A relaxed Egyptian Coptic wedding in London!

bridesmaids fixing the dress

George and Eyvon came to me at the eleventh hour through their cousin Peter, who is a wedding photography colleague. I’d never shot a Coptic wedding before so Eyvon ran through the ceremony on the phone explaining that whilst the art was very unique and they wear gold crowns, the rest of the ceremony is the same as a “Western Christian” wedding! Eyvon got ready at the Millenium Hotel, she was running a touch late… I love the shot I took of her bridesmaid picking up the phone call from George telling her to hurry up, haha! I also learnt that Egyptian women like to ululate to show their appreciation for the celebration! I wanted to learn how to do it but got caught up shooting sadly! If anyone has tips let me know! The Coptic church was insanely beautiful. As I said before, Eyvon had informed me that the art in the church can only be found specifically in Coptic churches so she wanted me to incorporate it into the shots. It was also really refreshing to be allowed to move around as much as I wanted during the ceremony, the priests even invited me to come and stand on their pews to get a good angle! Unheard of at a church usually! I think it’s because there’s usually a lot of priests at the front anyway, and they move around a lot during the ceremony and there’s a lot of talking and singing, so a photographer won’t really disturb the movements anyway. After the ceremony the couple received their guests before heading on to the Radisson Blu hotel near Heathrow airport. I’d never shot here before, it had loads of cool art deco features, I don’t tend to share the group shots but we took them at a stunning Italian alfresco style room that’s light and airy! During the dinner they cut the cake and had their first dance, they don’t have speeches, but after dinner they opened the dance floor up!