A Beautiful Iranian Wedding Ceremony in Long Beach

By the time Ghazal Ghaysar and Payam Doostzadeh tied the knot, the pair had been together for nearly 15 years. You read that right—they first met as young teenagers! "Our cousins were best friends, so we met through them," says Ghazal. "We were immediately drawn to one another and started dating shortly after. Fast forward to July 3, 2016, when Payam and Ghazal were on a trip to Big Sur, one of their favorite destinations to visit. As they wandered a flower-covered hill overlooking the ocean and Pixby Bridge, Payam got down on one knee‚ and Ghazal said yes!

The couple gave themselves over a year to plan their wedding, setting the date for November 4th, 2017. "We wanted to really enjoy the process, and keep it pretty mellow," says Ghazal of the 16-month engagement. They selected Ebell Long Beach, a Spanish-Revival building built as a women's club in 1924, as the setting for their celebration and invited 184 guests to join them. "We both come from big families, so while it was definitely a larger guest list than we'd intended to have, neither of us would change a thing," says the bride. The venue's historic aesthetic didn't need much decorating, making it easy for Ghazal and Payam to dress up the space just enough while still letting the innate details shine. They hosted a traditional Iranian ceremony, followed by a modern reception that was right at home in Long Beach. Photographer Faith Wright of Winsome and Wright captured the carefully selected details of this simple celebration, so keep reading for more!

The invitation embraced the evening's simplicity, with geometric shapes hinting at the Art Deco venue and pops of white and emerald green tying perfectly into the couple's palette.

Payam and his groomsmen arrived in Cali style, pulling up to Ebell Long Beach in a striking blue convertible.

The groom donned a classic tux from Suit Supply, pairing it with a soft bowtie and a textured boutonniere. The littlest flower girl wore a cozy white jacket over her dress.

Ghazal went high-fashion with her bridal ensemble, pairing a lace Yolan Cris gown with dramatic cut-outs and a pair of emerald Aquazzura boots. "I tried on so many dresses and nothing felt like me, until I slipped into this one," she says. "My mother's reaction helped too!"

She asked her bridesmaids to choose their own emerald green dresses, ranging from short and lacy to long, wrapped silhouettes.

Payam and Ghazal took a moment before the ceremony to take it all in and exchange gifts.

The couple wed in a traditional Iranian ceremony, which included a sofreh aghd (a spread of symbolic items) set on Lucite tables with palm accents. The older flower girls led the way down the aisle in white dresses and crowns of greenery.

The ceremony included honored rituals featuring coins to represent prosperity, candles to symbolize energy and clarity, and a sugar cloth and cones, Happily married women in the family are invited to rub cones of sugar over a lace fabric held above the couple's head to "shower them with sweetness."

Payam and Ghazal wrapped the ceremony up with personal vows they wrote to one another. "That was absolutely one of the most special moments," says the bride.

Inside the venue, tables were draped in white linens and topped with tall vases holding vibrant palm leaves. No one missed flowers with such striking displays throughout the room!

Payam's band, Young the Giant, took to the stage to play a few songs before toasts were made, then the couple took to the dance floor to John Legend's "Each Day Gets Better" for their first dance.

Looking back, the bride has this advice: "Don't be afraid to keep things simple," she says. "All that matters is the love you share with your partner!"

Time may not be on new-look Cleveland Cavaliers' side, but LeBron James is

A generation ago, Larry Nance, Sr., was a key part of a great Cleveland Cavaliers team -- one that Magic Johnson famously dubbed “The Team of the ’90s” in the late ’80s. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls snuffed that out. Now, almost 30 years later, his son, Larry Nance, Jr., has the league’s and the team’s permission to take his father’s jersey out of the rafters, where it was retired in 1995, and wear it again.

This time, though, the odds are more in Cleveland’s favor. The Cavs have this generation’s Magic, and there’s no Jordan to be found. There are assorted Kevin Durants and Stephen Currys; James Hardens and Chris Pauls, to be sure. But the Cavaliers, after shocking the NBA world at the trade deadline two weeks ago with three major deals that blew up the old, tired roster and revitalized it in one morning, have the only thing that matters: an engaged LeBron James, again bouncing on his toes. No one else on earth can bring in anyone as impactful.

Nance, Jr., and Jordan Clarkson came from the Los Angeles Lakers. Rodney Hood came from the Utah Jazz. George Hill came from the Sacramento Kings. Out went Isaiah Thomas and Dwyane Wade; Jae Crowder and Iman Shumpert; Derrick Rose and Channing Frye. Three huge cuts for first-year general manager Koby Altman, who also held onto the unprotected first-round pick the Cavs got from Boston (via Brooklyn) in the Kyrie Irving deal last summer.

Hill is the only newcomer who was put in the starting lineup. The others have revitalized Cleveland’s bench, giving Korver more room to operate as defenses suddenly have to stay attached to Clarkson’s attacks -- he’s sixth in the league in bench scoring, behind Lou Williams, Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, Nikola Mirotic and Hood -- Hood’s spot-ups and Nance’s rim runs.

The small things that they don’t know -- the plays, the directions to practice (Clarkson got horribly lost the first day), where to live -- will have to be incorporated on the fly. There’s no time. There’s six weeks left in the regular season, and Kevin Love is still not back in the lineup, and there are some hungry teams right on Cleveland’s haunches in the East who’d love to surpass the Cavs for third in the conference.

Hill chased titles before in Indiana, against James’ Miami Heat teams, when the Pacers had a young Paul George and a tall Roy Hibbert and a tough David West and a crazy Lance Stephenson. Hood made the playoffs last year with the Jazz. But Nance and Clarkson were on Lakers teams with no expectations. Cleveland, of course, has the ultimate expectation, with James’ free agency looming.

LeBron James is youngest ever to join NBA's exclusive 30,000-point club

James became the seventh player with 30,000 career points when he hit a jumper with one second left in the first quarter of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ game against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.

James was recognized by the arena before the second quarter and got a standing ovation from Spurs fans. James patted his head and said “thank you so much.”

James needed seven points on Tuesday to get there. He missed his first two midrange jumpers before making two driving layups and a 20-footer. He hit the milestone jumper over Danny Green from 19 feet out.

The 33-year-old James joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points), Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643), Michael Jordan (32,292), Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) and Dirk Nowitzki (30,808) on the list.

At 33 years and 24 days, James is the youngest to reach the mark. Bryant was 34 years and 104 days when he got there. The 14-time All-Star has averaged 27.1 points since breaking into the league as an 18-year-old in 2003.

James’s achievement comes at a difficult time for the Cavaliers, with the team enduring a terrible run of form. They held an emotional pre-practice meeting on Monday in hopes of clearing the air.

We aired any grievances we had and we’re going to move forward,” said center Kevin Love, who is believed to have been the target of some of his team-mates’ ire after he left a game with an illness. “Hopefully we’ll be better for it, we have been in the past.”