Venue: Crowne Plaza Hotel
Makeup: Sylvia
The day after Kasey and Britt's wedding, I drove to Houston for Amara and Ali's wedding. This was my first Pakistani/Muslim wedding! Okay folks, I'm just going to throw it out there - I LOVE SHOOTING MUSLIM WEDDINGS! If anyone wants to refer some Muslim weddings my way - please do!!!! The colors are soooooo amazing...and even though it was crowded, sometime loud - it was also very serene and just lovely. Plus, Amara and Ali's wedding was a special treat for me - I was hired as the SECOND photographer. Yes...when she met me, she already had a photographer. Had no intention of replacing the photographer - only to get a different outlook on her wedding. During our meeting, she told me that I could shoot whatever I liked. You know... I'm told that alot - but I this was the first time where there were no stipulations to the shooting. Amara even told me I could shoot the cake cutting picture...or if I didn't want to, I didn't have to! (I did shoot a few cake pictures of course!) It was a dream to have complete and absolute creative freedom on the wedding day and to top it off, Amara is absolutely beautiful! Yes, I have a crush on her. :) So of course, onto the notables! 1) Her amazing wedding attire. Seriously, take a look. The skirt by itself hung on TWO wooden hangers!! And her matching jewelry that probably weighed more than Amara. I know she was hurting...there's a picture of her holding her earrings because it was soooo heavy! 2.) Me being the cake decorator for the day. Yes, I'm a girl with lots of hidden talents. 3.) Aladdin shoes! So, as soon as I saw the groom's shoes, I knew that I had to do a ring picture with it! Ali DID NOT want to part with his shoes - which I thought was weird, but okay, no biggie. Turns out that culturally, the bride's side of the family tries to steal the groom's shoes then sell it back to him at a high price!!! Amara had to convince Ali that I was not in cohoots with her family. (I would have been, if I had known about it!!) 4.) Ali taking the most expensive sip of milk ever. Yes, even though they didn't get his shoes, he still had to pay up if he wanted to share Amara's glass of milk. And finally...5) Getting ready time: 1pm - 7pm. (It took almost two hours JUST to put on the wedding attire - that's how intricate it was!!) Reception start time: 9pm. Exit time: 11:30pm. Definitely not your typical wedding day itinerary! Oh and guess what!! Amara had a Sunday reception where the groom's side of the family decorated the venue as well as provided for her wedding attire! You'll have to wait a day or so for those images!! :) ~Mariae and Vince
