When we started dreaming up this month’s giveaway, we couldn’t shake our own wishes for a fun vacation before summer ends. Lucky for you, all that vacation dreaming led to an Airbnb giveaway! Whether you’re planning a great adventure or a staycation in your own city, the perfect Airbnb can make your stay next-level awesome. Enter to win $200 towards your upcoming Airbnb booking by entering below!
Official Rules:
– You must be 13 years of age or older to enter
– You must enter prior to the giveaway close date on August 19 at 11:59 PM Central Time
– Winner will be notified via email on August 21
– Winner will receive one gift card to Airbnb, retail value of $200.00
– By entering, you agree to the Official Rules and the Junebug Weddings Terms and Conditions
Aayah and Amr’s Egyptian wedding at La Maison Bleue El Gouna was a true vision of luxurious elegance! With the help of their planner, the couple dreamed up a theme of Ethereal Decadence and saw it come to life with larger-than-life bird cages on the beach, a “dirty pastel” color palette (think: muted oranges, deep pinks, and rich ivories), and traditional Egyptian entertainment like a belly dancer and a Zaffa band. Dani Ford Photography captured every detail of this wedding wonderfully, including Aayah’s stunning Pallas Couture gown and Amr’s dapper mixed-tone Tom Ford tuxedo.
We wanted our wedding to be an expression of our relationship: fun, ethereal, transcendent of boundaries and an agglomeration of culture. Both our families are originally from Egypt, and we grew up halfway across the world from each other. We wanted to share that spirit with our friends and family, most who had never been to Egypt before. We thought having a traditional Egyptian Zaffa band, Egyptian food, and an Egyptian belly dancer would be a great way to show off our cultural background.
El Gouna, Egypt, was the place where we first got to know each other, and, 5 years later, where we fell in love. We frequented La Maison Bleue and joked about how it would the perfect wedding venue. We even went on a fake wedding tour months before we got engaged! Once we started planning our wedding, it was the obvious choice.
From the groom: It is without any hesitation that I say that the highlight of my wedding is Aayah, she’s beyond any description my mind can fathom into existence, and on that night she was all of my existence.
From the bride: The most memorable part of the day for me was the bridal entrance and Zaffa. Hearing the traditional songs truly made me feel like a bride, and I loved walking out and seeing all my family and friends waiting for me, with my handsome husband in the middle!
After a few phone conversations with our wedding planner, she suggested a theme “Ethereal Decadence”. It was important for us for our wedding decorations to be authentic, classic, and bespoke. Most of the props were either made for us or purchased specifically for our wedding. We loved having the attention to detail. The venue was breathtaking and the view of the beach was hard to top, so it was important for the decorations to fit seamlessly.
Our wedding color palette was “Dirty Pastels”. After discussing our theme with our wedding planner, and showing her inspirational photos we had saved, she came back to us the palette, and we loved it! We thought it went perfectly with the “Ethereal Decadence” theme.
My photographer, Danielle Ford, was AMAZING! I don’t know how she did it all on her own, but she came through for us. We picked Danielle not only for her amazing photography skills, but in her natural talent for making us feel comfortable in front of a camera. She also served as an honorary bridesmaid, calming me down when I was panicking at the delay and other last minute mishaps that always seem to happen on important days. I highly recommend picking a photographer you have worked with before and love!
Laura and Jamie’s New Zealand wedding was the epitome of effortlessly chic! The couple had a gorgeous waterfront ceremony at Black Jack Scenic Reserve, and chose Kuaotunu Hall as their reception venue for its informal beachy vibes. Laura’s ultimate style icon is Jane Birkin, so she wore a fabulous crocheted Daughters of Simone gown that was inspired by the fashion icon’s own famous wedding dress! Wanting to channel their own home’s relaxed boho décor, Laura and Jamie decorated their wedding with tons of pastel hydrangea-inspired florals, DIY hand-lettering projects, and rustic and vintage touches that created a warm space for their guests to bask in. LaTo Photography captured every moment of the couple’s day beautifully, including their lively wedding party photos in the sand!
The Couple:
Laura and Jamie
The Wedding:
Black Jack Scenic Reserve & Kuaotunu Hall, Kuaotunu, New Zealand
For Jamie and I, we wanted a day that reflected who we were as individuals & a couple, it was important to keep the day intimate with our closest friends and family, amazing food, wine and music were top of the list for the day.
My style icon is Jane Birkin, I love everything about her, and her wedding dress and look was perfect. I had quite a dramatic dress so I kept everything else very low key. I didn’t even paint my nails until I was told to by a bridesmaid!
SHOP THIS LOOK:
We fell in love with the reception hall as soon as we saw it, it was right near the beach, had character and easily could be dressed to suit our relaxed, boho style we had in mind. I dressed the hall exactly how I would decorate my home, we wanted people to walk in and feel our energy in the space and have a homely feel. The overall vibe we wanted people to just feel completely relaxed and informal. I made the table names which were wine corks with name tags inserted by a slit in the cork and a paper flower pinned to the top. Cute!
Jamie’s speech was most memorable for me, he was quite nervous leading up to it and stood up on the day with nothing prepared and straight from his heart, probably the best speech I have heard from a Groom. Also walking into our reception after the photo to “Got To Give It Up” by Marvin Gaye, we were on a absolute high!
Our photographers Laura & Tommy, what can I say. It was like having our good friends photograph the wedding, we just clicked with them and were so incredibly lovely to deal with from the beginning to end. My only regret is not having a drink with them on the day.
Don’t stress when something you have planned or organised falls through, it just means there is something else far better waiting in the wings, believe me! I only choose my dress 3 days before the wedding and had 2 photographers cancel, plus a 100 year storm pass through on the week of the wedding.
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photo by Nicole Ashley Photography
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