Simple, polished and elegant. We wanted to maintain the winter feel and we kept our colour palettes white and green.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
My name is Mohamed and I work as a boxing coach in Auckland, my wife Fatemah works as senior account manager at Hudson Recruitment in Auckland. Our relationship got stronger through boxing when Fatemah started training boxing with me. I’m originally from Sudan and Fatemah is from Iraq and although both cultures are from the Middle East, this is the first Sudanese/Iraqi wedding in NZ.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We first met at a Sudanese social function and I thought Fatemah is very beautiful and reserved and she thought I was extremely confident and very arrogant.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
I organized a proposal at Mudbrick Vinyard at Waiheke Island and I proposed at the sunset rooftop bar at Mudbrick. I had a photographer waiting for us there to capture the moment.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
Simple, polished and elegant. We wanted to maintain the winter feel and we kept our colour palettes white and green.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
The dress and the suit, these are the two things we didn’t have a budget for, without regret.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
Cutting the cake, my wife tried to cut a straight line in the cake and she butchered the cake haha!
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
Fatemah: I had a vision for my dream wedding dress but I didn’t see anything like it when I shopped for a dress. One thing that stood out after my visit to Natalie Rose Bridal is that I absolutely loved Eva Lendel and felt like the designer spoke to what I wanted. I checked out Eva Lendel’s website and spotted the dress, however, Natalie didn’t have a sample of it but I trusted my gut feeling and ordered it anyway, it was a risk worth taking.”
Mohamed: I had a dream that I will wear a navy tuxedo with a black Lapel. I went to Crane Brothers as I heard they are the best in New Zealand and I was glad. They helped me get the dream suit as I imagined.
RECEPTION LOCATION Markovina, @markovina_vineyard_estate / PHOTOGRAPHER Soul Sisters Photography, @soul_sisters_photography / VIDEOGRAPHER Rami Baha, @rami_baha / CAKE Whipped Cakery, @whipped_cakerynz / GROOM’S ATTIRE Crane Brothers, @cranebrothers / BRIDE’S DRESS Natalie Rose Bridal, @natalierosebridal / FLOWERS Grace and Flora, @graceandflora.nz / MAKEUP Huda Fode, @hudafode / FRAGRANCE Jo Malone London, @jomalonelondon
