Julie and Neiad's wedding at Lehigh and Reception at Blue

Julie and Neiad's
wedding at Lehigh University


As I learned firsthand at their engagement session this spring, Julie and Neiad are a very down to earth couple. These two claim to be uncomfortable being the center of attention and thought their ideal wedding would be small and outdoors. But after carefully weighing all that was important to them, they ended up planning a church wedding with a big party.  Julie and her family have strong ties to Lehigh so they chose Packer Chapel for the ceremony. And despite a huge thunderstorm in the middle of the day, all went rather smoothly and everyone had a great time.

They honored Neiad's heritage by having a live Arabic band perform and by doing the traditional Arab wedding dances. In a lighthearted effort to help western guests feel encouraged to participate and learn the steps, they distributed a "Middle Eastern Wedding Survival Guide" among guests. I couldn't resist including a photo of Julie with a confused look on her face as several women from Neiad's family gathered before the cake cutting to call out blessings for the couple in Arabic. 
  
Julie and Neiad also worked in their love of the outdoors in a few ways. They arranged a private "first look" outside before their ceremony, they made a donation to the National Park Foundation and gave guests tiny succulents as favors. I loved Julie's engagement ring - a raw black "diamond in the rough." I have never seen an uncut diamond before. Have you? Scroll on to check it out along with many other favorite details and moments from Julie and Neiad's day.

Credits: Wedding ceremony at Packer Memorial Church, Lehigh University. Wedding reception at Blue Grillhouse (Event Center), Bethlehem, PA. Entertainment by Sam Younes Band. Bridesmaids dresses by J Crew. Groom's tux by Joseph A. Bank. A special thanks to Keith Royal from Ruby's Floral Factory for the lovely flowers and Caroline Buker from Blue for all her help coordinating.

















































































































1 comment:

Julie & Neiad said...

Amber and Josh were incredible from our first conversation to the day we got our photo discs in the mail (they still are amazing and we will continue to request them for future events!). Natural, candid, and meaningful photos from our wedding were a priority for us -all within a reasonable budget. Amber and Josh delivered that, and then some. People are still raving about our photos and we definitely feel like they captured the best moments. We most appreciated their down-to-earth nature and ability to help us feel comfortable in front of the camera, their willingness to listen to what was important to us and then capture that, and their expert recommendations and artistic eye through the lens. We feel so fortunate to have been connected to them and would highly recommend them (together or individually) to others!