Archive for the ‘African weddings’ Category

Eritrean bride marries Jamaican groom at London wedding

Saturday, September 6th, 2014
Eritrean bride with her Jamaican goom by the Tower of London

Eritrean bride with her Jamaican goom by the Tower of London

 

A chain of people who like my work told this lovely bride about me, hence a multicultural wedding photographer from West Yorkshire, found herself taking photos in front of crowds of tourists, by the Tower of London yesterday!  http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk

Somali wedding in Manchester

Wednesday, August 6th, 2014
Contemporary Somali wedding

Urban wedding photography

Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester

Somali bride’s wedding shoes

 

More to follow.  Like our page on Facebook for the latest wedding pictures.  xx Elaine Reel Life Photos

Eastern Pearl Asian wedding venue pictures in Manchester

Wednesday, August 6th, 2014
Eastern Pearl wedding venue pictures

Eastern Pearl Hall One Asian wedding venue in Manchester

Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester  Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester Somali wedding at Eastern Pearl in Manchester

The staff at Eastern Pearl are all friendly and helpful, so most Asian weddings here are very happy events.  Pictured is the entrance to hall one, and the inside of the same banqueting  hall, before the arrival of the Somali wedding guests.  The venue is in a pretty area, so you can always walk to trees across the road for outside wedding pics. Hope this helps you to imagine having your wedding reception here. You can see more pics from another function – a Mehndi – here: xx Elaine (wedding photographer)

www.reellifephotos.co.uk

Somali wedding pictures

Monday, June 16th, 2014
Somali wedding in Sheffield

Somali bride’s wedding jewellery

Somali wedding in Sheffield

plates of cakes laid out to feed the wedding party guests in the bride’s home, as this was the Nikah – Islamic wedding – day.

Somali wedding in Sheffield

Somali bride’s hands on the Koran.

Dirac Somali dress

Tuesday, February 4th, 2014
details of Somali dress dirac fabric

Light floaty material that is designed to be worn extremely loose fitting in a very feminine style

Delicate, translucent material of a Somali bride’s wedding dress.

Gold thread embroidery on Somali dirac dress for bride's wedding

details of gold embroidery on Somali bride's wedding dress.

 

Somali gold wedding jewellery worn over green dirac wedding dress

This delicate belt reminds me of one my maternal grandmother used to wear, except that hers was filigree silver rather than gold, but encompassed a similarly slim waist.

Somali bride's hand with gold bracelets

Such a beautiful hand..

 

Somali bride's expressive feet

Somali bride's expressive feet

 

Wedding photographer Elaine wearing Somali Dirac

Now this doesn't look anywhere near as elegant on me , as it would on one of the gorgeous Somali girls I photographed at this wedding!

 

The bride was so happy that I was going to join in with her  wedding day, whilst also being the professionally hired wedding photographer, that she gave  me this perfect blue floaty dress to wear.  Just wish I had the grace and skill to wear it as well as the girls did.  I would much rather have posted pics of them but etiquette prevails… xx Elaine Reel Life Photos

 

Somali African wedding photography

Friday, January 31st, 2014

Have just been talking with my Somali bride for tomorrow.  She was in about to have her henna painted on her hands, and is a really lovely girl. She is even getting me a blue – my favourite colour – Somali dress to wear for the occasion so even though I am the wedding photographer, I will be part of the family and fit in nicely. Wahoo!

I was supposed to just capture her arriving at the venue – Al Waalis Banquesting Hall – but now am going to meet her at her house to capture her getting ready and to get to know her family and friends too, so we get natural smiley pics on her wedding day reception!

 

And here they are  – the first few pics of the bridal preparations before our lovely Somali bride sets off for her wedding reception party.

Somali wedding pictures of hands and henna

The bride's friend paints silver dots to add sparkle to her henna decorated hands.

Somali wedding pictures of hands and henna painting

The bride takes over and paints her own hands

Somali bride's hands

Beautiful Somali henna

Gorgeous Somali bride's hands

The bride's friend paints silver dots to add sparkle to her henna decorated hands.

Beautiful Somali bride's hands being painted with henna

Beautiful Somali bride's hands and friend's blue nails

Pictures of Somali wedding preparations

henna details

beautiful Somali henna designs

beautiful Somali henna designs

Natural Somali wedding picture of Somali henna design on bride's hand

Natural Somali wedding picture

Somali bride getting ready for her wedding in Manchester

Such elegant hands and henna designs.

