Harry Potter Inspired This Couple's Wedding at The Ryland Inn in New Jersey

Not only did Yasmin and Zachary's wedding honor Egyptian Islamic traditions, the celebration also paid homage to the couple's shared love of Harry Potter. When Yasmin began planning, she knew she wanted "something simple, intimate, and romantic. For my ceremony, I was inspired by my husband's & my shared love for all things Harry Potter, and for my reception I was inspired by the season: wintry, moody burgundy shades and greens with plenty of lanterns." 

As an ode to Harry Potter, the New Jersey reception included "handmade rustic keys as place cards, patronus-inspired figurines as cake toppers, Harry Potter fonts for handmade table cards." All the Harry Potter elements were especially appropriate given that the book series also inspired Zach's proposal. "Zach and I met in college—although we studied very different disciplines, we connected over history & religion. He proposed to me after a few years of dating, and the funniest part was that I had no idea I was being proposed to. It was a Harry Potter themed proposal and I was very distracted by the Harry Potter elements until he cleared his throat and told me to look at the ring!" Yasmin says. 

The Ryland Inn wedding celebration was also rich with cultural elements. "The most important personalizations for my wedding were the cultural ones . I had an Egyptian Zaffa, or wedding march, complete with a percussion band that sang everything from love songs to blessings for our marriage. My wedding favors were handmade Egyptian mother-of-pearl wooden jewelry boxes that I picked out myself in Old Cairo," says Yasmin. The couple's fashion choices for their New Jersey wedding were also very culturally-minded. Yasmin shares that, "our ceremony outfits were cultural—I was in an Egyptian abaya, or flowy dress, and my husband was in an Egyptian thobe (robe) and galabeya (dress). It was the most amazing thing seeing Zach dressed up to honor & respect my culture. Our reception outfits were a lot of fun, too : my dress was handmade from scratch by a friend of my mom's - I made over 5 trips to the New York fabric district to pick out the gold satin, lace, and tulle and designed everything myself. I was inspired by Princess Grace Kelly's wedding dress & the timeless elegance of an old-fashioned, high-collar, lace corset."