From Bachelorhood to a Married Man
Before getting married, we always used to agree that we will keep our wedding as simple as we can and honeymoon as luxurious as we can afford. Being honest, I am totally against the customs we are following nowadays in a Pakistani weddings.
I preferred to do something which makes us happy as a couple rather than spending a lot on a wedding event.
Our parents finalized our wedding date while we both were out of Pakistan. I was living in Dubai, UAE at that time and she was studying in Germany. We really really wanted to have it the way we like without the influence of anybody.
We decided to have a simple Nikkah in Badshahi Mosque and Wedding reception hosted by our families at Garrison Golf and Country Club, Lahore.
Wedding Preparations:
It was around 1.5 month left in our wedding and nothing was decided literally nothing. We just knew about the dates. Luckily, she managed to get the holidays and flew back to Pakistan from Germany just 1.5 month before wedding.
I had all my trust on her to arrange everything including my Sherwani (Traditional Wear for groom in Pakistan) and Wedding hall.
OH MY GOD, Everything changed since the day she landed in Pakistan. She was always lecturing me all the time to have a minimalist wedding and now she is booking her make up from Ather Shahzed and Hafsa Khan and visiting Amir Adnan for my Sherwani.
Guys, I don’t want to sound miser here but she made my mind about something else but did opposite. Well, I was agreeing on every single thing being a good man. I believe every girl has a certain dream and if it’s making her happy then why not go for it.
The main challenged we faced in those days was getting permission from our families to do a Nikkah in a mosque rather than Barat and then reception. Being an only son of my parents, they had some expectations.
Nikkah:
Another ongoing discussion was the venue of Nikkah, As Badshahi mosque is located in Old Lahore and it’s a challenge to reach to the mosque for everybody on time when you know that mall road is blocked due to political situation (like Khadim Rizvis Jalsa took place on our Nikkah day).
Finally after facing a criticism from everybody at home, we got succeeded in having the wedding the way we wanted. It was a simple Nikkah in Badshahi Mosque and later on we went to Bistro 201 for the Dinner. We had our reception in Garrison Country and Golf Club, Lahore.
Any Guess Who was the First One to Arrive at Nikkah, The Groom !!
I was the first one reaching on my Nikkah along with my best friend. It was quite a weird situation for me, Being a Dulha(Groom), I was waiting for my bride and our families. While she was getting a photoshoot at that time at Afzl"s Studio I was waiting for everyone in 400 years old mosque.
In Badshahi mosque, they have 3-4 Nikkah ceremonies after every prayer and my Nikkah was after Asar. At the time of Nikkah, I was surrounded by more than 100 people.
The funniest thing about that gathering: When I got the pictures from my photographer, I found the pictures of other groom as-well. May be they were confused about the Dulha (Groom).
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Reception:
We had been to Afzl's Studio for the photoshoot and reached to the Reception Venue.
On the reception event, we were again the first one to reach the wedding hall and waited for the guests. My wife was so freaked out when she looked at the décor of the stage.
She selected a very different setup and which turned out to be a total mess. But we can’t do anything at that point. Getting married in Pakistan is not an easy thing.
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When it's written on the card, the time is 7:00 PM and then the guest are arriving at 9:00 PM and then everybody start coming to the stage to meet and have a picture. I mean what is happening??
These are the thing which need to be changed in our country. The time is given on the card so come on time and don’t make the stage as a fish market. We need to make the wedding easy for everybody.
Tip here: Stay Stubborn or get influenced ☺
I was always dying of the fact that my traveling will be stop after getting married and then I met another travel fanatic who was as crazy as me.
Now the honeymoon began:
After staying 3 days with family in Pakistan, we travelled to Dubai and then to Seychelles. We reached airport on time but airport was so crowded and we were about to miss the flight but luckily the flight was delayed by 30 minutes and got the flight.
We reached Dubai airport in the morning. We had a stopover of 15 hours there. If you have a valid Schengen Visa, you can also get transit visa for 96 hours in Dubai for 400 dhs.
You just have to request on Emirates Airline desk and show the hotel booking. This is how I got my wife’s transit visa. After spending some time in Dubai, we went back to the airport for the next flight.
Honeymoon Begins
1st Stopover was Dubai and then to Seychelles
Heaven on Earth, Seychelles. Home to the 2nd most beautiful beach on this planet
First Destination: Seychelles
After the hectic wedding, what could be a better place than relaxing on the beaches of Seychelles. World"s 2nd most beautiful beach to relax.
We had booked Hilton Seychelles Labriz resort and SPA and stayed there for 5 nights. The resort is in Silhouette Island and offers the best honeymoon experience with amazing private beach, pool, SPA and wide range of restaurants.
We used to start our day with breakfast and then lying on the beach and swimming in the crystal clear tortoise water of the beach.
I have to say that Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort and SPA is one of the best Hotels to stay during your honeymoon and Seychelles is a must visit Country.
In the evening, we normally used to spend some time in the pool and relax in the Spa. For the dinner, we used to try different restaurants at Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort and SPA. The Island has only the Hilton resort. I would highly recommend it for honeymoon.
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2nd Destination: Istanbul, Turkey
The next destination was Istanbul, Turkey. We stayed in Double Tree by Hilton Istanbul Piyalepasa and explore the city for 3 days.
We have experienced the most romantic Cruise at Bosporus to the shopping of Istaklal Street to the Islamic history in Fatih Square to the rich Turkish culture in Grand Bazar and Spice Bazar.
I already have been to Istanbul. For my wife, three days were not enough for the city like Istanbul. We will definitely visit it again.
3rd Destination: Cappadocia, Turkey
The next destination was Cappadocia. We took a Turkish Airline flight from Istanbul to Kayseri. We booked a car from SIXT and then started our road trip to Cappadocia.
We stayed there for two days and enjoyed the amazing Hot Air Balloon Ride and Quad bike.
One of the best place on Earth for Hot Air Balloon Ride: Cappadocia
We also rented an Off road bike and explored the neighboring towns and experience the rich culture of Anatolia.
We also got some time to explore the Kayseri where my wife also lost her phone. It was so hard for us to ask for the help from locals as nobody was understand English and we did not find her phone.
After spending 12 days together in different cities and countries, it was time to go back to Dubai, UAE (our home). As I already knew that its gonna be boring for us in Dubai, so I already had booked a trip to Abu Dhabi to Yas Island.
4th Destination: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Yas Island has an amazing water park called Yas Water World with fanatic water slides and pools. It’s a best place for the couple to enjoy the thrill together while in Abu Dhabi.
To experience the world craziest roller coaster, we had visited the Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. It’s a Ferrari themed amusement park with deathly rides.
The amusement park also has a different Italian theme street as Ferarri was founded in Italy by Enzo Ferrari. 80% of Ferrari World theme park is indoor.
We had also experience one of the most amazing and Royal water park of Dubai i.e. Wild Wadi. As we both are crazy about water slides, we had the best time over there.
After enjoying the sun heat of UAE, it was the time to experience -4 Degrees in Dubai. For that experience, we went to the Indoor Ice skiing, Ski Dubai in Mall of Emirates in Dubai.
We had experienced the skiing and other sports including sliding on the snow, zip-line, Chair lift.
End Note:
We both are Travel Fanatic and have been to 15 Countries together. We love to Explore new town, cities and countries. For the satisfaction of our need to Travel, we will continue our trips all over the World !!