[ad_1]
Lamis Khaled Hassan Azazy dreamed of getting a marriage in entrance of the pyramids of Giza for so long as she might bear in mind.
She grew up in Cairo and first visited the pyramids when she was a baby, however she by no means thought it will be potential for them to be the backdrop of her marriage ceremony.
That modified in December 2022, when Dior placed on a males’s style present in entrance of the pyramids. Ms. Azazy, a follower of style, attended the present with Sherif Medhat Abdelhalem, her fiancé on the time. “It was surreal,” she mentioned. “Whenever you step within the desert, you simply really feel prefer it’s magic.”
And so the hunt to carry their marriage ceremony in entrance of the pyramids was on. “The Dior present opened our eyes,” mentioned Mr. Abdelhalem, 36.
It wasn’t straightforward. Over the following 11 months, the couple had a number of conversations with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, which goals to guard and protect the heritage and historic historical past of Egypt. The pyramids of Giza have been constructed greater than 4,500 years in the past, and carry a deep cultural and historic significance.
Because of this, the couple had their very own issues. “I used to be very scared as a result of we have been doing it in entrance of a extremely monumental and actually historic place,” mentioned Ms. Azazy, 25.
Their love story started with brunch: Ms. Azazy and Mr. Abdelhalem met on March 10, 2021 at a gathering with mates at Pier 88, a restaurant by the Nile River in Cairo. As quickly as he noticed Ms. Azazy, Mr. Abdelhalem was entranced.
They have been sitting at reverse sides of the desk, so he pulled up a chair and sat subsequent to her. Although it was noisy contained in the restaurant the place they met, and so they might barely hear one another, they nonetheless linked and talked for 4 hours. “She’s very clever and good,” Mr. Abdelhalem mentioned. “And likewise, she’s so lovely.”
He took her cellphone and put his quantity in it. “Sherif Medhat,” he mentioned. “Simply put it aside.” (She mentioned he sounded smug. He mentioned, “That wasn’t my intention.”) In response, she took his cellphone, put her quantity in it and mentioned “Lamis Khaled.”
“And the story started from right here,” Mr. Abdelhalem mentioned.
“He was very straight up,” Ms. Azazy mentioned of her first impression, and she or he preferred it. “He wasn’t shy.”
The following day, they’d breakfast with the identical mates, and some days after that, the group deliberate to satisfy for dinner by the Nile River. Mr. Abdelhalem was excited to see her once more, so he texted her beforehand, however she didn’t reply.
At dinner, he approached her and mentioned, “Why didn’t you textual content me?” She made up an excuse and mentioned that she hadn’t deliberate on coming and adjusted her thoughts final minute.
“I’m not very easygoing with everybody,” Ms. Azazy mentioned. “Perhaps that’s why I didn’t reply him the second time.”
After the dinner, they didn’t converse for 2 weeks. Ms. Azazy’s grandmother was sick with Covid on the time, and she or he was busy caring for her. However “I felt like one thing was drawing me again to Sherif, so I texted him again,” she mentioned. “We immediately linked.”
Even when she hadn’t replied, Mr. Abdelhalem nonetheless had the sensation that they might come again to one another. “I knew that she’s going to name or textual content,” he mentioned. “I don’t know why.”
They met a number of extra instances in group settings. In April 2021, throughout Ramadan, they’d their first date at a restaurant known as Qahwa after breaking their quick throughout a feast known as Iftar. It was the primary time they’d frolicked collectively alone.
They then began seeing one another nearly every single day. They traveled quite a bit — to the northern coast of Egypt, London, Paris and Ibiza, Spain. “He at all times informed me, ‘I’m going to marry you,’” Ms. Azazy mentioned. She would tease him in response: “‘No, you’re not.’”
In October 2021, the couple traveled to London, the place Mr. Abdelhalem proposed. “It was a really particular journey,” Ms. Azazy mentioned. Her father, Khaled Azazy, the founding father of an schooling firm known as the Azazy Group, was current, alongside together with her mom, Hoda Elwan, and two brothers.
