We're so excited to celebrate with you!

Lamiya and Colin’s love story involves all the things anyone who knows the happy couple might expect – “The Lord of the Rings” (LOTR), “A Game of Thrones” (GoT), and lots of Thai food. A copy of “the Tyranny of Socialism” from 1894 and a lie about “The Sword of Truth” (SoT) also made special contributions to the progression of the relationship. We came across each other unexpectedly, and we mustered the courage to take a chance. While getting to know one another better over Pineapple Fried Rice, Lamiya learned what the Federal Reserve actually does, and Colin learned that he knows nothing…about LOTR trivia. Soon after, Lamiya requested to borrow Colin’s copy of SoT, as he’d mentioned it as one of his favorite high-fantasy series of all time. It's important to note this request was made not for any interest in the series, but to keep the conversation going. Luckily, Lamiya was hooked by the end of the 1st book, and there were 12 more left to go; plenty of time for falling in love with the series...and with Colin. Something also stirred in Colin's heart when Lamiya perused the oldest book in his collection, published in 1894, making her the first person to actually read select passages from the text. Lamiya met Colin’s Germanic stoicism with Bengali vibrancy, and together, we followed the path of life that led us to walks in DC museums, dance lessons at Café Citron, brunches with friends, and dinners with family. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi – God made us in pairs, and we bonded over our shared love of LOTR, GoT, Merlin, and more. We also expanded each other’s horizons. Colin now enjoys the richness of Bollywood and Latin music, and Lamiya no longer runs on Desi Standard Time (ish). Colin has a higher spice tolerance, and Lamiya has a newfound love of oatmeal and TUMS. Colin is a proud cat-dad, and Lamiya is a proud cat-mom who understands that she cannot adopt every cat she finds online. We found peace, love and joy, and will follow each other to whatever end <3

Life works in mysterious ways. When we decided to get married, we discussed many options for when to have all the ceremonies. Colin had just proposed to Lamiya and confirmed he will take his shahada in November 2019, and we were looking into 2020 dates for the Nikah. We were in the midst of discussing whether to spread out festivities through the Spring and Fall or plan everything for the Fall, when Lamiya's mom became adamant that the Nikah would take place by the end of 2019. Thus, we planned a beautiful, intimate Nikah ceremony for December 31, 2019, with plans for a Labor Day Weekend 2020 celebration. Of course, we all know the world changed drastically shortly thereafter. Though we were socially distanced from so many of our loved ones, we had a home to call our own with our kittens, and we were one FaceTime/Zoom call away from everyone else. We are so grateful to Allah (swt), our families and our friends for the love and support throughout these difficult times. Please continue to make du'a (prayer) for us as we continue on our adventure together. We are so excited and honored to share our special day with you Labor Day Weekend 2021.