Sofitel, Taba Heights, Egypt – has amazing architecture!

Wedding Photographers Elaine and Julie are just back from 2 weeks away, after attending an International photographers’ course there, thus missing all the snow and chaos in the UK!

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for landscape & architectural photography in Egypt see Travel Section :

http://www.reellifephotos.silkstream.org/online/index.php?category=Travel+pictures

+world+wide+destinations

Coloured Canyon, Sinai.

Wedding photos below this entry…

A few favourite pics with special artistic treatment from Hayley & Chris’s Winter wedding at Hotel Metropole (Leeds Met) in Leeds.

This wedding at Leeds Met, was a Winter wedding, so the bride and groom really didn’t want to go outside, but while the bride was getting dressed in the morning, the fire alarm went off, so we all had to troop outside, and wait for ages on the pavement opposite the hotel, until the fire services had checked it all out!  Turns out the smoke alarms had been triggered by someone using hairspray – so bear this in mind if you are getting married here! Its a great venue with loads of indoor spaces for interesting wedding pictures!

xx Elaine

For more info see  http://www.leedsweddingphotographers.com or visit our Facebook page

See more of Reel Life Photos weddings in West Yorkshire here: www.LeedsWeddingPhotographers.com

Christmas wedding photos inside Tong Garden Centre

Winter Bride with black flowers and matching cape by Reel Life Photos wedding photographer, Julie

Egyptian bride gets ready at the hairdressers in El Minya, Egypt

Christian Orthodox wedding in Egypt

Pregnant bride shows of her bump to adoring looks from her just-wed husband.

Bride in rain outside Bamburgh Castle by Reel Life Photos wedding photographer Julie

Winter wedding picture outside Hotel Metropole in Leeds.

Sale Register Office on a bright Winter’s day is made exciting by the arrival of this twirling Persian bride, while the bridegroom awaits his bride with eager anticipation.

Ah, true love wins at last, as this lovely bride fell in love with her new husband at 16; he called round to her house with a bunch of flowers but was too shy to say his peice and now, after both going their separate ways, have at last tied the knot more than 20 years on …

This wedding hair and make-up specialist shop in El Minya, Egypt was a hive of activity when I arrived around 4pm to start cover of Afram and Mona’s wedding. One Muslim bride was almost ready to head off for her wedding and Mona was lying in a chair, her beautiful white wedding dress covered with a purple plastic apron. Mona’s hairdresser was busy plucking her eyebrows, thickly adding strong dark lines to make them really stand out. He then proceeded to add layers of lilac and sparkling white to her eyelids in a powerful pattern, before painting several matching pinky lilac layers on her lips.

Then another guy starts work styling the brides hair, using doubly hooked bent hairpins, black hair nets and a very hot set of curling tongs that have been heated on a one of the gas flames set on the bench – just like using a Bunsen burner at school!

After wandering round Cairo taking photos of interesting people and places – including a camel ride round the pyramids in Giza – my journey to Afram & Mona’s wedding takes me by train from Cairo to El Minya. Tickets sell out in advance but I was lucky to be rescued by a student from Sinai who happened to be studying at the university in El Minya itself so despite being told that there were no tickets at all, we boarded the second best train in First Class, claimed 2 seats and paid on the train itself!

Despite extremely dirty rain windows managed to get a few nice pics of the palm-lined little river that kept us company throughout alongside the train tracks.

I’m sitting in a top floor restaurant-bar with glass walls on 3 sides, looking out over the river Nile at night.It could almost be any river at night with a string of roadside amber lights reflecting into the water at regular intervals, but for the constant hum of traffic and manic horn-tooting as the drivers weave in and out precariously – clumsy as feet with shoes on in the shifting sand beneath them. Its cooler up here as my single room faces the untidy jumble of services into a tiny square of internal fresh air that seems to come only from a Mummy’s tomb.

Mona & Afram actually just did their civil ceremony tonight (while I sat in their family home doing emails!) – the paperwork only for their wedding really – without anyone there and dressed in jeans, but tomorrow have their Henna party, so the wedding celebrations proper start to get underway then, with their Orthodox Church wedding the day after, at 8pm.I’ll be covering it all, from start to finish, so that will be exciting!

View of River Nile from top of King Akhenaton Hotel in El Minya

Morning dawns to reveal the Nile in a totally different light: a hazy fat line split in the middle with a mile long island, complete with cows grazing and a little lake within itself too.The opposite side has a narrow fertile strip filled with banana trees and the odd palm, above which rise well-eroded mountain rocks in faded pink and blue hues.

