The Princess & The Sultan : Houston Wedding Photography

“Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away, there lived a beautiful princess named Nadia. Word of Nadia’s great beauty and cleverness swept far and wide throughout the many kingdoms of the Americas and beyond. Through forests and mountains, through sea and storm, many suitors came to court Princess Nadia in hopes of winning her hand. Though they fought valiantly, not one of them could compare to Armand, the Sultan of New Zealand.”

There are wedding speeches and then there are WEDDING SPEECHES. Nadia and Armand’s family and bestest friends took turns in delivering just the most heartfelt (like the above fairytale written by Nadia’s six bridesmaids), technology savvy (Nadia’s dad may or may not created a sweet PowerPoint presentation of their adventures together — skydiving included!), not to mention extremely hilarious… (video parody by Armand’s Kiwi buddies of Backstreet Boys’ “I Want it That Way”…which happens to be his fave song of all time)!

Speaking of the Kiwis, we had no idea that New Zealand’s accent is…what’s the right word? Yummy?! In fact, we’re pretty sure Armand had Nadia at “hello” (in his Kiwi accent)! Another fun fact about Armand? He has a really cool last name (Sultantono)… So the girls were only half kidding when they called him the “Sultan of New Zealand”!

Living in the States, we never in a million years thought that we would have a chance to shoot a traditional Indonesian wedding. But there we were in Houston, TX, experiencing just that. It made us so proud of our Indonesian heritage and it’s rich and vibrant culture! For their traditional ceremony, Nadia looked radiantly royal in her shimmering royal purple  songket (the outfit) and gold sunting (the glorious headpiece) from the Padang (one of Indonesia’s many ethnic groups) culture. Apparently, that headpiece weighed a ton but, hey, that thing looked so good we’d bet it was worth whatever light headache Nadia was experiencing ;)

Another fun fact: We found out that both Nadia’s and Armand’s parents got married on January 4th. If that’s not a good sign from above that these two belong together then we don’t know what is! To honor that serendipitous coincidence, Nadia and Armand chose the same date to celebrate their union. How sweet is it that these three couples can celebrate their wedding anniversary together from here on out?

Nadia and Armand, thank you so so much for trusting us and welcoming us to be a part of your very royal wedding! Judging from how loved you both are (and how loving you are to each other and to your loved ones), we learned that not only are you a gorgeous couple outside… but inside as well! How truly blessed you two are and we pray that you experience a kick-ass marriage that lasts forever after.