3id el 3ezzebi Festival and Guinness World Record
Published: 01/11/2009 by Dora & Majid Hkayem
» Wedding Dresses
» Wedding Venues
» Weddings in Lebanon
Did you ever think that Arnaoon Wedding Village would be spoken about all over the world – on TV, in the newspapers, and on the radio…because we did!
At Arnaoon, we believe in our location and our team so much that we decided to host the 3id el 3ezzebi Festival and to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest wedding veil on the same day!
On Sunday, the 18th of October, 2009, we invited various wedding vendors from all over Lebanon to display their products in front of our guests. Some vendors chose to hand out flyers and meet with the guests personally, while others chose to also participate by decorating Arnaoon with their designs.
At 4:30pm on Sunday, we began the zaffe and band parades on the highway, leading to Arnaoon, infront of the bus that held one of our own brides wearing the veil. The topographer began the long measuring process as the bridesmaids unraveled the veil onto the road. Hundreds of bystanders stopped their cars on the highway shouting out phrases of congratulations and best wishes. Leading to the mountain top, over 100 people stood by to toss flower petals on the bride and sing traditional eweha verses as the bride drove by them.
Those guests who had arrived early and remained in Arnaoon, had the chance to have a drink from the welcome area, and visit the Arnaoon house, that is offered to the newlywed couples at Arnaoon on the day of their wedding. They were all eager to welcome the bride and help spread out the veil on to the ground once she arrived. The bride was welcomed to the church by the zaffe team leading the path for her which ended once the pianist began to play.
Under the auspices of the Minister of Tourism, Mr. Elie Marouni, represented by Mr. Antoine Kahwaji, Arnaoon Wedding Village was declared, in front of all the guests, vendors, and media, that they had reached an astonishing record length of 3,358m in the attempt for the longest wedding veil in the world!
It was a great day… but that was only the beginning!
Shorty after, the cocktail area opened for the public as well as the exhibition area. People made their way all around Arnaoon. Then it was time to start the fashion show. The models came out on stage, down the catwalk, allowing all to see their stunning gowns, stylish hair, magnificent make-up, and mesmerizing jewels. In between the fashion show breaks, as the models changed outfits, various bands came out on stage to entertain the viewers.
It may appear that the day was only revolved around those guests who are already engaged… so why was it called the 3id el 3ezzebi Festival? It was time to surprise all of our single guests!
All single people were asked to come up on stage. They began to dance and meet the other singles as one of our singers sung for them. Our famous bride and groom joined them on stage…it was time for the bouquet and garter toss! The singles took turns trying to catch the bouquet and garter.
Do you want to hear what the surprise was… the young girl and guy who caught the bouquet and garter, were awarded a free engagement party at Arnaoon Wedding Village if they were to stay together and form a relationship.
As we mentioned before, it was an amazing day for all those involved. Within the years to come, the 3id el 3ezzebi festival will get bigger and better every year!
Thank you to all those who believed in us and allowed us to make this day a huge success!
A special thanks to: Gaby Saliba who contributed all of the gowns for the models and for the bride, Farouk Darwich and Elie and Dany who designed the model's hair, Antoine Saliba and Farah Khoury who contributed the jewels that the models wore, Samer Baltaji who did the make-up, Le Printemps who decorated the house and stage, Lili White who decorated the church and bridge above the lake, Anna Flowers who decorated the welcome and food area, The Divas who greeted and welcomed our guests, Taiga Sound and Light who provided us with all of the lighting and sound, SVP valet parking, Flash Lighting Studio for filming and capturing the reception and exhibition area, Tony Labaki Studio for his filming from Hamat, Joseph Boulos for filming the wedding veil, PhotoLina2 for capturing the wedding veil shots, and finally Paraff for dressing our groom.
