Samiha & Shawn - Crystal City Holud and Wedding

At any given wedding, I’m often moved by how couples and families choose to make an event really represent them and their relationships - anything from handmade touches, to special ceremonies and speeches, to meaningful locations. The sort of things i look to capture as a photographer, right? What struck me as most memorable from Samiha and Shawn’s wedding weekend was this utterly exuberant sense of celebration that every single person present completely embraced. everything about the two events - the holud and wedding - was carried out with open hearts and unbounded joy. It was uplifting just to be a part of it, and so exciting to photograph these explosions of color and laughter and art!

Bangladeshi weddings can often have elaborate decor and rituals, and there were a few things I hadn’t actually encountered before - ways that these two and their creative family and friends really made it their own :) Samiha and Shawn’s holud entrance took place on a custom-designed bike-rickshaw (with their photos incorporated into the floral designs!); each of the dance performances was gorgeously choreographed and delivered with love; during the “gate” ceremony at the wedding, when the groom’s entrance is blocked by the bride’s family until he pays up, Shawn’s people fired money guns and passed over a money tree with dollar bills (not sure what actually won them entry in the end lol). Shawn’s wedding outfit was fire, honestly, complete with a sword in a gold-and-red-velvet sheath that they used to cut the cake (and threaten the gate-blockers), but he could have done no less to stand beside Samiha’s bridal loveliness.

I’m so, so grateful i got to be a part of all this mad beauty, and that Shawn and Samiha trusted my creative vision. I had the pleasure of working alongside videographer Flixbyryan, and Samiha’s gorgeous makeup was done by Zara’s Touch.