Egyptian breakfast of soup of chewy brown beans, tomatoes, cucumber, cold potatoes mashed with fresh parsley, cheeses soft and hard, (had to pass on the boiled egg, bread, jam and spreading cheese and cold meat) and the ever present Egyptian tea will keep even the neediest body going all day.Time to wander around and explore, before the henna party gets going late this afternoon

See pics from that wedding here: http://weddingphotos-video.co.uk/blog/?p=535

If you are getting married anywhere in Egypt and would love to have your person UK-based wedding photographer who understands multicultural weddings and has 13 years experience as a wedding photographer – 6 as an international wedding photographer – then contact Elaine!  Visit our international wedding page too for more ideas on exotic weddings abroad.

Picture of Elaine & an Egyptian girl in Cairo taken by her little sister!

Just arrived today in Egypt to cover an Egyptian clients wedding in El Minya. Couldn’t resist taking a few interesting travel pics along the way though. See

http://www.reellifephotos.silkstream.org/online/index.php?category=Travel+pictures+world+wide+destinations
for the whole lot.

On arrival at the customs exit of the airport, amidst all the unruly jostling crowds, an Egyptian with an official name tag did the usual offering to find you to a hotel script, but since I had nothing planned anywhere, accepted the travel agents offer and ended up being delivered in person to the hotel of my choice – a budget hostel in Downtown Cairo called New Palace Hotel.

View from the balcony of New Palace Hotel

Well its now day two in Cairo so have a look at the rest of the pics here: http://www.reellifephotos.silkstream.org/online/view.php?main_pagesize=48&flag=view&section_id=1502

Rooftop garden cafe at New Palace Hotel

Had a lovely meal – for just over £1- (10 Egyptian pounds), with fish, tomato & cucumber salad, aubergines, rice, pitta bread and Tahini: very spicy, but typically Egyptian. I’m sure you would love it here – the street life, full of colour at night and everyone sitting out of doors. The down side is the drivers are crazy- weaving in and out all over the place tooting their horns all day and night, missing pedestrians by millimetres – literally!

Am going to see the nearest Pyramid and Sphinx tomorrow. Have hired a private driver-taxi so will be safe: its £20 but worth it, as I would never find it using public transport: Cairo is HUGE! The cars all spew out soot and black exhaust fumes but its good round where I am staying though.

Egyptian girls dancing on boat on river Nile

Had a little boat trip tonight – on the river Nile – one where all the young people go and dance to Arabic music – like in a wedding.

A man selling tea on the boat, before it set off ripped me off as should have brought my change from £1 (10 Egyptian pounds), said he would come back with the 6 Egyptian pounds – but he didn’t!. Still it was only peanuts, and he would be very happy now! Otherwise all has been very good.

Sut Yee and Mark (Hoi Man) had a huge wedding on at Weetwood Hall on 30 September this year – so big that only half the guests could fit in the ceremony room, so had to watch the marriage taking place by video link, which unfortunately failed part way through!

However, before the groom even gets to the wedding ceremony he has to submit to demeaning but humorous wedding forfeits before he is allowed  to enter the Bride’s parent’s house, where he is subsequently introduced to his bride to be’s parents via a ritualistic Chinese Tea Ceremony.

Delicate cups of amber-coloured,  tea with a floating red date to sweeten them, are passed over by the bride and groom to assembled family members  in exchange for gifts to the soon to be married couple.

These two little girls get all exciuted to see the bride and groom arriving at Weetwood hall for the wedding ceremony.

The bride’s first task on arrival at Weetwood is to serve tea to her husband to be’s rfamily

Then its time for a quick change into her elegant long champagne coloured wedding dress for the marriage ceremony

Fun, yet emotional wedding ceremony at Weetwood Hall in Leeds

Oh yes, start  how you mean to go on Sut Yee!

Now its off to Maxis Chinese Restaurant for a 12 course Chinese banquet, if you can manage that much tasty food in one sitting!

Cute little girl by the fish tank…

More tea ceremonies and toasts at every table one by one

Sut Yee makes another quick change into her lilac wedding dress and launches into yet another ritual Tea Ceremony.

Yet another quick change – to a gold outfit this time!

Great grandma in Aqua green gathers her considerable clan around her!

Mark is all partied out  so time to call it a day!

If you’d like to chat to Elaine about your Chinese wedding photos or video DVD or Blu-ray, give me a call.  We might even be able to arrange a special price for you if your wedding is on a Tuesday… xx Elaine and Jorge

If you want to see our website for more info click on www.LeedsWeddingPhotographers.com