Alrewas Hayes Wedding Photographer Birmingham – Ash & Lamees
By the end of a usual wedding day, when our couples are on the dance floor and we say our goodbyes, we feel pretty close to them. After spending the most important day of their lives with them and several meetings beforehand, that’s what we come to expect, and we love it. So, naturally, you can imagine how involved we can feel after not one event, but four events, all with the same special families and couple.
Asian Wedding Photographer Birmingham – we first photographed Ashraf & Lamees’ engagement last November in Grand Station. Below are some of our highlights from their other three events – the Mendhi, the Wedding and the Walima. It was so great to work with some brilliant suppliers at the various events including Soltee, Aamir Naveed Hair and 1SW Events. But let’s start from the beginning with the Mendhi ceremony in Birmingham’s Old Library.
Mendhi at the Old Library, Digbeth
We arrived in the late afternoon to photograph the event as it was unfolding. There were so many photo opportunities as an Asian Wedding Photographer Birmingham to capture at this event! Lamees and her bridesmaids arrived in style in a tuk tuk which was so cool! The guests were being seated before the ceremony began. We loved the urban surroundings in Digbeth so took a few relaxed portraits of Lamees and her bridesmaids before they entered the ceremony. The Mendhi ceremony followed the usual pattern of the guests and family coming to the stage area to feed the bride to be and in turn, be fed something sweet by her. Following the formalities it was time for dinner to be served. The catering was from Spice Nation and delicious cakes from Lola’s for guests to enjoy.
As everyone was set to leave some of the guests had got their hands on some Holi paint – what happened next, as you imagine, got a bit messy!
Covered in paint ourselves, we headed off after a wonderful evening to get ready for the next day!
Wedding Day at Alrewas Hayes
After driving over to drop Tobiah off at the groom’s family home in Oldham, Laura drove to the beautiful Alrewas Hayes in Staffordshire to capture the bride and her girls getting ready together. With the help of the awesome Aamir Naveed on hair and Steffi Sandhu on make-up, Lamees looked unbelievable! There was a little time before the groom arrived to capture some guests arriving and the set up of the marquee. We knew there would be lots of activity happening when Ashraf arrived, specifically the bartering kind! So, after finishing touches of the bride were complete and the details photographed, Laura joined the bridesmaids and bride’s guests at the gate to wait for the groom to arrive.
Tensions were high as the Team Groom negotiated with the Bride Tribe! The bridesmaids were standing their ground and being backed up by the guests chanting “Ash give us the cash! Ash give us the cash!” Admitting defeat or compromising on the terms, depending which side of the rope you were on, the groom finally made his way into the venue for the ceremony to commence.
The stage and décor had been provided and styled by the excellent team from 1SW Events. With guests seated, it was time for the groom to enter, soon followed by his bride and her mum, Parvin.
After prayers, the wedding breakfast was due to begin. Firstly, the awesome Magic Singh entertained the guests and blew everyone away with his tricks and illusions! The team at Spice Nation began the service and the extremely talented duo, Mendi Mohinder Singh & Eleanor Turner played a mesmerising combination of tabla drums and the harp, amazing!
During the rest of the evening, the group photographs commenced after we’d had a chance to steal Ashraf & Lamees away for a few portraits in the grounds of Alrewas Hayes.
The most emotional part of the day was yet to come. Lamees left with Ash and his family after a very moving goodbye to her family, especially her Mum. The last event was still to come, the Walima.
Walima in Bolton Excellency
Almost done! The grand finale and Ashraf’s family’s turn to host. This time we headed up North to the Excellency in Bolton and it was lovely to see some familiar faces there too from previous weddings we had photographed. The guests had all arrived ahead of the bride and groom and were anticipating their arrival.
The stage was set and everyone seated when Ash and Lamees arrived for the celebrations to begin. The Walima is typically more relaxed after the expectation and stresses of the wedding day. It is a lovely occasion for both families to get together after the wedding and for some speeches and mingling with guests.
Once the evening’s celebrations were over, Ash & Lamees exited through a tunnel of sparklers and smoke. Not our standard Tuesday night but we loved it!
We wish you both all of the very best and hope you enjoy the photos!
Dream Team:
Bridal Outfits: Soltee
Hair (Wedding Day): Aamir Naveed
MUA (Wedding Day): Steffi Sandhu
Jewellery: Red Dot Jewels & Anees Malik
Floral Garlands (Wedding Day): Blooms by Vanita
Venue Dressing (Wedding Day): 1SW Events
Mendhi Venue: The Old Library
Wedding Day Venue: Alrewas Hayes
Walima Venue: Bolton Excellency
Tabla & Harpist (Wedding Day): Mendi Mohinder Singh & Eleanor Turner
Magician: Magic Singh
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