Nazanin & Bridesmaids – Balboa Park

When Brooke contacted me about shooting a bridesmaid session with bride Nazanin, I was so excited!  This was a first for me!  Never have I had a bride who was marrying someone from another country, having her wedding abroad, and then moving to an exotic country right afterwards!  Beautiful and fun bridesmaids…in one of my favorite San Diego locations…with no time limit!  DREAM COME TRUE!  Not only that, but I was able to spend time with these ladies who I highly respect and admire, enjoy their company, and love to laugh with!  It was wonderful to watch them all interact with each other and to enjoy their final moments with their beautiful friend Nazanin.  Each of their relationships with this stunning bride have been truly special and a blessing to each of them.  When I asked one of these amazing women, Brooke Surin, about her relationship with Naz, her response was incredibly touching.  She noted that Naz has always been a truly an amazing friend.  She has been touch by how incredibly intentional, loving, patient, compassionate, and willing to listen Nazanin has been in their friendship and in the friendships of so many others.  It’s not hard to agree with her when she described Naz as someone who can light up any room and be the life of the party.  Beautiful, stunning, wise, and caring are just a few of the adjectives that Brooke also used to describe this incredible young woman who has proven her love time and time again even when each of them moved around the country in cities like Virginia, Boston, San Diego, and now Johanesburg!  These were the musing of ONE of the bridesmaids.  If I were to have asked all eight of them to tell me about Naz, I am sure they would have echoed Brooke’s sentiments and continued to gush over Naz’s phenomenal ability to be a true, loyal friend.

I have known Nazanin since she was in high school!  She was a friend of one of my friend’s daughters and when she was baptized, it was such a celebration for the entire church!  What a wonderful young woman!  Strong, beautiful, convicted, purposeful, driven, and spiritual!  She has been a blessing ever since that day as she  she headed off to San Diego State University to earn a Bachelor’s Degree and then into in the singles ministry.  During all of that time she was surrounded by women who deeply loved her and stood by her side through all of life’s challenges.  True friendships that will stand the test of time.  It is obvious how loved she has been and continues to be by how many times that she has been a bridesmaid herself, and especially a maid-of-honor.

Although it is such a joy to be a bridesmaid in your friends’ weddings, I remember how that felt, to watch as they found the man of their dreams and then start their new lives.  I waited a long time to find my beloved Zachary and Nazain waited too…and it was worth it!  After meeting Selwyn through a Facebook group for people from church, she fell in love with his childlike heart and his extremely fun and quirky, yet very safe and real personality.  She noted, “He didn’t lead with his best foot forward but rather with all of his wounds.”  That is so amazing!  Knowing this about his character it is no surprise that he proposed in such a sentimetal way!  He surprised her by having her friends convice her that they were all having a girls night out, consisteing of a nice dinner and then a sleepover.  After dinner her friends drove her to a wedding venue which he had rented out for the surpise.  She followed a path of mason jars filled with twinkly lights and little notes about their relationship.  At the end of the path he was waiting for her in a gazebo with champagne and a ring!  Now, that is an engagement for the books!

Through all of the tough times and now in this beautiful new season of her life, Nazanin’s friends have been there for her!  She reached out across the ocean to find the man of her dreams, and her best friends were there for her even if it meant they couldn’t stand by her side at the moment she commited her heart to Selwyn in a ceremony in South Africa.  A couple of her besties were able be with her on that special day, but most of her closest friends had to remain in the States as she traveled to her new home in South Africa to begin her life with her husband.  All of them are thrilled she is with this wild, fun man who loves their best friend deeply.  Although a world apart, I am sure these beautiful ladies will remain close friends as they continue to send love to each other across the ocean.  Naz has proven that remaining a steadfast friend is her specialty and these woman are the beneficiaries of all of her love, wisdom and joy.