Twas a marvellous occasion and skies were clear as we walked down the aisle on the lawn of the Dan Carmel Hotel in Haifa, Israel. The natural amphitheatre of trees with a view across the bay set the tone for a beautiful ceremony. Guests were welcomed by our families before the ceremony and enjoyed refreshments while we enjoyed our last single moments paying our respects at the Shrine of the Bab.
We had a simple Baha'i marriage ceremony with opening remarks by Mrs. Violette Nakhjavani and prayers and readings in English, Portuguese and Persian, often accompanied by guitar and violin or santur.
The ceremony was followed by an exquisite dinner reception in a round dining room overlooking the whole city and across the bay to Akka. Following dinner we had speeches by our parents, two of our friends and then we said a few words each before cutting the cake.
A very creative musical presentation had us all mesmorized and laughing as the lyrics rolled off the tongues of our talented friends.
We followed this up with our first dance (an attempted waltz) where we were thankfully joined by our parents after a minute or so! After that, the party continued with a mix of Brazilian, Caribbean, Persian and other beats to keep our hearts and heels pumping. |
