Prestige issue 273, April 2016
Wedding Special by Mireille Farès-Bouez
More than a loving embrace with the joy of the party under the spotlight, marriage is the covenant, this official oath made by couples wanting to live together, committing to God and the State to support each other and prolong their love in stability. Even in a society where it can be dissolved easily, marriage is a very important act, symbolizing the will of the couple who built the joint project to continue to love forever, moving aside indecision and ulterior motives, alienating sometimes some of its common wishes. Digressions on marriage with some couples and a single person…
Viviane Boulos and Mike Tolan
Never routine!
For Viviane Boulos and Mike Tolan, marriage has never been routine, but a perpetual discovery of the other in different contexts. Viviane is Lebanese from Kesrouan, Mike is from Irish father and an American mother. They met and got married in 1992 in Cyprus, where Viviane had fled the war and Mike worked in the touristic field in Limassol. «Mike impressed me with his fancy and adventurous side. He was not a son to dad but a self-made man. The cosmopolitan environment in which we lived has been beneficial, it helped cement our relationship. Anyway, I did not feel as a stranger, having lived with my brother Jo in the United States where I continued to study architecture at the University of Texas.» and Viviane added. «Since our twins were born, Angie and Alex, 15 years old, I do not travel as much with Mike. We reside in Adma in a quiet ground garden. He continues to travel the world, he has always traveled and has never been rooted in Lebanon. That’s why each time he returns and stays, it’s party time! Never routine with Mike!»
Drs Paul and Andrée Sacre
Love, sharing and respect
Happy marriage, touch wood, for Drs Paul and Andrée Sacre who form a harmonious couple. Both pharmacists, Paul and Andrée continue to be in love after thirty years of marriage. «Not only our love lasts but it is intensifying over time», says Paul, who met the beautiful Andrée at the University Saint-Joseph where both continued their pharmacy studies. «Marriage is love, a life of sharing, completing each other, saying «yes» every day to face together the existence with its ups and downs».
In their residence of 36.000m2 in Ghbeilé (Ftouh Kesrouan) called «St. Andrée», Paul and Andrée enjoy during the weekend the joys of married life, sometimes with their children: Peter already pilot, Lynn pharmacist and married that followed the example of her parents and the youngest daughter Laura, a student in pharmacy. The secret of successful marriage? «Respect for each other, feelings, ideas, projects, ambitions … and of course respect for marriage».
Mattar and Gaëlle Mattar
A promise, a long-term yes
Married in 2012, already parents of two cute girls (2 years and 2 months) Mattar and Gaëlle Mattar form a united and happy couple. «Marriage is a long-term promise, consent, a «yes» for life as the saying goes … It’s a great institution!» How to make a marriage successful? «It takes a lot of love, a few sacrifices, patience and sense of responsibility.» The ideal partner? «Mine, someone who accepts me and loves me as I am!»
Fadi and Zeina Suidan
A very positive institution
To recommend
Wedding? «A happy experience for us», say Zeina and Fadi Suidan married for 19 years, parents of three boys and a girl, respectively 18, 15, 9 and 8 years. «We are united in love and I can tell after so many years together that marriage is undeniably a very positive institution that I recommend to people that I love. It’s much better to live in couple, says Zeina, to share with a husband the joys and problems of life…». The ideal companion? «A present husband, listening to the other half, a good friend provided with a «flame» that makes us tick…»
Céline Makhoul and Ronald Kefurt. «Banish the monotony!»
Same story for Celine Makhoul and her Austrian husband Dr. Ronald Kefurt, who do not know monotony, the trap and weed of life together. They live between Lebanon and Vienna, where they were married in July 2009 and the birthplace of their adorable son, Raphael, 7 months. «For me, marriage is a beautiful exchange of love, trust and partnership, said Céline, Telecom engineer who knew Ronald in Egypt, in Sharm el Sheikh, where she was vacationing and where he was teacher of diving to supplement his pocket money. Our differences (of culture, mentality …) were a great boost to our relationship, tickled my curiosity» and Celine adds: «To make a marriage last in joy, we must banish monotony, keep the «flame», the charm of first emotions.»
Nathalie el Khoury
A union for life, for better and for worse
«For me, marriage is unconditional union between two people to start a family. A life together for better or for worse, as perceived by the Christian marriage» said lawyer Nathalie el Khoury who deplores this increase in filing for divorce and separation today. For our single friend, the main cause of the breakdown and divorce is due to human selfishness that is intensifying in our society has become very materialistic. «Right now, we want to take without giving, to win rather than be loved. Marriage, love, is not a business but values, noble feelings, giving and sacrifice. For a successful union, one must not calculate, take account of giving and receiving but giving of yourself, in person, eyes closed with love…» The ideal companion? «A loving man, a believer, hardworking, confident, with a sense of values, respects my pride and my freedom space…»
