Some weddings are loud. This one was quiet — and it changed everything about how I photograph.
In September 2020, I traveled from Orlando to Maryland for Ghazal & Sirfaraz’s wedding. A mehndi at home in Rockville. Then the nikkah at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club in Stevensville — water on every side, trees everywhere, the kind of stillness you can feel in your chest.
It was intimate. Personal. And it started something in me that never left.
Getting Ready
The morning was quiet. Ghazal got ready in soft window light — no rush, no chaos. Just the calm before one of the biggest days of her life.
These are my favorite moments to photograph: the in-between, when a bride is alone with her thoughts and the day hasn’t started yet.
The Bride
There’s a look a bride gets when she knows she’s exactly where she’s meant to be. Calm. Sure. Glowing from the inside out.
The Nikkah — Chesapeake Bay Beach Club
A waterfront venue on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, wrapped in trees, the bay stretching out behind you. The nikkah was beautiful in its simplicity — the promises, the emotion, the families witnessing it all.
By the Water
After the ceremony, we walked. Just the two of them, the shoreline, and the kind of light that makes you stop talking and just watch.
The Send-off
And then — bubbles. Everyone poured outside, bubble guns in hand, and sent Ghazal and Sirfaraz off in a cloud of laughter.
After the quiet intimacy of the ceremony, this burst of joy was the perfect exhale. This is what I love about weddings: one day can hold so many different kinds of happiness.
The Quiet Ride
Then it was just the two of them. The limo ride — that strange, wonderful pocket of time when the noise fades and it’s just you and the person you married.
I caught their reflection in the limo ceiling, both of them smiling like they couldn’t quite believe it. My favorite kind of portrait: unposed, unguarded, real.
Chasing the Light
We chased the last light down to the water. The sun dropping over the Chesapeake, the bay glittering, and for a few minutes it was just the two of them against the sky.
This is why I do what I do — for light like this, and for couples who trust me enough to just be themselves in it.
What This Wedding Taught Me
2020 was the year my love for intimate weddings began, and it started here.
There’s something about a smaller celebration — where every face matters — that lets me photograph truthfully. I stopped performing and started witnessing.
If you’re planning an intimate Muslim wedding — a nikkah by the water, a mehndi at home — this is exactly the kind of story I was made to tell.
The Details
- Couple: Ghazal & Sirfaraz
- Mehndi: September 19, 2020 — Rockville, Maryland
- Nikkah & Reception: September 20, 2020 — Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, Stevensville, Maryland
- Photography: Sona Photography, traveling from Orlando, Florida
Planning an intimate wedding in Maryland, DC, Virginia — or anywhere? I photograph Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and fusion weddings across the US and internationally. Let’s talk about your story.
— Mona