Picture of Somali wedding preparations

Somali bride's elegant henna designs - the bride makes sure it is done right!

 

Somali bride's hands with henna

Bride's hands - so beautiful!

Somali wedding pictures of bride's expressive hands and feet

Just caught the bride sitting like this naturally, totally unposed! Breath-taking!

expressive feet before Somali wedding

The wedding stress is showing in the bride's clenched feet

Somali bridesmaids and friends before the wedding

Wedding makeup time for the Somali girls

Somal bride before her wedding

Hands and feet finished - now time for the makeup

Last but not least in this series of images – wedding photographer Elaine (me) in the lovely blue dress the bride gave me.

Wedding photographer Elaine with Somali bride

Me in Somali dress - with the bride.

 

 

 

 

 

Get in touch with Elaine on Facebook or via our website

 

 

 

 

Pictures of Nigerian bride from London at her wedding in Nigeria

Thursday, January 2nd, 2014

I met our modern-day British born Nigerian bride in London, before agreeing to photograph her white wedding in a church in London.  Then I discovered she was also going to Nigeria with her family – to have a cultural wedding!  A few emails, Facebook messages  and phone calls later, and I was heading out to post my visa application …  The following pics are from the second day  of the celebrations, the first having been in the family’s original village, with the tribal elders.

If you would like to see more pictures by Elaine of Reel Life Photos, or to have her photograph you wedding in Nigeria or any other wedding destination or venue, then visit the contact us page on our website.

xx Elaine and Jorge

Coral necklaces as part of traditional wedding in Nigeria
Bride with her mother, both wearing traditional coral necklaces ready for her cultural wedding reception in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

The bride’s coral necklace is often a family heirloom, that has been handed down overt the generations.  Our bride here is also wearing a coral-beaded hat, and her mother a traditional Nigerian headdress, in stiff shiny fabric.

Marquee wedding reception in Nigeria

The bride is about to walk round the house to her wedding in these marquees in Nigeria
The wedding party arrives for wedding reception in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Laura’s traditional Nigerian wedding ceremony

I was captivated by the little girls and their colourful reflections in the shiny surfaces of the vehicles left and right , as the bridal party processes down the road.  The bride’s mother in the centre in fuchsia pink , with a patterned magenta and orange wrapper gently restrains one of the girls so they can rush past.

Nigerian wedding as the bide's mother arrives for teh wedding reception in Port Harcourt
The bride’s mother mops her perspiring skin beneath a heavily overcast sky that threatens to ruin the outdoor wedding…
Bride shielded from the sun in Nigeria
Its hot, hot, hot! Parasol, fan and handkerchief, and this Nigerian bride is still suffering
Traditional Nigerian wedding dance in Port Harcourt
The handkerchief may be needed if our bride has to keep up this dancing walk for much longer…
bride performing a traditional Nigerian weddingh dance.
Laura’s concentration is tremendous!
Pictures of wedding dance in Nigeria

The marquees are sectioned off to accommodate the different family members and labelled so all the relatives know whereabouts  to sit.

bride in traditional Nigerian wedding costume dances her way into the marriage celebrations
The wedding dance continues in the open space between the marquees, with the bride clutching her traditional accessory for the dance – a walking stick!
The bride was late arriving - took too long to get ready, so the look on the bridesmaid's faces reminds me!
The bride was late arriving – took too long to get ready, so the look on the bridesmaid’s faces reminds me!
wedding in Nigeria with children dancing
Now this is more like it, as the little children dance their hearts out…
bride during wedding ceremony in Nigeria
Notice the change of dress, headdress and jewellery back at the house? No wonder it takes so long!
Nigerian tribal chief strides through the wet streets to the wedding in Nigeria
Tribal chief strides through the shining wet streets to the wedding – seems we missed the rain while the bride was getting changed.
Wedding in Nigeria as the bride arrives
Nigerian bride avoids the puddles and is protected by a parasol. Sidestepping puddles, and protected from any last raindrops by a young girl holding a parasol, the bride arrives ready for part two of the wedding ceremony

I love this picture.  The barbed wire on the wall above is typical of the walled and gated  compounds  – to protect the residents against thieves and worse… The reflections in giant puddles that have appeared while the bride was getting changed, and the brooding sky add drama to the image.

Sierra Leone cultural wedding in the Gambia

Monday, November 18th, 2013

This is just part of a storybook wedding album, but the actual day could have filled a whole album by itself.  The couple live in the UK , have family living in The Gambia, but also still have many other family members living in Sierra Leone, so it was easier for everyone to hold the cultural wedding in the Gambia.

