Sue and Shahanun Get Married at Willows Lodge

In my favorite wedding of Autumn 2022, Sue and Shahanun were married at the Willows Lodge in Woodinville.  This was a fantastic wedding, with family and friends coming from all over the world to see the couple finally get married.

I first got to know Sue (also called Sue-Ellen) and Shahanun during the summer, when we did an engagement session at the Bellevue Botanical Garden.  Not only did I have a chance to find out a bit about Shahanun and Sue’s backgrounds, I also got to meet their beautiful baby daughter Rose.  You can see some photos from that session by clicking the link above.

Because this wedding took place at the end of October and Sue and Shahanun wanted to have the ceremony outdoors, I was a little concerned about the weather.  Hey, this is Seattle and even in mid-August it isn’t unusual to have wet weather!  A week out from the wedding date the forecast was not looking very good, with an 80% chance of rain.  But I’ve lived here for a long time, and know from experience that until you are within a day or two of the date the forecast is almost nothing more than guesswork.  Sure enough, by the Thursday before the Saturday wedding the forecast had changed and now was supposed to be mostly cloudy with a low chance of rain.

Getting Ready and the Pre-Ceremony Photos

On the wedding day, the weather turned out to be even better than forecasted.  I arrived at Willows Lodge at 2PM, and it was reasonably warm with partly sunny skies.  Hooray, the Wedding Gods decided to smile on us!  I went straight to the Bride’s Room to check in with Sue, and to see how far along she was in the dressing process.  She was still finishing up with her hair and makeup, so I got some photos of the setup at the Lodge.  Shahanun was getting ready with the groomsmen at another location.  The plan was to take a First Look with the couple once Sue was ready, and Shahanun arrived at the lodge.  I hung out with the ladies and took photos as everyone was getting ready.  These are some of my favorite photos at most weddings, the excitement as the ladies get ready is always a lot of fun to experience and photograph.

Shahanun arrived soon after, and Sue finished getting into her dress (she looked amazing!) so we were ready to go with the First Look.  I took Shahanun to a nice spot in one of the gardens at the Lodge, and had him wait there facing away from the Lodge as Sue made her approach.  Sue’s dress had a huge train, so setting her up correctly for the First Look was important.  Once she was ready, I let Shahanun turn to see her while I caught his reaction.  You can see a couple of photos from the first look below.

We spent another 15-20 minutes taking photos with Shahanun and Sue, and by then the bridesmaids were ready to join us, though the groomsmen were still on the way to the Lodge.  There are several spots at Willows that are great for photos, so we moved to different spots and took photos whenever it looked right.

The groomsmen arrived and joined us, so we now had a pretty substantial group with 5 bridesmaids, 5 groomsmen, 2 flower girls and one ringbearer.  Plus of course the bride and groom!  The weather continued to improve, to the point where I had to be careful not to face anyone into the sun to keep them from squinting.

The Ceremony

Once we finished with the photos Sue and the ladies returned to the Bride’s Room to hide out while the guests arrived.  The guys at first all hung out in the hotel lobby, greeting people as they arrived and directing them to where the ceremony would take place.  The Lodge has a fantastic covered outdoor structure that is great for weddings in almost any weather condition.  As is pretty typical at a wedding, the guests slowly arrived and took seats while the wedding party prepared for the processional, out of sight of the guests.

Here is a list of the wedding party –

Maid of Honor – Sabia Akram

Bridesmaids – Ronika Maharaj, Susan Corning, Paulina Samsel, Belinda Lartey

Best Man – Iddris Abubakari

Groomsmen – Rakmil Adam, Abdul Hanan Sumani, Yasir Dawuda, Rowland Abubakari

Flower Girls – Lily Mills, Ria Maharaj, Rose Imoro

Ringbearer – Eshan Maharaj

Once all of the guests were seated and the wedding party was in place, the processional began.  Baby Rose was pulled in a special wagon by one of the flower girls.  Sue was walked down the aisle by her brother, and once she reached Shahanun the ceremony began.

The Reception

At the conclusion of the ceremony the guests moved onto the nearby patio and there was a very nice cocktail hour.  By now it was starting to get dark, but it was still very pleasantly warm outside.  Sue and Shahanun spent a lot of this time bringing groups of friends to where I had set up to take photos.  Lots and lots of photos!

Once the dining room was set up, everyone moved indoors for dinner.  As always when I have been to a wedding at Willows, the food was incredible.  Everyone enjoyed a very nice meal and the newlyweds spent quite a bit of time moving around the tables and greeting everyone.

Once the dinner was finished, toasts were given by several wedding party and family members, followed by the cutting of the cake.  Sue and Shahanun had their first dance as husband and wife, and then they disappeared to change clothes.

When they returned they were in traditional African wedding clothing, which was really a lot of fun!  The music was cranked up, and apparently the DJ was told that there would be no breaks in the music because he played non-stop for the next couple of hours.

It was a wonderful wedding and party, and everyone there clearly had a great time.