Private Villa Wedding Agadir

This beautiful private villa wedding Agadir was a great mix of western and Moroccan wedding traditions and there were so many beautiful moments!

After a few months of shooting weddings in Marrakech, Rabat, and Essaouira it was great to photograph a wedding in our own city, Agadir. Both the bride and groom, Othman and Jihane, are from Morocco, but now live in Canada.

The wedding was held at Jihane’s parent’s home. It was incredible how they transformed their garden into an amazing wedding hall. Over 400 guests came to celebrate Othman and Jihane – some from just a few minutes away and others from half the globe away. Guests were greeted upon arrival by Jihane’s family and traditional Moroccan musicians.

Prior to the start of the wedding, Othman’s family held a small party for his side of the family and friends at the home of one of his uncles. As is traditional for many weddings, the groom and his family then made an entrance together at the wedding before the brought was brought out.

Meanwhile, Jihane had her hair and makeup done at Ossama Berrada’s studio. She wore three traditional outfits throughout the evening and then a white wedding gown for the last part. Majda Benjelloun from Prestige de la Mariée was Jihane’s negafa. Their wedding was celebrated with many of the Moroccan traditions – the Amaria, the doura, a traditional Moroccan mean – but they also incorporated other unique elements and some western / modern traditions.

Along with a traditional Moroccan band, Orchestre Adil, they also had a singer from Spain, Lydia Botana. Both bands got the guests out and dancing and we discovered that Othman and Jihane are great dancers! We always love the atmosphere that’s created with live bands and musicians. Throughout the wedding guests could have their photos taken with props at a photobooth. It’s called Sharingbox and the photos taken are put into a guest book for the bride and groom. Such a special way for the couple to remember all of the guests who attended their wedding!

Towards the end of the evening, Jihane and her father made their entrance along with the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Othman and Jihane had their first dance together before cutting their cake.

The wedding was magnificent but what stands out to me the most were the moments between Othman and Jihane (who, by the way, are seriously the sweetest couple!). We photograph brides and grooms all of the time, and so of course we’re used to seeing couples in love. But there was something so special about the way these two looked at each other the whole evening. In the midst of so many guests and so much celebrating, you could see that they were just so enamored with one another. It reminded me of why we do what we do. It’s not about photographing events, but capturing moments. When the groom sees his bride, when the family hugs their new son-in-law, when the only way guests can express their excitement is through dancing. When I look through Othman and Jihane’s photos I see so many beautiful moments from their day and this tremendous feeling of gratefulness that we were entrusted to capture these moments.

The next day, we did a photoshoot with Othman and Jihane at the beach at Paradis Plage. That’s one of the great advantages of weddings in Agadir, is the option to do photoshoots at the beautiful beach! We always love the opportunity to do a private photoshoot with the bride and groom and photoshoots the day after the wedding are always relaxed and fun times.

See below for some of our favorite moments from their wedding and their photoshoot.