SanAli2015 | another #BigFatPakistaniWedding
What was the best part of 2015’s wedding season you ask? – travel, travel, travel. The Labour Day weekend of 2015 brought us out to the Woodbridge Township in New Jersey. Sana reached out to us early last year after hunting us down (we mean that in the best way possible :P!) via Safa’s blog MyBigFatPakistaniWedding! For the readers that aren’t familiar with this blog, Safa is one of our brides from a few years ago. From the jump, Safa wrote about her every experience of planning her wedding from decor to picking a venue, outfit options and mentioning us & along with the oh so DOPE Mir Anwar. Safa’s blog has been the go to source for many of our Pakistani brides over the years and this most definitely included Sana.
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Finally, Sana and I arranged to speak via Google Hangout and she was nothing but smiles, laughter and even better – very, very laid back. She mentioned that she stumbled across our work by way of Safa’s blog and wasted no time to connect with us to make it happen. We spent many emails, texts and even more video chats genuinely getting to know each other. Along the way, I finally spoke with Ali and he was super quiet at first but let’s just say after their mehndi was done – all shyness went away and Ali turned into the next contestant for So You Think You Can Dance! Another golden moment for me was when Sana mentioned that she was commissioning Mir to photograph her wedding! Mir and I first worked together with Farah & Rohail. Since then we’ve always kept in touch and he’s definitely been a great hommie + mentor to me in the industry. So flying out to Jersey to work with Mir again was nothing short of a pleasure.
We flew into Newark and later that evening Sana & Ali’s mehndi had commenced. Shortly after we checked into our rooms we then met with Sana + Ali, took a small tour of the mehndi space, grabbed a dip into the pool (it was heavenly! Any r&r before a shoot is always a bonus), finally played catch up with Mir & Rizwan (photo ninjas), unpacked our gear and before we knew it – it was time! The mehndi was traditional but make no mistake – Sana and Ali’s families + friends threw it down on the dance floor!! The mehndi fun had begun and after a few important customary traditions, dance performances started and the dancing never really stopped! The next day had begun before we knew it and we were off to The Palace where their reception was hosted. To our future brides + grooms reading this – make it easier on yourselves and try to get ready within the same area, house, hotel or venue space if possible during any of your events. This makes logistics for your creative vendors SO MUCH EASIER. Mir, Riz, Isuru and I hopped into an uber and jumped straight to shooting Sana and Ali’s prep. The venue was gorgeous and the decor team did a sweet job with the stage set up for Sana and Ali’s reception. From fun and energetic entrances to heartfelt and comedic speeches, it was time for one thing to happen – dancing of course! Make no mistake when I say that these folks love to PARTaaaaY. Their dance floor at the reception went strong for almost 2 hours before Sana’s rukhsati happened and before we knew it – everything came to an end.
To Sana and Ali – thank you both for taking the time to appreciate our work and for having us out with the rest of your families to witness something special. Shutouts to Mir for holding it down alongside with Rizwan + Isuru and myself and for being a rad team player! Brides – you’ve got to check out more of Mir’s work! Take a few minutes to sit back and enjoy the visuals from #SanAli2015 folks!
Photo Guru ~ Mir Anwar Photography
