I’m lucky to have photographed a lot of brides and grooms that I genuinely love. Not just for the photographs, but for the privilege of getting to know them, and sometimes continuing to follow their lives long after their wedding day is over. One of those couples is Natalie and Ahmed, a Lebanese-Bahraini couple whose wedding I photographed nearly ten years ago at La Fontaine in Bahrain. Other than the photographs, what I remember most about them is how genuinely fun and generous they were, and, perhaps most importantly, their shared appreciation for a great dessert bar and fried chicken in the late hours of a wedding night.
So, nearly a decade later, while I was in Portland, Oregon, very pregnant and just about to give birth to my son, I received an email from an engaged couple in Bahrain. We arranged a video call, and somewhere during our conversation they mentioned their plans for the wedding: “We’re going to have guests from all over, and we’ll have good music and later, some fried chicken.” Of course. There was really no need for further convincing.
Then I realized who Aya was. She was the adorable teenage girl I had photographed years earlier at her brother Ahmed’s wedding. Somewhere in my archive, there was a photograph of a young Aya sleeping through part of the celebrations, completely unconcerned with the fact that a wedding was happening around her. And now, somehow, that teenager was getting married.
There is something particularly special about photographing weddings within families. You arrive thinking you are documenting one day, but occasionally you realize you are also documenting a much longer story. People grow up, siblings get married, children become adults, families expand...and, if you are lucky, you get invited back to photograph the next chapter.
Aya and Badr’s wedding took place at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain, in the grand ballroom, with family and friends arriving from different parts of the world. The wedding was planned by sisters Rose and Julie of Singapore Flowers, who brought together all the moving parts of the celebration with an ease that allowed the day to feel generous, warm, and very much like the couple themselves.
The ballroom was transformed for the occasion, creating that wonderful contrast I often look for at weddings: an elaborate setting surrounding people who are simply there to celebrate one another. And there were a lot of people to celebrate with.
What I loved most was the feeling of familiarity. Even though guests had travelled from all over, the atmosphere never felt formal or distant. There was an obvious sense of community around Aya and Badr...the kind that comes from families who have known one another for years, friendships that have survived distance and time, and a couple who seemed genuinely happy to have everyone they loved in one room. And perhaps my favorite detail was seeing Natalie and Ahmed’s children, who I had first known as little kids, now taking part in their aunt Aya’s wedding. Another small reminder that these photographs are often about more than a single day.
Then came the music. A good wedding in Bahrain knows when to stop behaving like a formal event and become a proper party. The ballroom gradually transformed into a dance floor, with guests letting go of any remaining sense of decorum.
This is always one of my favorite parts of photographing weddings: the moment people forget about the photographer, the schedule, the perfectly arranged tables, and simply start enjoying themselves. And, eventually, as promised, there was fried chicken. At that point, I had to laugh.
Nearly ten years earlier, I had photographed Aya’s brother’s wedding and discovered that this family appreciated a late-night combination of celebration, dancing, and fried chicken. Now I was back for Aya’s wedding...older, with a very different life of my own and she was the bride. It was a small reminder of why I love photographing weddings in the first place. Yes, I love the photographs: the beautiful clothes, the flowers, the architecture, the dancing, the chaos, the quiet moments in between. But what keeps me coming back are the relationships.
The fact that a wedding photographer is sometimes given a front-row seat to people’s lives at very particular moments. You photograph a teenager asleep at her brother’s wedding. Years later, she becomes the bride. And if you’re really lucky, she remembers you, invites you back, and tells you there will be good music and fried chicken.
Aya and Badr, thank you for letting me be there for your beginning, and for reminding me how wonderful it is when wedding stories continue long after the photographs have been delivered. And thank you to my dear friend, Polish photographer Aga Maru, who flew all the way from Paris to photograph alongside me and keep me company in Bahrain and Riyadh. There is something extra special about sharing these long, exhausting, joyful wedding days with a friend...especially one willing to travel across continents for them. I can’t wait to visit you in Los Angeles!
