Wed: Asal & Michael in Boca Raton

There is just something so heart warming about this wedding sent to us by Alex at Soul Echo Studios. With a fun-loving bride and groom, meaningful traditions, and a gorgeously festive courtyard at The Addison, every little bit just made me smile!

Michael and Asal met while they were working at Cheeburger Cheeburger in high school - but this isn't one of those 'love at first sight' stories. Says Asal, We used to fight a lot I can even recall one time that we were arguing so much that we got into a ketchup war. Which needless to say ended up with both us drenched in ketchup. When we look back on it now we both agree that was when we both realized that we had feelings for each other. We have a lot of stories like that from Cheeburger all that ended with me in some kind of food product like milkshake or pickles. After a few months of fighting we became good friends actually staying after work and talking in the parking lot till midnight or so. People used to say you two will end up killing each other or married...

I went to college that summer at FSU and he was in his senior year of high school. We spent my first year in college and became very close friends. At the end of my spring semester I was attending his graduation party and he told me that he was falling in love with me. It is one of my greatest memories of us as a couple. I always loved that we could talk for hours and how much we understood each other. My second year at Florida State I became very ill and was hospitalized with a severe kidney infection and he drove all the way from Atlanta since he was now attending Georgia Tech to take care of me. He told me that night in the hospital that he always knew that we would end up together and I would be the woman he would marry one day. We dated for about five and half years before he proposed on Ft. Lauderdale beach at sunset with a red carpet that was covered in rose petals and 4 dozen roses.

I was immediately intrigued by Asal and Michael's ceremony; I just had to find out the meaning of the arch they were under, and the table loaded with beautiful items and spices! Luckily, Asal gave me all the details on the table of marriage, or Sofreh-ye Aghd, which was planned for them by her mother and grandmother:

Both of my parents are Persian and moved to America when they were in their early 20's. In my background there is a table that is displayed under an arch called Sofreh-ye Aghd which means the Table of Marriage. The table is set traditionally in the direction of the sunrise and the bride and groom sit at the end of the table facing the sunrise. All the items on the table have a meaning. My parents actually had the table cloth sent from Iran and we used some of my family's items that were a part of their weddings.

The table included: a mirror which represents fate; 2 candles which represent the bride and groom and their bright future; 7 spices {Poppy Seeds "Khash-Khaash" (to break spells and witchcraft), Wild Rice "Berenj", Angelica "Sabzi Khoshk", Salt "Namak" (to blind the evil eye), Nigella Seeds "Raziyaneh", Black Tea "Chaay", Frankincense "Kondor" (to burn the evil spirits)}; a basket of eggs to represent fertility; a basket of apples to represent happiness in the future; sugar to represent the sweetness of a new life together; gold coins representing prosperity; honey for a sweetened future; a needle and seven threads which represent a shutting of both mother in laws' mouths from interrupting the lives of the newlyweds; and a copy of the holy books.

You also need a cloth to be held over the bride and groom's heads with 2 sugars that will be ground throughout the ceremony to shower them in happiness and sweetness.

Known as "the party couple" in their circle of friends, the couple knew from the beginning that they wanted a fun, different wedding. They also wanted to make incorporating both their backgrounds a priority. They looked at tons of venues, but had their own little love-at-first-sight when they found The Addison, which gave them all the variety and options they were looking for.

From the bride: When we saw the Addison we knew right away that it was perfect. I mean it had FSU colors everywhere. It gave us a traditional feel with a twist of difference. I loved that it had a fountain outside. At FSU there is a tradition that when major events happen in your life you get thrown in a fountain and I loved the idea of getting in the fountain on my wedding day, although I did warn Cindy that if she didn't want that she should have a sign on it and it to be turned off. Mike loved that it had a wine shelf upstairs and 2 huge bars. (We are the couple that eliminated venues that would not let us have a shot as our toast.)

After we booked the venue we found out that I got a job in Concord, NC and that we were moving in 2 months and that most of our planning needed to be done right away. Cindy our wedding coordinator at the Addison was the best thing that ever happened for our wedding. I was not a traditional bride and wanted hardly anything to do with the planning - if Mike and I had it our way she would of picked everything and we would of just shown up. We actually planned our wedding in 2 months and moved to NC. And thank god for Cindy. She actually told us about our photographer, who is also a FSU graduate, and florist. We were constantly told how wonderful of a job they both did. We were truly blessed to have some of the best people in their fields to do our wedding.

Some of our favorite parts were the fountain, our table numbers which were pictures of old famous FSU and GT players, our gift which was wine or beer bottles, the amazing food we had (which was the only thing Mike cared about), my mom and I dancing on top of the speakers, the money that was tossed at us during the first dance, all the laughing we did during the ceremony because the priest couldn't get my name right and forgot to let us have a first kiss until our wedding party reminded him. It was truly the best night of our lives and ended so quickly. And we were so lucky to have such amazing people to work with through the process.

Such a great reminder why finding professionals that you can trust - and that love and take pride in their work - is so important in planning your wedding. Congratulations, Michael and Asal... here's to many happy food fights in the years to come!

VENUE/VENDOR INFORMATION:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: The Addison, Boca Raton | Photography: Soul Echo Studios | Floral Design: Daniel Events | Makeup: Christie Lopez Makeup and Skincare | DJ: Good Vibrations | Submission: Two Bright Lights

you might also like:

• Wed: Megan & Jeremy's Nautical Wedding in Miami
• Engaged: Sarah & JoAllen
• Wedding How To: Mismatched Bridesmaids
• Nautical Wedding: Nilsa & Joshua at the Lauderdale Yacht Club