2009 has indeed been eventful. It is the year that both of our children got married. They both got married in a three month period. On July 4, 2009 Armené Gavoor married Michael Kapamajian. On September 26, 2009 Aram Gavoor and Anoush Varjabedian were married.
Armené and Michael got married in California. They were married at the Holy Cross Armenian Church in Montebello, California. Their reception was at the church hall which had recently been renovated and was a great venue. They honeymooned in Hawaii. They live in Pasadena, CA.
Anoush and Aram were married in New York City at the St. Vartan Cathedral. Their reception was at The Pierre Hotel. For their honeymoon, they went to Australia and Fiji. They are living in Washington, DC.
We were quite pleased that both Aram and Armené chose such wonderful spouses. We were delighted that both of them found mates and partners that were also Armenian. We certainly encouraged that but we were also cognizant of the odds in this regard.
I never would have imagined that both children would have wed in the same year, let alone with a three month span. Likewise, I never would have predicted the two weddings would take place while I was without a job during the worst recession since the Great Depression. As I am only human, it was an odd mix of happiness for the joyous events and angst regarding my professional status. Yet, I came to realize that in a few years, people will remember that both the Gavoor children married in 2009 and not that it was the year of my unemployment.
Writing about it now, at the end of the year, really does cement things in their proper perspective.
Armené and Michael: They got married on July 4th. It is only appropriate. Armené was born on New Year’s Eve. I suggested that she continue this history of having all her major life events on major holidays. Let’s see if that happens.
Judy and Armené left for the West Coast in early June. I followed just in time for the wedding arriving in Los Angeles on July 2 with Judy’s parents and brother.
While I have been to LA a few times, I do not know my way around by any stretch. Thankfully, I had my portable GPS. It was very helpful even though the battery life is only about forty-five minutes and no longer chargeable from the cigarette lighter.
The weather was California perfect. Yet, everything seemed brown. There was not a lot of green. There were, of course, the freeways. They were full of traffic, but they moved. I think because of the holiday weekend, I never got to see a real LA rush hour. For that, I was thankful.
Armené and Judy had gone to LA early to set up Michael and Armené’s apartment. When I got there, it was all done and looked absolutely beautiful. I loved their place and the surrounding neighborhood. What a great place to live their first year of marriage. In fact, they will be able to walk out of their building and simply watch the Tournament of Roses Parade.
The wedding festivities began on Friday the third. We had the rehearsal dinner with basically everyone that was from out of town and Michael’s family. Except for the bride not being in a wedding dress and the groom not wearing a tuxedo, it could have been the wedding. reception
The wedding at the Holy Cross church was beautiful. The Holy Cross church was the Armenian church featured in the Academy Award winning film Sideways (best writing). It was a lovely sun drenched day which lit the church in the hues of the stained glass windows. Three priests officiated the ceremony. Der Nareg Pehlivanian and Der Ashod Kambourian of the Holy Cross Church were joined by Der Arshag Khatchadourian who was the priest that married Michael’s parents. I never noticed the soloist until I watched the video this past week. She was awesome. Michael told me that she was an opera singer.
Michael’s aunt Salpi was the caterer. She specializes in Armenian and Lebanese food. The food was bountiful and scrumptious. The band was the Hosharian Brothers who were childhood friends of Michael’s. As a special treat, we had John Bilezikjian, my very good friend and oud virtuoso, join the band. The dancing was non-stop. It was a great and glorious evening.
The day after the wedding Michael’s uncle and aunt, Robert and Hasmig, opened up their home for wonderful picnic for the family and out of town guests.
All in all a wonderful and memorable weekend. For most families, it would have been enough, but for us… no way. We had another wedding in a mere 84 days on the other coast of the country.
Anoush and Aram: As unfamiliar as I might have been with Los Angeles, going to New York was like going home. I had worked there for seventeen years. It was great to be back in Manhattan. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt right next to Grand Central Station, the portal through which I entered and exited the great island.
They say New York gets into your blood and you are glad to be a part of it. Indeed I was. It is an exciting and vibrant place. It was exciting and vibrant as ever and even more so for all of us there to celebrate the wedding of Anoush and Aram.
The rehearsal dinner was on Friday evening at Kavoukjian hall in St. Vartan’s. Like Armené and Michael’s, Anoush and Aram’s had a band, great Armenian food, family and friends having what could have been reception all by itself.
The wedding ceremony was at St. Vartan Cathedral on Second Avenue in Manhattan. Archbishop Khajag Barsamian performed the ceremony. Assisting the prelate was Der Untzag Nalbandian and Der Mardiros Chevian. Der Untzag was the priest of the Holy Ascension Church in Trumbull, CT, our church for the seventeen years we lived in CT. He is a dear friend and we were so glad he was on the altar for this wedding. Der Mardiros is the priest of St. Vartan Cathedral and very close and dear to the Varjabedians. This made it very special.
