As Valentine’s Day was last month, S2 Images Photography thought it would be an idea to tell you their own love story.

So here goes, our story from Sonia’s point of view.

We met in 2011, I was a documentary photographer born and brought up near Warwick, having studied photography in Birmingham. I spent a few years as a fashion photographer, also directing shoots. Simon is a self taught photographer from Leicester, having worked first hand in the photographic industry, shooting all sorts of genres from wedding photography to portraiture.

People often ask how we met. Sadly, it wasn’t a real love story like how my Grandmother met my Grandfather. My Grandmother fell down a well and my Grandfather saved her! How awesome is that story! May God rest their souls.. A story to be proud of telling your grandchildren.

Simon actually added me on Facebook as my name stated that I was a photographer. And we had a mutual friend, Amer.

We soon got talking and realised we had so much in common. Our farming upbringings, family similarities and ultimately our real passions, photography and faith.

I was in my final year at university, so after we decided to meet, I had to go off abroad for 5 weeks to film and photograph Yemen. Whilst out there Simon was trying to find every way to communicate with me daily. Yemen does have technology but only certain things work, like Viber works but Skype doesn’t. We still find it amazing that I was out in Yemen talking to Simon for free over Viber, whilst Simon was riding his bike home from work.

We just knew we were right for each other. I never really got a formal proposal but it truly hit home when I saw Simon ask my father for my hand in marriage.

With our religious beliefs, we believe in making the relationship official ‘in the eyes of God.’ So we wanted to be married as soon as possible, that was a mutual understanding.

The engagement ring was bought and we had a family meal to celebrate the engagement.

A couple of months later we had the wedding. Working around Warwickshire Marquees schedule, as all I knew was that I wanted a wedding at my family home near Warwick. Where I grew up. This house is where we invite couples for a consultation, as we actually ended up moving back! And thankfully it has helped us build S2 Images, which now consumes our lives, and we absolutely love it!

So back to the story. We had an Islamic ceremony, I wore a Moroccan dress – we have family that are Moroccan. The dresses are beautiful so I wanted to incorporate them into our wedding. There was then a ladies party that evening, where I wore a traditional Yemeni dress and more Moroccan ones. I lost count how many times I changed, in true Arab style! Then the formal, or not so formal, reception was the following day. This is where I wore a traditional white dress from Eternal Bride in Warwick. I added a Muslim twist, as I had a headscarf styled to match by Rima Tadmory. We say not so formal as it just involved a lot of food and dancing to Arabic music!

The only regret we’d probably say is not hiring a professional wedding photographer. I asked some friends from university to do video and photography. The video was lovely. The stills, some were lost unfortunately and we never had a proper couple shoot. We wish we had thought about having a couple shoot now looking back. We also only have digital versions of our images, this we truly regret! We unfortunately never have time to design our own album!.. But that is because we are busy turning other couples memories into artwork that they can enjoy for a lifetime.

So in 2014, learning from our own mistakes, we are now moving full force, aiming to make other couples experiences as perfect as possible. This was when we formally made S2 Images a limited company and when we decided to focus on this over anything else in our lives.

We have to say, although a video is lovely to watch of your day, it’s not like having physical images in your hands. A physical form of your treasured memories. Who knows what will happen to CD’s, hard drives and USB sticks in years to come. Not to mention, images can be put in frames and seen daily – videos can’t.

Moving back to the story, we lived in Leicester for 4 months, and found this wasn’t what we wanted to be doing. My father offered for us to move back, as he travels a lot. This was the perfect opportunity to start focusing on what we really wanted to be doing, photography.

We are now happier than ever and feeling blessed. We couldn’t be more thankful for the amount of lovely clients we have worked with, over the years, and especially over the last year. We really feel like this company will, God willing, be a success over the next few years. Thankfully we have had nothing but great feedback, from client consultation to delivery of the imagery. We have had couples say that the way we work inspires them to want to find a business that works for them, so they can work alongside the person they love, doing something that they love.

Since getting married, we haven’t spent a day apart. We work together, live together and socialise together. Yes, we have our ‘domestics’ from time to time, which friends find funny to watch, but ultimately, we wouldn’t want it any other way. We truly thrive when photographing weddings together.. It is safe to say, that is when we are in our element as a couple!

S2 Images Ltd are husband and wife wedding photographers based near Warwick. We photograph weddings nationally, having covered areas such as Leicester, Warwickshire, the Cotswolds, Leeds and London. We can even venture worldwide should you wish. We would love to know your wedding photography plans. Please get in touch via our contact page if you are interested in our services.

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