Sierra Leone family in cultural dress at a traditional wedding in the Gambia

Family pics after the cultural wedding

cultural Sierra Leone wedding ceremony in The Gambia

Love the blue and yellow outfits and the close family atmosphere.

 

children playing in the Gambia wearing traditional wedding costumes from Sierra Leone

The couple's children enjoy their free time to play after the traditional cultural wedding ceremony is completed.

 

stilt dancer and musicains during Sierra Leone cultural wedding in the Gambia

Everybody is having a great time, watching the stilt dancer who swirls and twirls with confident agility, and perform a scary show with a real snake, while traditional musicians get us in the mood for dancing too!

The rest of the pages in this storybook show their civil and religious weddings at Coco Ocean Hotel so have separated them out into a different blog post.

This is the final page in their wedding storybook then

sunset wedding picture in the Gambia at Coco Ocean by the sea

final page in the storybook album - a romantic kiss at sunset by the pool at Coco Ocean, with the sea behind them

 

The rest of the storybook is here on our Blog.

If you like what you have seen here, you can see more wedding pictures on our Facebook page or by looking in the albums there and also of course on our main website

xx Elaine and Jorge

 

Nigerian bride at her wedding in St Peter’s Baptist Church in Worcester

Sunday, November 17th, 2013

Emotional Nigerian weddingat St Peter's Baptist Church in Worcester

pictures from a beautiful Nigerian couple's wedding

 

If you want to see more from this wedding have a look in the various albums on our Facebook page .  To contact Elaine  or see more from other weddings also visit our site

Coco Ocean exotic wedding storybook pictures in The Gambia

Tuesday, November 12th, 2013

storybook wedding pictures at Coco Ocean in the Gambia

The bride and groom contacted me when researching their wedding, after coming across photos that I had shot at previous couple’s wedding in the Gambia.  I also will be returning to The Gambia in  early Spring 2014 to photograph a Gambian wedding for another couple.

Their chosen wedding venue – Coco Ocean Hotel  –   is this magnificent luxury hotel in the Gambia in West Africa.  The couple themselves are based in the UK, but have family connections to The Gambia, so it was the perfect choice for them.  I stayed a full week, so was able to capture their cultural wedding ceremony – based on traditions in Sierra Leone – as well as general pics of themselves around the hotel prior to the actual legal ceremony in their private Royal Suite by their private pool, followed by a religious church-style ceremony outside by another huge swimming pool next to the sea.

This combined wedding and honeymoon, is a popular solution for many couples, particularly for those with family connections abroad, as it guarantees lovely weather, and a fabulous location for the wedding pictures.  In this case it also made it easier for their family and friends who live in Sierra Leone to travel  to a nearby country within Africa.  By booking Reel Life Photos for their wedding they also were able to get the quality of storybook album their wedding deserved.  Hope you enjoy looking, as there are many lovely portraits of all their special people, and unusually for my brides and grooms, I was given complete creative freedom, not only to create the design, but also to choose the images I knew they would like.  Most couples spend hours choosing, but they trusted me to choose for them, which was wonderful.

If you are planning your wedding abroad or a multicultural wedding in the UK  contact Elaine – wedding photographer at Reel Life Photos .

Cocoa Ocean Hotel wedding in the Gambia - night time view towards the sea

cover of storybook showing the main avenue from the hotel down towards the sea at night

photos of Cocoa Ocean Hotel in the Gambia

Inside the Royal Suite

pictures of Coco Ocean Hotel in the Gambia

Bride and groom’s family enjoying their holiday at Coco Ocean

Exotic sunset pictures

Romantic sunset and palm trees – what more could you want!

private pool in Royal Suite at Coco Ocean

private pool in Royal Suite at Coco Ocean

Civil marriage ceremony in the Royal Suite at Coco Ocean in Gambia

Civil marriage ceremony in the Royal Suite

getting ready for the wedding in Royal Suite at Coco Ocean in the Gambia

The couple’s daughter helps her mummy get ready for the wedding

contemporary wedding storybook album design at Coco Ocean in the Gambia

Love this page in as it floats in black and white and a touch of colour.

