Here comes the Bride….

Getting married is an exciting journey. Getting married during a pandemic however has probably put brides in a haze of excitement and major anxiety.  To all the brides out there who are in a dilemma of should they or shouldn’t they postpone their wedding due to COVID-19, take a deep breath – you’ll still shine on your big day with or without a big wedding.

3oud.com team has met with newly wedded Bahraini entrepreneur and founder of shopping app SEPT Yara Al Dhaen to find out how her experience has been and how she managed to celebrate her big day during the pandemic.

Yara met her husband through mutual friends. “I was sitting with my friends at the Ritz chilling and he was jogging, my friends called him over.” And the rest is history 
 

veil made by: Monvieve - wedding gown by: Viktor and Rolf - Heels:Aquazzura

Given Covid-19 restrictions, Yara restricted her wedding ceremony to 30 guests and had an intimate home celebration. So, the bride and groom decided to have a two day event, one for the family and one for their friends. “I decided to embrace a cozy garden wedding. I always knew I wanted the family event to have an air of grace to it, lots of green and gold. For the friends’ event, I decided to nickname it “The Yaldo Club” a 24hrs pop-up members only club. I wanted it colorful, youthful and full of joy!”, Yara continued “I was led more by the feeling and the energy that I wanted to convey at the event and that helped shape the specifics.”  

Yara has bravely managed to plan for her two-day wedding ceremony in 3 weeks! Something that a lot of brides-to-be wouldn’t dare to do as it’s extremely nerve wrecking, taking into consideration the health restrictions that every guest had to abide by in order to attend the event. “Our wedding was outdoors; the guest number was super limited and we asked everyone to take a rapid test before coming. So, everyone felt super safe!”, Yara remembers.

As for her wedding look for the family ceremony, Yara bought a wedding gown by Viktor and Rolf without even seeing it in real life, her fittings were done in a true pandemic era manner, through Zoom. “I was always inspired by DJ and HVN designer Harley Viera-Newton

wedding look and I always knew I wanted to have my veil made by Monvieve, a Haute couture bridal company based in New York and Italy that specializing in bespoke veils and headpieces. Alison, the founder of Monvieve was a dream to work with, everything was custom and done in Italy, it took four months to make,” she says. Yara completed her wedding look with a pair of Aquazzura heels, which she bought on SEPT.

Dress: Emilia Wickstead - headband by: Jennifer Behr -  earrings:Alessandra rich

As for her wedding look for the friends’ ceremony, she went for designer Emilia Wickstead, “she honestly does THE best party dresses. She understands how to make a girl feel her best. It was over the top with all the bows, but just the right touch of modernity. Emilia actually messaged me saying she loved the look; I need to frame that DM” Yara admits. As for the hair, the bride beautifully decorated her crown with a headband by Jennifer Behr, as she was going for a Catherine Deneuve look. “But then humidity happened, as the wedding was on the beach” expressed Yara. And she finished the look with again, with the master Aquazzura. She went for a minimal design but with sparkly details at the back.


When asked about who inspired her bridal looks, “I’m always inspired by those who came before me, Marella Agnelli is a major source of inspiration and I thought of her for my wedding look. For my 2nd day look, Lee Radziwill, so elegant and so cool.” 

As for the hair and make-up on Day 1, “For my first day look, my hair was done by my trusty hairdresser since I was probably 10, Joseph. My inspiration was Kate Moss when she does a clean bun. For makeup, I did it by myself! I wasn’t going to let anyone do it for me. I’m a closeted beauty junkie. When I look at the girls and images I gravitate towards, it was never about the makeup, but the certain lack of it that made them look so cool and timeless. In 20 years’ time, I did not want my look to scream 2021. It has to be beyond time.”

Day 2 however, Yara had a different hair inspiration, “I was just googling 1960’s hair, and obviously Catherine is the queen!”

Yara’s most memorable moment of her wedding ceremonies was the fact that she was chilling with her friends upstairs getting ready and her husband was with her and everyone was trying to YouTube “how to tie a bow tie”. The beauty in simplicity and having no formality

Dress: Emilia Wickstead - headband by: Jennifer Behr - Heels:Aquazzura - earrings:Alessandra rich 

Given that the newlyweds hosted 2-days ceremonies, they now have 2 songs that they call their ultimate wedding songs, first day it was “Lover” by Taylor Swift, and the second day the Yara asked the DJ to play “By your side” by iconic singer Sade, but her husband said it’s too slow! “I will
still say it was my song though” Yara joyfully expressed

 

Dress: Emilia Wickstead - headband by: Jennifer Behr - earrings:Alessandra rich 

We asked the bride if she could have done one thing at her wedding, what would that be? “Honestly, nothing. I was super relaxed and didn’t even care that the flower arrangements were not what I asked for. I just thought to myself, I’m just going to have fun today and not worry”, now that’s the pandemic bridal spirit. The newly wedded couple hope to spend their honeymoon at the Seyschelles and Lamu, once the pandemic is over

Dress: Emilia Wickstead - headband by: Jennifer Behr - Heels:Aquazzura - earrings:Alessandra rich 

We asked the bride for some tips for future brides, “It’s one day of your life. Don’t overplan and stress. It’s about the energy you bring to the place that people will remember years from now, not the table setting! Just have fun. And see a good dermatologist 2 months before!” Well said Yara.

3oud.com wishes the newly wedded couple a lifetime of love and happiness.