Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Written by . Posted in Featured Weddings

We stumbled upon Melik and Aleen's beautiful and traditional Armenian wedding on Instagram and fell in love with their wedding logo - their initials in Armenian! So we reached out to Aleen to learn all about the couple and get details about their gorgeous wedding on September 9, 2017 at L.A. Banquet's Glenoaks Ballroom. We're excited to share Melik and Aleen's love story, their traditional khosk-kap, and their wedding day photos and videos by Royal Gor Photography!

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Before we start sharing all the wedding details, we first like to get to know the couple and learn more about their proposal. So we spoke with Aleen to learn more about her and Melik's relationship. 

How did you meet?

Melik and I met four years ago when Melik had just moved to Los Angeles from Dubai. We met in the strangest way, we really had no mutual friends in common. After a few weeks of living in LA, Melik went on a business trip to New York. On his way to New York, one of my old high school friends was sitting next to him. They started talking and when he mentioned his background she quickly remembered me! She told him that she has the perfect match for him. She gave him my Facebook and we started talking. As soon as we started talking, it was like we had known each other for ages. After talking for a while, we decided it was time to meet in person. After meeting in person, we both knew we had found the one!

How long were you together before he proposed?

We were together for a year and a half before we got engaged. We are both extremely traditional and we wanted to have a “khosk-kap” where Melik’s family comes to my house and officially asks for my hand in marriage in front of our family members. On July 22, 2015, our families gathered together for the official proposal between Melik and I. It was a beautiful night full of happiness, love, and most importantly, family. We then had our engagement on May 22, 2016 where a priest was present to bless our engagement rings.

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Tell us a little bit about your wedding planning experience.  

As we mentioned before we are very traditional and we like to tie everything to our Armenian roots. After all, our cultural background is what brought us together and we wanted our wedding to represent our story.

What was your favorite part and did you face any challenges during the planning process?

The best part about wedding planning is the effect it has on truly strengthening a couple’s relationship and bonding the families together. The most challenging part was choosing the location. Our initial plan was to get married in Armenia, but due to us being very hands on with wedding planning, we decided to have our wedding in Los Angeles. By the time we chose our wedding date, we had less than a year left to plan everything else.

Did Harsanik help you with your wedding planning experience?

With less than a year to plan, we were so overwhelmed by all the details that go in planning a big Armenian wedding. We really did not know where to begin and after Googling so many different things regarding Armenian Weddings, we stumbled onto Harsanik.com. Because most vendors were booked way in advance, we had a lot of difficulty in finding vendors that were available on our wedding date. Harsanik made everything easier for us because of the organized vendor list - we really had all of our options right in front of us.

Why did you select LA Banquet's Glenoaks ballroom as your venue? How was your overall experience?

With less than a year to plan the wedding, there were very limited availability for the time frame we were looking at. The Glenoaks Ballroom was the best available option since they were very flexible in letting us design and create the vision we had. Our Engagement party was at the LA Banquet’s Galleria Ballroom and we were extremely satisfied with their services. Their staff is friendly and professional and they have the best food! With that being said, we wanted to stick with them for our wedding. Our two options were the Glenoaks Ballroom and Brandview Ballroom. The Glenoaks Ballroom is the perfect size and had the ideal layout for us.

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Did you incorporate any traditions into your wedding? If so, which ones?

Our wedding was very traditional. As mentioned, it started off with the proposal being very traditional. Then, our wedding ceremony was blessed with the seven priests from all across the US, led by the Armenian Archbishop of the United States, Moushegh Mardirossian. Lastly, we put in a lot of effort in entertaining the crowd during the cocktail hour and party. We had an Armenian violinist, full Armenian dance team, Dhol Zourna band, Harout Balyan, Greek band, and of course an Armenian DJ.

Can you tell us a little bit about the dhol zourna band?

Our zourna band was Vardan Aroutounian. He came with his band to the bride's house and also later at the reception entrance. At the reception entrance, he added a drummer and a keyboard player to his band. It really was not the typical dhol zourna experience. They were amazing and many of our guests asked us for their contact information after the wedding. 

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Tell us more about your gorgeous wedding dress & dress shopping experience.

I had only tried on a few dresses before I found the one! Alyne by Rita Vinieris had a trunk show in the bridal shop the day I was there and I was able to find my dream wedding dress in her collection. I loved the dress so much that I really did not want to see any of my other options. It truly felt like the dress was made for me. As soon as I put on the dress, I knew it was the one!

Where did you take photos on your wedding day?

We took pictures at Brand Park Library in Glendale. Because we were meeting each other at church and did not have time before the church to take pictures, we decided to choose a location close to our venue. Right after the church, we headed to our venue to take pictures inside while it was still empty and then we went to the park.

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Anything special or unique about your wedding day you want to share?

One of the most unique parts of our wedding was our logo, it was our initials in Armenian. The unique part about the logo is that it was the same as Melik’s parent’s logo for their wedding. Luckily, not only are our initials the same but me and Melik's Mom have the same name! Using their wedding logo was special and meaningful to both of us.

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Any advice for other couples planning their special day?

Our advice to other couples is to not stress about the small things and look at the big image. At the end of the day the small details won’t matter, you are marrying the love of your life enjoy every moment and have fun!

Congratulations to Melik and Aleen on your gorgeous wedding! We loved how you incorporated so many Armenian traditions, starting with your proposal and all the way into your wedding day. We wish you two a lifetime of love and happiness! 

Vendors

Ceremony: Holy Martyrs Armenian Apostolic Church
Wedding Coordinator: LA Jolie Events
Photographer & Videographer: Royal Gor Photo & Video Studio
Florist: Buds and Blooms LA
Florist for Bride and Groom Homes: Excellency Events
Rentals: White Night Design
Dancefloor: Untamed Events
DJ: Dj Robert
Catering: SIT Catering
Favors: Lara's Gifts
Dress: Lovella Bridal
Hair & Makeup: Studio Kay
Transportation: Pearl Limo
Dance Group: Niari Dance
Dhol Zourna: Vardan Haroutiounian
Violinist: Meruzhan Margaryan
Greek Band: Takis Kokotas
Singer: Harout Balyan

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Featured Wedding: Melik & Aleen

Tags: armenian , bridal accessories , bridal bouquet , bridal fashion , bridal shoes , engagement , photo location , photoshoot , summer wedding , tradition , wedding day , wedding dress , wedding photography , wedding planning

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