The Royal Suite at Coco Ocean on wedding day

bride leaves the Royal Suite with her father to go to her church style wedding ceremony by the pool at Coco Ocean

wedding by the sea in an exotic hotel abroad at Coco Ocean wedding venue in The Gambia

The bride is given a lift with her father and children to the poolside where the wedding blessing will take place

Coco Ocean - magnificent wedding venue in The Gambia by UK photographer

wedding guests waiting as the bride arrives and joins the groom

wedding outside by the sea and pool at Coco Ocean in Gambia

This is just magical! Everyone seated as if in a church – but outside in brilliant light of day, protected by white parasols, with the water sparkling alongside the guests and a see view.

church wedding in the Gambia but at Coco Ocean Hotel

The reverend conducts the wedding blessing by the pool

wedding abroad at Coco Ocean

Getting married here by the side of that pool , facing the sea, must be a dream come true

getting married in the Gambia at Coco Ocean

pictures of Coco Ocean wedding in The Gambia

wedding blessing the rings at Gambian hotel, Coco Ocean.

The rings are blessed.

exchange of rings at wedding by the sea in Gambia

So romantic!

wedding bouquet of bougainvillea at Coco Ocean in Gambia

Bridesmaids hold a bouquet of simple bougainvillea as hymns are sung and the couple’s children watch impatiently.

romantic wedding abroad by the sea at Coco Ocean in the Gambia

Sunlight and shadows, fan and foliage. Magic!

Coco Ocean romantic wedding picture by the sea of bride and groom and the rings

Such a romantic place to get married!

dream wedding abroad at Coco Ocean

This minute could last forever in their minds as we look at this picture of such a happy moment.

wedding storybook photography in the Gambia by UK wedding photographer

Groomsmen take it easy during the ceremony.

exotic wedding abroad in the Gambia by uk photographer who travels

Love the sight of the yellow bridesmaids dresses against the exotic foliage as the bride and groom walk out together

Happy wedding photography in the Gambia at Coco Ocean

Lots going on as the wedding ceremony finishes…

exotic wedding reception in the Gambia

“Now what shall I choose”, thinks the bride and groom’s son, when offered an array of nibbles by not one, but two waiters.

wedding pictures by the pool at Coco Ocean

A big group shot all round the pool – so colourful!

wedding photos of muticultural wedding guests in Gambia around the pool at Coco Ocean

Such great colours and so many happy people!

Multicultural wedding pictures in Gambian hotel by the pool

Perfect location for family wedding pictures.

Sierra Leone bride and groom and their family wedding pictures in the Gambia

Family wedding photos at Coco Ocean

photos by the pool then off to the wedding reception inside Coco Ocean

photos by the pool then off to the wedding reception

luxury wedding pictures at Coco Ocean in the Gambia

Love this reception area with the dynamic stripey floor, so organised this pic of all the guests taken from the mezzanine floor above

wedding photos inside Coco Ocean reception area

bride and her family and close friends inside Coco Ocean reception area

wedding photos inside Coco Ocean hotel reception in the Gambia

Can you imagine having your wedding here? Such a brilliant family in an equally exciting wedding venue.

wedding reception pictures at Coco Ocean in the Gambia

The couple enter their wedding reception dancing, and gather their children to dance with them.

bride and groom at their wedding reception in The Gambia

Time to celebrate over a wonderful meal!

wedding reception pictures at Coco Ocean in the Gambia

Amazing food and culinary delights at Coco Ocean. Just a shame I had to leave to catch a plane that evening on the last Thomas Cook flight out of the Gambia before the rainy season started, and also to photograph another wedding in the UK the very next day!

evening wedding pictures at night in the Gambia

Night has fallen so I grab the bride and groom before the dessert course and take pictures of them within the delightful geometric designs of the contemporary architecture.

romantic wedding picture on the beach by the sea in Gambia at night

With the whole day being behind schedule after the Gambian registrar arrived one hour late, the daylight hours vanished so night time pictures of the bride and groom were the only solution.

fun black and white wedding photography in the Gambia at Coco Ocean at night

Such a happy wedding picture on the beach at night!

natural wedding pictures on the beach at night in the Gambia

Fun wedding pic on the beach at night

Coco Ocean wedding at night

The night air is warm and the ambience delightful, but the bride and groom need to get back to their wedding reception and I need to head off soon for the airport!

Goodnight! Time to say goodbye to this wonderful couple in this amazing wedding venue in the Gambia, to fly back to the UK for an Asian wedding in Bradford in the morning!

If you are planning your wedding abroad or a multicultural wedding in the UK  contact Elaine – wedding photographer at Reel Life Photos  or keep up to date with recent weddings on Facebook