A Regal Wedding With A Touch Of Vintage

Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club

We always love to hear from our readers who are keen to share their wedding with us, particularly if they used BCME in the planning process! Today, we feature the elegant wedding of Yasmeen and Abdul Rahman, who were married on 18^th December 2015 at Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club. Originally hailing from Canada, Yasmeen teaches here in Dubai, and has thoroughly wowed us with these exquisite pictures of her big day. Having flown in her photographer, Mike Kovaliv, all the way from Canada, we’re sure you’ll agree that the images capture the joy of the wedding beautifully. We adore so many things about this wedding; from the cute ‘Mr & Mrs’ balloons to the vintage Cadillac. Read on to find out how Yasmeen brought her vision so splendidly to life…

Let’s talk wedding gowns. Where did you buy your dream gown? 

I wore a gorgeous Justin Alexander A-line gown with beautiful floral lace detailing which I loved because it was like having a garden growing on my dress. I chose classic grey Manolo Blahniks for my shoes and wore my hair up in a high bun, reminiscent of a vintage Disney Cinderella. The look was completed with a spectacular tiara from Contessa. Dee & Dal did a wonderful job on my hair and make-up and even helped fluff up my dress for me!

Did you decide upon a wedding theme? If so, talk us through your choice.

What was most special about our wedding was that we successfully combined our Arab traditions with our Western upbringing (we are both Palestinian but I grew up in Canada and Abdul Rahman in Australia). We had a traditional zafé which welcomed us to our wedding with drums, singing and dancing. We also had a special slow dance to ‘La Vie En Rose’, for which we took choreography lessons to learn the foxtrot and special steps at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio. The food was also a mix of East and West and we had good chunks of Arabic music and English music as well. It was great to see the Arabic guests dancing to the English music and even doing the conga line, and the English guests dancing to the Arabic music and doing the dabké! Our wedding program, which we put together ourselves, kept everyone entertained and we had lots of compliments about how well it flowed together. We didn’t have a wedding planner and had a great time doing most of it. We even got a vintage Cadillac Eldorado for our wedding ride!

You planned most of the wedding yourselves. Tell us about this…

I have a passion for event planning so I was involved in little projects for my wedding and coordinated mostly everything by myself. For example, I purchased goody bags for the children who I knew would be attending and filled them with puzzles, bubbles, and a special wedding colouring book. We also set up the Photo Booth props table by ourselves and bought all the wigs, parasols, glasses, and props. We even printed our own signs for the wedding. The guestbook table had photos of me and the groom when we were younger, a box for our ‘Honeymoon Fund’ and a lovely Kate Spade guestbook. I wrote all of the usher cards myself and my husband digitally created and printed the reception floor plan from scratch. We made our own wedding favours by having a small ‘ladies party’ two days before the wedding, when my Mom and my in-laws helped put together 240 small bell jars filled with delicious French macarons in a variety of colours with matching ribbons.

Tell us about the wedding cake…

Our wedding cake was from Katrina Bakery in Mirdif. It was a delicious three-tier honey cake with ivory buttercream frosting. It was simple but looked very elegant, decorated with fresh roses. Lots of the guests commented on how delicious the honey cake was!

What were your favourite moments of the day?

My favourite moment of the day was towards the end of our wedding reception, where we got to cut loose and just dance to our favourite songs! All of the pressure and ‘wedding duties’, like cutting the cake and the first dance, were over, and we had an amazing time dancing with friends and family on the dance floor. Both young and old were on the dance floor, which was amazing! Also, it was lovely to see all of our friends and family coming from Canada, the US, Germany, Norway, Kuwait and Australia.

How did you use Bride Club ME to help plan your wedding?

We used Bride Club ME a lot during our initial phase of wedding preparation! I only looked at venues that were on the site, which were the Arabian Ranches Golf Club, The Address Montgomerie and The Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club. In the end we chose the The Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club which was the perfect venue for us. I also utilised the ‘Wedding Attire’ section  of the site and visited Vanila, Contessa and The Bridal Showroom. I found my fairytale dress at Contessa, and Mohammed and his team were amazing to work with. I used Dee & Dal for hair and make-up which was again the right choice. Unfortunately, we found the wedding décor companies a little too expensive for our budget, and that’s one part of the wedding that didn’t go according to plan!

What are your top three tips for a bride-to-be? 

 ♡ Enjoy your wedding day (Eat, dance and be merry).  ♡ Don’t worry if it doesn’t all go your way.  ♡ Remember it’s only one day so be sensible when planning!

The Bride’s Little Pink Book

Bride’s Gown: Justin Alexander at Contessa – Bride’s Shoes: Manolo Blahnik from Bloomingdale’s, Dubai Mall – Hair and Make Up: Dee and Dal –  Groom’s Tuxedo: Tailor made at 800 Suits – Venue: Saha Courtyard, Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club – Photography: Mike Kovaliv Photography – Wedding Rings: Tiffany & Co., Dubai Mall – Cake: Katrina Sweets & Confectionery – Invites: Paperless Post

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