Minnie and Fahad’s wedding was unlike anything we have ever seen in Brisbane before. Their traditional Pakistani wedding spanned over 3 days, including everything from a religious Nikkah ceremony, Henna ceremonies and even releasing 2 white doves into the world.
Day 1 of the wedding kicked off with a traditional Nikkah ceremony held in the couple’s Brisbane home, for those of you who aren’t familiar with what a Nikkah ceremony is, it is basically the signing of the wedding certificate. This ceremony is an intimate and close knit ceremony for the closest relatives and friends of the couple, there is a Muslim scholar present who runs the ceremony, they will first ask the couple for their consent to marry each other. Before the Prophet Muhammad gave his proclamations, it was not custom to consent to marriage as many marriages were inherited or arranged. Ever since the 7th century, inherited marriages have been prohibited and thus, the Nikkah ceremony was introduced to confirm consent to marriage. Once the consent is given, the couple will sign the marriage certificate, all the while, the scholar will pray over them. Once the final prayer has been said, the couple are legally married! This is traditionally followed by a feast and quite often, the release of two white doves to signify love, purity and to celebrate the marriage.
Minnie and Fahad chose the beautiful Karawatha Forest to take some time out and get some photos taken after this first ceremony. We absolutely love how the traditional white, cream and navy outfits look against our native Australian forests, it’s two cultures coming together in the most dreamy way possible!
With that, it was on to day 2 of the wedding, this means that it’s time for the Mehndi ceremony. Traditionally performed the night before the wedding day, the Mehndi ceremony (Also known as a Henna party) is where the bride has Mehndi (or Henna) painted on to her hands, feet and legs. The Mehndi represents good luck and health as the bride starts her next journey into marriage. Each Mehndi design holds a different meaning which include, good health, fortune, fertility and wisdom to name a few. This ceremony was held at Sunnybank Performing Art Center and includes various ceremonies and rituals at the front of the room, while the couples family and friends are sat having a feast throughout. One of the things that we love most about wedding photography is the glimpses of different cultures that we get to see so regularly.
The third and final day of the wedding for us was the wedding reception. Minnie and Fahad held this huge, colourful and monumental event at the Hilton Hotel in the Brisbane CBD. It’s essential to find a venue large enough to hold your hundreds of guests and also one that looks amazing. Minnie and Fahad clad the Hilton in shades of white, cream and gold, while Minnie stands out from the crowd and turns heads in her traditional red and gold outfit. Before the wedding reception, we took the couple around the hotel and to the Treasury Building to get some photos. The way the traditional wedding attire looked amongst the Brisbane architecture was something to behold, it’s almost as if the outfits were tailor made to work with the shapes and colours of Brisbane.
