In the summer of 2014, Jolee traveled to Sevilla. She stumbled into a restaurant in the Alameda de Hercules and met the owner—Zakaria. One month later she returned to Sevilla and took Zak to meet her family in Malta. Add in a trip to Morocco to meet Zak’s family, a big Christmas visit to Spain, and the rest is history. Now they are settled in the beautiful city of Sevilla, España and continuing their wonderful adventure all around the world!
Give us the details! When? Where? How?
August 2015, in Morocco, Zak’s family hired a woman to come over and paint henna on my hands and feet. After lounging around in traditional Moroccan clothes, Zak asked me if I wanted to change into my “normal” clothes and take some pictures with family. I told him no because I was comfortable. (He was really trying his best to dress me up for the proposal.)
Our favorite Arabic song came on called Zeena (named after our cat) and as I proceeded to whip out my phone and show his family pictures of said cat, the next thing I knew he was in front of me on one knee!
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
We are having two weddings! One in Morocco with the majority of guests being Zak’s family and some world traveler friends and family, and a traditional destination wedding in Riviera Maya, Mexico with most American friends and family. I’ve really enjoyed designing the save the date cards since we are going with a world theme and also putting our story together on the Joy website. Zak was in tears when I showed it to him.
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
Surprisingly it’s not so bad even with two weddings! Zak’s family put the Moroccan wedding together for us. We will visit in April and I will pick out my dress and go over minor details. Besides that it’s going to be a big surprise! For Mexico, I have a wonderful travel agent and I am worry-free at the moment!
