A gorgeous desert wedding…Teagan & Joel by Goldfish Photography

It’s real wedding time here again at MLW and we couldn’t resist posting this stunning desert wedding shot by Goldfish Photography and Video today. Teagan and Joel got married on the 28th October 2015 with a reception in a tradition Bedouin camp surrounded by the dunes as the sun went down – and it’s just as amazing as it sounds.

Funny story, I actually knew Joel and Teagan a long time back through a mutual friend and I have to say when I met them I remember thinking what a real and solid couple they were and came across as being very much in love. From the looks of it, things worked out very well indeed 🙂 Just looking at the pictures, thanks to our amazing friends at Goldfish Photography and Video, you can see how genuinely happy this lovely couple is and how everyone around them is just drawn to them – so many gorgeous smiles. Awww! Plus the groom is wearing a kilt guys – the Scottish girl inside me literally squeaked when I opened the pictures!

Beautiful bride Teagan tells us some of the details about what she wore on her big day…
The dress… was from the St Patrick range and I got it at The Wedding Shop in Jumeirah Centre. It was love at first sight! The first expedition was just supposed to be for fun but I ended up finding my dress in the second shop! I tried on loads before and after along with another afternoon as well but nothing compared to THE dress in the end. The ladies are The Wedding Shop in Jumeirah are nothing but helpful and accommodating.
The veil…I made myself with some Tulle and a hair slide from Fida in Satwa. I think my mum re-made it for me as my sewing was a little haphazard. I was only wearing it for the church so decided to keep it very simple.
The accessories…I wanted to keep these to a minimum as my dress had a little more bling to it than I was originally looking for, but there were a few pieces of jewellery I wanted to wear for sentimental purposes.
My earrings were large simple faux diamond studs borrowed from my sister and I wore a small pair of diamond studs in my second hole. I also borrowed a simple white gold bracelet from my mum. I wore my Gran’s opal ring and a broach on my bouquet from my other Gran as they are both no longer with us so it felt nice to have a little something from each with me.
My church shoes were a bargain at GBP14 from Misguided (an online shop), they are simple blue heels with a toe and andkle strap. My desert shoes were from the Converse shop in Mall of the Emirates, on sale, for 180dhs. Both pairs were my something blue. I didn’t end up wearing the converse until the very end as bare feet was much more comfortable in the sand with my dress.
My sunglasses were a gift from a friend and are from Wild Wood, a local sunglasses company.
Finally the night before the wedding I went with my sister and had some traditional henna on my hands and feet. Having grown up in Dubai and getting married here, it was my nod to the culture and the place we call home.

Let’s talk about the groom for a minute…
Teagan: I was a little sneaky with this one. Joel’s birthday was two weeks before our wedding and I had ordered a Cornish Tartan Kilt, sneakily made to measure, to arrive in time for his birthday. So we ended up going with a black waistcoat and his kilt for the day. He looked amazing!

If you’re a regular reader you’ll know that Joelle and I are huge fans of creating a beautiful wedding on a budget – and we all know it is not just possible but very much a reality – and this is exactly what Teagan and Joel managed to do. Lucky for us Teagan let us in on a few secrets on how they created it.
For the music…at the reception we were simply plugging in an iPod and spent a few weeks beforehand putting together the playlists for the receptions and simply added all our favourites, plugged it in and off we went.
For the flowers…for my bouquet I chose a simple selection of white flowers with some dashes of blue. My bridesmaids and all the ladies in the bridal party had white corsages and the boys all had buttoiares of babies breath.
When it came to the venue, the flowers were all presented in reused beverage bottles wrapped in twine or spray painted silver. We had signboards and stickers everywhere courtesy of E-Walls Studio. We used some as stickers and others as stencils for spray pained signage.
For the stationary…we did all the stationary ourselves; the Save the Date was a fridge magnet ordered from Sticky9.com, the invites were designed by us and printed locally and we then went a bit crazy with vinyl stickers, using them as stencils for sign boards, and as name places on jars, even the seating plan was made using twine and stickers on a big signboard. We designed the order of ceremony to fold into paper airplanes to add a little amusement to the occasion and had fans for the ladies just in case it was still a little warm.

Tell us about the reception..
The reception was fairly simple in terms of décor but the fact that we had volunteers pitching in to make it all come together made it all the more special.
At the welcome reception we had Pimm’s O’Clock with home made scones, home made jam – made by Joels mum with fruit from her garden, and clotted cream brought out from the UK. The crockery for this was from The English Tea Party and looked fabulous.
For the food, from the beginning Joel and I wanted to keep it simple and it to have a back garden party feel to it. So mixing the British garden party and the traditional Arabic venue we ended up with the most delicious BBQed meat from Lean Cuts who will prepare everything and come and cook it on site for you. All the sides were done in my mums kitchen with a small army of helpers who did an amazing job. Everything was delicious and we didn’t break the bank feeding everyone.
Can you tell us about your most memorable moments from the day?
I wish I could remember every second of it but I know my memory will fail me somewhere along the line. From the best proposal (on the top of a mountain in Switzerland) to having all the people we care about most in one place to celebrate with us, to the most epic holiday ever! Walking/dancing down the isle on the arm of my dad towards Joel (barely able to see through the tears) is something I hope I never forget.
I think the main thing for both of us was to have our family and friends, who are scattered all over the world, in one place, for a very short space of time, just for us. We are so lucky!


Any advice for other couples?
Teagan: It’s one day. Don’t break the bank, don’t sweat the small stuff and it’ll all figure itself out. One thing that a few people told me that I hung on to is that no one notices the details that aren’t there, because only you knew they were supposed to be…it’s no big deal! My wedding was on the Wednesday and by Monday I had let go of a lot of stuff because I just wanted to enjoy the time with the people who were there, not be buried in planning.
This was a huge team effort and it wouldn’t have come together without so many people. I realized, I just created the lists and our army did the rest!
– Jo – the kindest person in the world. Thank you for so kindly offering to set us up in the desert and knuckling down to get it all done! I love you forever!!!
– My mum, for leading a small army of volunteers who prepared all the food for the day!
– Joel’s mum for the amazing jams
– My sisters and Joels mum for baking the most delicious cakes
– All the boys – my Dad, Joel, the groomsmen and family friends who all muscled the logistical nightmare that was getting everything out to the desert and prepped.
– E-Walls for all the stickers
– Print Outs for the invites
– Suzie and Jo for pre wedding photography!
– Goldfish for official photography and Paul for making us look awesome and effortless.
– Lean Cuts for the best meat ever…those Koftas are something else!
I don’t want to forget anyone!!!
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Thank you so much to Teagan & Joel for sharing their amazing day with us, we wish you all the love and happiness in the world. Thank you to Goldfish Photography & Video for all the lovely photos!
Back tomorrow lovelies,