All The WH Questions For The Big W Day

By Meirav Markowitz | August 7, 2014

So he popped the question! Yay! I’m sooo excited! Can’t wait to tell everyone!

First they are also super excited with you: “How did he propose? Were you surprised?” But then come The W Questions! When? Where? Who will do that and this? Definitely in Israel, my home country, but Where in Israel? So many QUESTIONS!  WTF!

So, I decided to go to Israel and plan my own wedding: only me, only for one week, busy week with decisions decisions decisions… Ahhhhhh!

Relax, take a big breath: all you have to do is decide!

The first and the smartest decision that I made was to have a wedding planner. She scheduled all the meetings with all the suppliers, the only thing I needed to do is to decide. I fell in love with the first location that I saw. It was exactly what I wanted – not too big not too small, open space with a beautiful garden, 20 minutes from Tel Aviv (my hometown) and a swimming pool! That went well, they even had the date that I wanted on the Shavuhut holiday. So I’ll have a relaxing holiday wedding..

But then there are all the other really important decisions:

• The food – oh must be kosher, but I don’t want kosher!
• The bar- there is silver package and gold package… What do you choose???
• The DJ – must be cool and funky!
• The photographer- must take photos and also make a film!
• The dress – the most important thing! And shoes, and jewelry.
• The hairdresser
• The flowers
• The design for the venue – must be white, but also include symbols from China. But what?

Thank god my best friend is a makeup artist so at least no need for a decision there..

So, I chose most of the suppliers and I was ready to go back to China, but do you think the work was over? Think again.. Then started all the arrangements: making the guest list, making “save the date” & invitation, printing the invitation, looking in all Beijing for envelops! Sending all the invites, waiting…

The questions don’t really stop, which song should we choose? What should I put on my hair, what kind of jewelry should I wear? Will there be any speeches at the wedding? Should we have a band playing? What kind of car will pick us up? With decoration or without? And so on… finally the day of the flight to Israel comes! But did I answer all of the questions? We don’t have time, the wedding is in a week!

Relax, take a big breath: all you have to do is fly!

I arrived in Israel, big excitement, but all I do during my first week is meetings and arrangements for the wedding… I barely have the time to see my friends.. And then comes the weekend before the wedding, my Bachelorette Party! The peak of my week!

We went to this amazing villa in the mountains, constantly spoiling ourselves with food, we played some really cool games with my life story in it… and the rest, I will leave to myself and my amazing girlfriends.. Thank you again girls, I love you! 🙂

The next day we had the family gathering. Since Yaya and I met just a few months before moving to China our families didn’t really know each other, so it was the first time some of them met… It went very well and everybody was happy!

The day before the wedding: Girls Day! First in the morning I picked up my dress and directly went with my mom and sis for mani-pedi and in the evening I went for the mikveh  (which is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism) with my girlfriends (also with my amazing friends from Beijing that came just for the wedding!). Although I’m not a religious person, I must say it was a very touching moment for me. You get into a small bath with pure water (rain water) with no clothes on. In the room it’s just you and the female rabbi; she says a prayer and ask you to go under the water 3 times. On the third time you repeat after her and you actually feel “pure”. I have to say that I was surprised of myself feeling so exciting there.

Then I woke up the next morning:

Open your eyes, take a big breath: this is your day!

To be continued…