Island Weddings Are Hot, Hot, Hot

As much as I was looking forward to my friend Ashkan's (this is Ash):wedding last weekend, I was totally leery of going alone. I mean, it's bad enough that I feel like The Last Single Girl In The World, but to go to a wedding ALONE (especially one that was on a magical, mystical, beautiful island, no less) seemed extra harsh. Luckily, I ended up seeing my friend Caren (from Junior High) on the boat over to Catalina and she and her husband let me hang out with them for the majority of the wedding. Yay, Caren and Ollie! :) We saw some old friends right away - Walt, who I'd gone to school with since elementary school,Jason, also from Junior High, and Arshia (the groom's brother).Ashkan and Arshia (or Ash and Arsh, as I call them) moved into a house right behind us around Junior High and we would terrorize the neighborhood (who, me?) by going t.p.'ing (toiletpapering) every weekend. Ash and I would walk home together from the bus stop every day and would hang out whenever we could. Actually, before he became my neighbor, I had a HUGE crush on him. In fact, in seventh grade he sat behind me in Biology class and I put a mirror on my pencil so that I could sneak glances at him sitting there. Cool, huh? :) Even though I haven't seen them for years, we'd formed a bond that could never be broken. So, I was completely touched when he called to invite me to his wedding. Ash and Arsh were always so near and dear to my heart. I couldn't wait to see them.The only glitch of the day was that California experienced a record heat wave this weekend and Catalina was pretty much the temperature of the sun. By the time we walked from the boat to the ceremony, I thought I might die. Every pore was sticky from the humidity. Despite the heat, I'm so glad I was able to go and witness the ceremony. I'd never experienced a Persian Wedding Ceremony before and it was exquisite to behold. They passed out pamphlets that explained all the customs and things in place. It was really neat.
This is the custom of happily married women relatives covering the couple in shade (I'm sure there's more of a technical term than that, sorry) and grinding sugar over the shade to bring sweetness to their marriage. How cute is that?
I loved watching Ash dab the sweat off Joy's face during the ceremony.
This was immediately after it was announced they were husband and wife. I love the pumped fist!
How gorgeous was the cake?
The parasols were my favorite part. There might be one in my suitcase as we speak. :)