout her wedding. Just like Anssa’s imminent Nikkah, Ouzma and Waheed’s ceremony was an intimate affair, held in her mother’s house in front of their family and friends. Their ceremony emanated elegance. Ouzma’s flowers were a simple yet stunning bouquet of pure white roses which contrasted beautifully against her vibrant green dress. Fragrant white lilies and daises also decorated the house and the garden. Ouzma used her artistic flare to add another personal touch to the day by making the white bouquets and hairpieces for her attendants herself.

Not forgetting the groom of course, Waheed looked sharp in a modern charcoal suit by Zara. He jokes that one of his main jobs was to look good in his suit.

“You did a great job!” Ouzma laughs. “And I did a great job helping you choose your suit!”

After their Nikkah, Ouzma and Waheed had decided to live apart for a short while so Waheed could stay in London to further his career in accountancy and Ouzma could finish her degree. But the pair could not be apart and so decided to go to Pakistan and organise their Valima a little sooner than expected. With only three weeks to organise their Valima, a host of family and friends were enlisted to help arrange a reception for over three hundred people. At the height of Lahore’s wedding season this may seem like a tall order, but Ouzma pulled it off with the same originality and style displayed throughout her wedding.

“I was a bit of a Bridezilla,” she admits. “I dragged my sister-in-law around all the boutiques in Lahore to help me wade through rails of wedding dresses and yet again found nothing. I looked for someone to make a dress to my design but no one would do it because of the short notice so I was frantic.”

It was her sister-in-law who came to the rescue by finding a local designer willing to put together the dress within a week who, as fate would have it, was the very same seamstress who finished her green dress!

“I almost landed a job as a dress designer! My seamstress was adamant we should join forces and set up a business as she loved my designs. I am still thinking about it,” Ouzma admits.

The shortage of time was certainly not reflected in the intricate details of the celebration. Ouzma chose a contemporary Mughal theme for her Valima which was continued in her dress and jewellery (also her own design). In her dress she used shades of lilac infused with maroon and gold which complemented her stunning garnet and gold Mughal inspired jewellery.

The Taj Mahal banqueting hall in Lahore proved to be the ideal venue. With the beautiful brass detailing in its décor, reflecting the Mughal style, and rooms large enough to cater for over five hundred people, it was perfect for Ouzma and Waheed’s contemporary reception where their guests were treated to a Punjabi style feast.

After their exhilarating but exhausting celebrations, the couple chose to wind down during a relaxing honeymoon in Murree and Islamabad.

It seems that pre-wedding stress is all part of the package no matter when or where you are getting married, it is how you handle it that counts. Can Ouzma give any post-wedding advice to Anssa and I and all the nervous future brides who are in the midst of their wedding preparations?

“Yes. On the day, just let it happen. The little mishaps and imperfections are what will make your wedding memorable,” Ouzma tells us. “ When all is said and done, this will be the only day that will be just about you and your husband. Enjoy it!”

Even with these excellent words of advice, I tell Ouzma and Anssa that I still can’t let go of the volcano issue even though I know I can’t control it.

“Well, try dealing with not knowing whether your dress and jewellery will be delivered to you until one hour before your wedding!” Ouzma says, speaking from experience. Well, putting that in perspective, I’ll take the volcano any day!

By Lynne McGarry