We wanted to keep that theme of magical things happening in magical places so when we started planning our wedding, we knew we wanted a location that was out of the ordinary. Getting married in Italy was our dream as we adore its whimsical, picturesque setting. We chose Villa del Balbianello for the location of our nikkah, it was rich in history and romance, built on the site of an ancient monastery, on the shores of Lake Como with idyllic terraced gardens. It didn’t need any further décor, the lake views were enough, we simply enhanced and personalised it by adding white flowers. One of my favourite moments was travelling by a private boat taxi to reach the villa, holding hands all the way there and being so mesmerised by Sana and the surroundings; it was just like a fairytale.

As this was our nikkah, which is the Islamic ceremony we wanted to keep the celebrations special and intimate so invited only a handful of loved ones. The venue provided the catering and it wonderful to simply slow down, enjoy the setting and good company on a warm summer’s day, sharing these precious moments with lots of laughter with the most important people in our life. The amount of love and affection we got from everyone made it extra special day.

Looking back at our photos they truly capture the spark in our relationship and it’s a wonderful reminder of how beautiful our day was as we look forward to our walima in December which we’ll be celebrating with extended friends and family.