After they returned to the cabana, Ms. Azazy’s bag was lacking. Their wallets and her marriage ceremony band and cellphone have been within the bag. The couple went to the police, however they struggled to speak with them due to the language barrier. They wanted to catch their flight to Monaco later that day, however they thought their passports have been additionally within the lacking bag.
By probability, Mr. Abdelhalem had eliminated one bank card from his pockets and put it in his small bag, which didn’t get stolen. Whereas looking for money in his small bag, he stumbled upon the one bank card and their passports. They have been finally capable of catch their flight that day. They laughed it off, went to McDonalds, and ordered two trays of sandwiches.
“We put all our unhappiness and disappointment within the meals,” Ms. Azazy mentioned.
“We forgot every little thing concerning the theft,” Mr. Abdelhalem added, calling it “probably the greatest journeys” they’d ever been on.
“We obtained to discover totally different sides of one another,” Ms. Azazy mentioned. “Sherif was very supportive once I obtained robbed, and I actually appreciated that. I felt like he had my again. I actually felt like, ‘That is my man.’”
Ms. Azazy graduated from King’s Faculty London with a bachelor’s diploma in historical past. She additionally has a grasp’s diploma in enterprise administration and administration from Imperial Faculty London. Ms. Azazy is the vice chairwoman of Malvern Faculty Egypt.
Mr. Abdelhalem graduated from German College in Cairo with a bachelor’s diploma in mechanical engineering. He’s the proprietor of two meals and beverage corporations, Premier Meals Trade and Masters Meals Firm, and a building firm known as Hamfers Development, all based mostly in Cairo.
The couple was not capable of have their authorized ceremony on the pyramids, so that they obtained married a number of days earlier than, on Oct. 29, on the Prince Mohamed Ali Palace in Cairo. Mustafa Hosny, an imam at Al-Bilal Mosque, officiated.
On Nov. 3, they celebrated with over 2,000 friends in a tent constructed for the event, with a panoramic view of all three pyramids — which, in settlement with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, have been surrounded by safety guards as a precaution.
For her bridal entrance, Ms. Azazy emerged from the desert in a customized gold Elie Saab robe, escorted by her father and accompanied by white horses. “It was very magical,” she mentioned. “I felt like I used to be on one other planet.”
The couple employed Amr Diab, a pop famous person within the Arab world and a good friend of Ms. Azazy’s father, for a personal, two-hour live performance on the marriage ceremony. Afterward, Rampa, a well-liked home D.J., carried out a set for a dance celebration. “I don’t know the right way to describe it greater than to say that there was simply love within the air,” Ms. Azazy mentioned.
The celebrations started at 9 p.m., and friends caught round till 5 a.m. “It felt prefer it was only a second,” Ms. Azazy mentioned. “This power from the pyramids, it was actually mirrored inside the marriage,” she added. It was not an extravagant marriage ceremony, she mentioned, however “a mystical marriage ceremony.”
On This Day
When Nov. 3, 2023
The place The pyramids of Giza, Cairo
Pop Famous person Amr Diab, the best-selling Center Japanese artist, carried out the couple’s favourite songs in the course of the reception. He additionally carried out an unreleased track that talked about the pyramids. In the course of his efficiency, Mr. Diab left the stage to sing and dance on the dance flooring with the friends.
Elie Saab Couture Ms. Azazy’s customized gold costume from the Lebanese designer Elie Saab was so heavy that she wanted assist from two individuals who work for the designer to get into the automobile that took her to the pyramids from her resort. Mr. Abdelhalem seen how glad and vigorous she was on the dance flooring, even within the heavy costume. “She was so into the marriage,” he mentioned, that the burden of the costume didn’t matter.
‘A Mystical Marriage ceremony’ Vincenzo Dascanio Occasion Manufacturing, an organization based mostly in Milan, arrange an Arab tent by the pyramids for the reception. Individuals in conventional Bedouin outfits, together with camels, have been throughout the desert and across the tent. The pyramids have been illuminated with particular lights for the event. And there have been two opera singers performing, one open air and one indoors. “I didn’t need the marriage to complete,” Mr. Abdelhalem mentioned. “It was so lovely, and I beloved each second.”