The choir, conducted by Maestro Khoren Meikhanedjian a good friend of both families, was exquisite with five operatic voices that lifted the spirits of one and all. In fact, the choir were friends of both families making their participation extra special.
The reception was at The Pierre. It was a most elegant and exquisite venue. The décor, food, and service were as good as it gets in New York City. It was spectacular. The hors d' oeuvres were like nothing had ever experienced in terms of bounty and quality. I am not sure how anyone had room for the dinner.
The Aravod Ensemble provided the music joined by John Harotian and Rich Berberian. They were really energized and did a fantastic job.
The next day, Anoush’s father, Yervant, opened up his apartment on the Upper East Side to family and out of town guests. Daniel Nadler, a close friend of the Anoush’s family and a reknown travel author and photographer, had printed and mounted a few photos of the wedding. They were exquisite and the center of attention at this gathering along with the newlyweds.
Both weddings: I wanted to write the same exact paragraph to summarize both weddings. Everyone in attendance had a wonderful time. The pace for the fun, warmth, and festivities was set by the love and joy of the couples getting married. The ceremonies were lovely, the dinners fabulous, and the dance floor was packed all night with the bride and groom at the center. It is exactly the way it should be, exactly the way any parent would want it to be for their children.
The Henna Party: The rehearsal dinner at both weddings was not really a rehearsal dinner but a Henna Party or Hennayoun.
We can argue until we are blue in the face, well actually orange in the fingers, as to whether we borrowed the tradition from the Turks or they borrowed from us, or both Turks and Armenians borrowed from the Indians. It gets very confusing. An internet search would lead one to believe that it is a Moroccan Jewish tradition.
No matter the origin. The way we do it is a lot of fun. We eat and drink, and there is a band, so we dance. As stated above, these henna parties were not the wedding but given the number of guests, the food and drink, the music, and festivities they could well have been a wedding reception. A tray with the Henna dye is brought out. The bowl of Henna is surrounded by apples. Tradition, at least our tradition, is that the single ladies are supposed to dye their pinkies so that at the reception it would be clear to the bachelors which ladies were single and eligible. These days anyone that wanted to could have had their fingers dyed.
Khunami is the Armenian word for in-law. I prefer it to the word in-law. Why? I am not entirely sure. I think it is because the Armenian word is warmer and implies a closer relationship than the English word. This may just be in my mind. It may also be because the way in-laws are portrayed by comedians and on sitcoms in this country.
Michael’s parents, Manuk and Ana, and Anoush’s parents, Yervant, Ida and Steve, are most welcome additions to our family. The only drawback is that Michael’s parents are in Los Angeles and Anoush’s are in New York. This makes it difficult to see them as much as we would like. But this is simply a sign of the times. Thankfully we have e-mail and unlimited calling plans.
We were delighted that Yervant was able to visit us over the Christmas holidays when both couples were visiting us in Lake Forest.
We the in-laws, khunamis, are collectively waiting to be grandparents. We are most definitely more ready for this than the newlyweds are to make us grandparents.
Great Friends: Music is important to me especially the kind of music played at both these weddings. The church service, the food, the music and dance are definite links to our heritage.
At the heart of the music for both weddings, were two old and dear friends: John Harotian and Rich Berberian. They are first cousins and great great guys. They gave each of the wedding couples the gift of their music at both the hennayoun parties and at Anoush and Aram’s reception. They have been close friends for many years. They grew up in greater Boston but Camp Haiastan, the Armneian Youth Federation, and the love of music brought us together.
John plays the clarinet. We played jobs together when I lived in Connecticut. John then moved to Chicago. A few years later, I followed him here, and now we play regularly.
Rich plays the oud and sings. He was the leader of the band that he and John were the heart of for so many years. They recorded a few albums back in the days of vinyl. Rich’s son Haig is a close friend of Armené. It was Rich’s idea to play at Armené’s hennayoun. He then offered to Anoush and Aram to play at both of their parties.
I understand the love of playing and have done the same kind of thing. It is a joy to play. It is even more of a joy to give the gift of music to close friends and relatives. I understand this but am still very grateful for the generosity of these two very talented musicians and even better friends.
The Changing of the Last Names: I had yet to change the last names of Anoush and Armené in my cell phone. Both of them have noticed that. They found it a little strange, but I still have not deleted the names of close friends and family that have passed on. I feel like deleting these folks is, well, deleting them for good. So, I leave them and am reminded randomly of them. This is definitely an old Armenian behavior morphed into this digital age.
At any rate, when Armené and Anoush were visiting over the Christmas Holidays, I told them we would have a formal changing of their last names in Dad’s cell phones. I even suggested inviting our priest over to chant and incant an appropriate blessing. If we still lived in Connecticut, I know I could have asked our priest Der Untzag. He might or might not have done it but would have certainly loved and laughed at such a request.
So after breakfast on Sunday, December 27th, I brought my Blackberry to the table and changed my daughters’ last names.
All in all, it was a most eventful year. May 2010 be a healthy and happy one for all of you!
