Suraya & Yahdullah's Glamorous Wedding with the Perfect After Party

When the bride looks back on her wedding day and comments, “The atmosphere of the wedding was very lively; people did not stop dancing till the end!” you just know it’s going to be a good one! Suraya & Yahdullah’s glamorous wedding with the perfect after party was the ideal mix of classic and modern, with exquisitely luxe touches thrown in. The bride tells us about her and Yahdullah’s love, and remembers their beautiful day, shot by Lost in Art…

We first met while we were at university. We were part of the same student association and had common friends. And the rest is history! We initially wanted to get married in April 2020, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, it was cancelled. Eventually, we got married at San Giorgio La Molara Centre in December of 2020.

I was open to any design and collection, but after trying about 5-8 other dresses, the Milla Nova “Nata” was the one for me! With exclusive European lace, ivory floral lace applique with beautiful crystals on the bodice, and the back of the gown adorned with gorgeous buttons. The original design of the gown has the illusion of an off-shoulder look, but I really wanted to have a full sleeve, so I removed the off-shoulder and turned it into a full sleeve. It still looked stunning and I received so many compliments. The dress selection was a very smooth process, as I went into it with an open mind and kept my options really open. When I was shopping for my dress, I took my sisters and my mother with me. They all made the process so delightful by giving very honest and helpful tips.

Yahdullah’s attire was from Peter Shearer. He decided to go with a charcoal suit, white shirt, black shoes, and an ivory detailed necktie. He chose this combination as it went really well with the rest of the theme of the wedding, and also the charcoal colour is very timeless.

We didn’t have a ceremony at our wedding because in our culture this is done when people get engaged!

We can’t describe how grateful we were to have Lost in Art to capture our big day! They are the most amazing people – very experienced and professional. We felt so comfortable with them and they were both extremely humble and talented. The photos and videos say it all!

We hired San Giorgio La Molara Centre for our reception. It is a very cosy and modern venue, with excellent facilities and a perfect size for the number of guests we had. And the owners are excellent to deal with!

One of our favourite parts of the day was the knife dance known as “RaqseeChaqoo”. This is an Afghan/Persian tradition that begins the cake cutting. When the bride and groom are ready to cut the cake, the groom must earn the knife. A female family member, mostly the bride’s sister will begin to dance with the knife, mostly to Afghan/Persian music. The groom must offer money to the dancing friend in exchange for the knife. The dancer may act coy and take the money, only to give the knife to another woman to continue the knife dance. This will continue until one of the dancers decide that they have been won over by the given money and will give the bride and groom their cake knife in exchange.

We left the dance practice to the last minute! We did eventually practise the dance the day before the wedding, and it turned out very nice. We chose a romantic Afghan song by Jawid Sharif called “Taaoose Sapeed” meaning “white peacock.”