Culture Club: Sally and Paul in Seattle, WA

When Sally Farhat began planning her wedding to Paul Kassab, she set the date for just four months away, which meant she needed to make some quick decisions. “On a piece of paper, I wrote the elements that really mattered to us and let them be the focus,” says Sally. “We wanted to make sure the wedding was romantic and elegant, honored our shared Greek and Lebanese cultures and was a fun evening for our guests—full of energy.”
 

Culture Club: Sally and Paul in Seattle, WA

Sally's mother, a seamstress, even helped her alter her A-line gown—she added straps, lace and 250 Swarovski crystals.

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Culture Club: Sally and Paul in Seattle, WA

When Sally Farhat began planning her wedding to Paul Kassab, she set the date for just four months away, which meant she needed to make some quick decisions. “On a piece of paper, I wrote the elements that really mattered to us and let them be the focus,” says Sally. “We wanted to make sure the wedding was romantic and elegant, honored our shared Greek and Lebanese cultures and was a fun evening for our guests—full of energy.”
 

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Culture Club: Sally and Paul in Seattle, WA
Paul lives in Boston, so Sally, who was in Seattle at the time, turned to her mother and to Melissa Bryan of Lush Parties and Events for some much needed help. They chose Seattle’s St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church as the venue, a large, ornate church with its own banquet hall for receptions.  
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Culture Club: Sally and Paul in Seattle, WA
At the church, 200 guests watched the couple wed in a traditional Greek Orthodox ceremony. A chanter sang Byzantine music in Arabic, and three priests and one deacon said the rest of the rite in Greek and English.
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Culture Club: Sally and Paul in Seattle, WA
One of the priests draped connected lace wedding crowns, called stefana, on the bride and groom’s heads, symbolizing their union. He also led the couple around the altar three times. “In this act, we took our first steps as a married couple,” explains Sally.  
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Culture Club: Sally and Paul in Seattle, WA
A dapper ring bearer before the ceremony. In Lebanon, the father of the bride walks her only as far as the church door, where he ‘gives her away.’ "But Dad has lived in the U.S. for 37 years and had dreamed of walking me down the aisle. He was more emotional than I’d ever seen him, and I will never forget how he expressed his love for me that way.”
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Culture Club: Sally and Paul in Seattle, WA
The two-year old flower girl.  
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Culture Club: Sally and Paul in Seattle, WA

Place cards with a stefana motif.

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Culture Club: Sally and Paul in Seattle, WA
“The entertainment truly was the highlight of the wedding. I loved that my American friends belly danced and did the traditional dabke, a Lebanese line dance!”
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