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.
details of gold embroidery on Somali bride's 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.
Such a beautiful hand..
Somali bride's expressive feet
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
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.
The bride's friend paints silver dots to add sparkle to her henna decorated hands.
The bride takes over and paints her own hands
Beautiful Somali henna
The bride's friend paints silver dots to add sparkle to her henna decorated hands.
Beautiful Somali bride's hands and friend's blue nails
henna details
beautiful Somali henna designs
Natural Somali wedding picture
Such elegant hands and henna designs.
Somali bride's elegant henna designs - the bride makes sure it is done right!
Bride's hands - so beautiful!
Just caught the bride sitting like this naturally, totally unposed! Breath-taking!
The wedding stress is showing in the bride's clenched feet
Wedding makeup time for the Somali girls
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.
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
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.
The bride is about to walk round the house to her wedding in these marquees in 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.
The bride’s mother mops her perspiring skin beneath a heavily overcast sky that threatens to ruin the outdoor wedding…Its hot, hot, hot! Parasol, fan and handkerchief, and this Nigerian bride is still sufferingThe handkerchief may be needed if our bride has to keep up this dancing walk for much longer…
Laura’s concentration is tremendous!
The marquees are sectioned off to accommodate the different family members and labelled so all the relatives know whereabouts to sit.
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!
Now this is more like it, as the little children dance their hearts out…
Notice the change of dress, headdress and jewellery back at the house? No wonder it takes so long!
Tribal chief strides through the shining wet streets to the wedding – seems we missed the rain while the bride was getting changed.
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.
We love happy weddings of all cultures, so http://www.appmobileplanet.com/ created this lovely app for us/. You can download it for free from iTunes for iPads and iPhones or Google Play for Android devices. Have a look at the hugely varied selection of images from weddings all over the world.
I was looking for some of my wedding photos from Healds Hall when I discovered one of my images had been used by Google to identify Healds Hall, so I thought it was about time I put some of those images together on my blog. I also found that someone had cropped off my logo/web-address on one of my photos of the Irish Ceilidh at this wedding and posted it on Pinterest without crediting Reel Life Photos as the source , which is totally unfair. It took ages searching all my files to find them, but its worth it as they show the lovely mood that a family wedding there can have, particularly if children are also present.
Children watching a DVD during the wedding reception - very clever!
wedding table with flowers ready for evening wedding reception
Ceilidh Irish band entertain the guests at Healds Hall evening wedding reception
Dancing to the music of an Irish Band at Healds Hall
Sweet mother dancing with her child at wedding reception at Healds Hall
Not many people can pose naturally for pictures so I usually find the ones everyone likes best were taken unawares!
happy smiles from our bride and groom.
All neat and tidy, the evening buffet just before it opens.
Love this pic of the children peeking through the window at the bride inside the wedding venue
The guests all enjoy tucking into the food, despite a full dinner earlier on.
Just love the way the children sit in the middle of the dance floor and enjoy themselves
Even though it had been a very long day - from photographing the bride getting ready to the the church wedding ceremony, the reception at Healds Hall and then right on through till late at night, I still had the energy left to take a goodnight pic of the venue as on my way out.
Food stall at night during Huddersfield Festival of Light 2013
Light sabres
Crowds near Huddersfield Market at night during Festival of Light
Beautiful view of Huddersfield Town Centre at night
Train station at night in St. George's Square in Huddersfield
Huddersfield Festival of Light final night with brass band on stage in St George's Square
Child on her father's shoulder with red light sabre at night during finale of Huddersfield Festival of Light
University of Huddersfield Brass Band playing on stage at night in St George's Square
Fireworks in St. George's Square in Huddersfield
This was my first visit to the Festival of Light in Huddersfield. I was showing two young visitors from Melbourne in Australia a bit about West Yorkshire, so this seemed an ideal entertainment feature for them to share with me. The streets were full of life, as parents brought their children out to enjoy this winter’s evening, to sample food at the various stalls, wave light sabres around, and to listen to the Christmas Carols being played by the University of Huddersfield Brass Band. Then the rain fell… A few drifted away as it failed to relent, but Yorkshire families are a hardy lot so they stood their ground till the magic of the fireworks display was over. Beautiful!
The Woodlands wedding venue in Leeds is great for medium-sized family weddings, and has grounds for outdoor wedding photography as well as plenty of space inside, including a conservatory and permanent marquee. We have photographed a few weddings there over the years.
Cover for storybook album opened out to show back and front
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.
Family pics after the cultural wedding
Love the blue and yellow outfits and the close family atmosphere.
The couple's children enjoy their free time to play after the traditional cultural wedding ceremony is completed.
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!
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
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
