Manal + Wajahat, Aug. 1, 2009

Last Saturday, I photographed Manal + Wajahat’s nikah ceremony at a beautiful home in Palos Verdes Estates for a fellow photographer friend of mine!

Their wedding follows Muslim traditions, and this could actually be best described as an engagement ceremony. With he on the backyard stage and she in the adjoining library, they both signed a contract (the nikah) to proclaim them as husband and wife while surrounded by male family members and witnesses. She was then led to the stage by her family, and the party began!

The property, rumored to be once owned by Sammy Davis, Jr. (I don’t have my fact-checker at hand), dropped right off a cliff to the ocean, and the setting sun glinted off each beach-side window in neighboring cities as far north as we could see.  The waning light was so beautiful, and Manal was so into the photos … she was game for every portrait idea we had time for!

Congrats, you two!

- Russell