Eid Al Azha Mubarak ❤
May this Eid be the brightest and best you’ve ever had.
I pray that the Almighty helps all amongst us who are helpless,
worried, heartbroken, and waiting for His rehmat, ameen.
Please don’t forget the less fortunate ones in your prayers & celebrations.
Today I celebrate the fourth birthday of my blog (and my own as well – don’t ask how old I am now). Honestly, I didn’t think I’ll make it this far in life but I did. Just like the past three years, I wanted to jot down my Thankful list for this year to look back next year and be even more grateful.
I’m thankful to the Almighty – I continued to fail. He continued to be the most merciful.
I’m thankful for phone calls with mom – they always end with ‘I love you too Rima’.
I’m thankful for family for always standing by my side. Despite my failures.
I’m thankful for friends who pray for me without me knowing.
I’m thankful for my health & being able to eat whatever I desire.
I’m thankful for being able to learn/do things I always dreamt of.
I’m thankful for being able to read & write.
I’m thankful for another successful business year (say mashaAllah).
I’m thankful for having an amazingggggg team. Extremely talented & trustworthy.
I’m thankful for being able to cover destination weddings.
I’m thankful for finally being able to travel in business class.
I’m thankful for my home, great halal food, free home deliveries.
I’m thankful for the sound of Azaan.
I’m thankful for being able to learn from mistakes – mine & others.
I’m thankful for my clients for continuing to shower me with their trust & love.
I’m thankful for everything I have now that I longed & prayed for last year.
I’m thankful for lessons that people/life taught me.
I’m thankful for being able to laugh & cry at the same time.
I’m thankful for another year – and for continuing to learn.
I’m so very thankful for my blog, clients, followers, friends, and family who make me more ME. Who listen to what I have to say and understand without judging. I’m grateful for all that I have and even more grateful for all that I don’t have.
Happy Birthday Learner….
Thankful List – 2014
Thankful List – 2015 – Bring it On
Thankful List – 2016 – Dreaming Big
May Allah fills your Life with Happiness,
your Heart with Love,
your Soul with Spirituality,
your Mind with Wisdom,
and give you all the blessings of heaven above.
Be very kind to each other…
Eid Mubarak to all of you!
For the past several days months, I have been working like a machine.
It is funny how I wanted (and waited) for this time for so long yet when it arrived, I feel overwhelmed.
I remember the time I used to refresh my inbox just to see if a client sent me an enquiry. Now is the time that I got overbooked (Alhamdullilah & mashAllah) yet I found myself falling behind. Behind schedule. Behind work. Behind Life.
When I tried to regain my life back, my work started to suffer. It felt like my own personal life was getting in my way…
At times like these, I remind myself why I started this business…
When life seemed to slip out of my hands, I held back. Promising myself to go easy. Cut myself some slack. Take lesser bookings so I can also do other things that I enjoy (like reading books, writing, spending more time with the family, exploring the world, etc).
If life/work is getting in your way, take a step back and take a look at the broader picture. Remind yourself WHY you started this and try to figure out HOW to make it better.
You only have one life.
Live it Right!
Ramadan Mubarak!!!
May the month of Ramadan brings you the most brightest of bliss & happiness by the grace of Allah, always. May he cleanse our souls, fills our hearts with love and characters with humility, showers us with blessings, and may we be grateful to Him for everything, ameen.
Keep each other in your prayers & be kind to one another!
I was thrilled when I received a call from one of my favorite venues, Al Jawaher RCC in Sharjah, to document a styled photoshoot for their upcoming marketing campaign. Covering countless weddings of my clients there, I was familiar with its spacious rooms, tons of props, and amazing interior that JRCC offers.
I feel honored to be chosen by their team as well as being extremely happy to share the photos as I don’t usually get to show the actual portfolio to the world. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the amazing Al Jawaher’s team for putting up a successful photoshoot together and for trusting me with the job.
Venue: Al Jawaher RCC
Bridal Gown: The Bridal Showroom
Model: Camila, Miss Universe Kosovo 2016
Photographer: Rima Hassan
Internet, I hope you are ready for this!!! 😉
Past few hours daaaays have been bizarrely restless for me.
I was up and down the emotional roller coaster for apparently no reason.
Sometimes I felt like I was stuck in quicksand that was taking me in deeper and deeper. Other times I knew the only person who can help me is my own self. Trust me, I tried everything I could. I tried reading the unfinished book, constantly flipped through TV channels, aimlessly wandered the mall, and tried to find anything that might consume my time.
When nothing helped….I did what I do best in such situations.
I cried and I wrote.
I wrote and I cried.
I wrote because that was the only anti-drug left. When I can’t give voice to feelings, I write. And I write until there is nothing left to say.
Sometimes life is not all happy-happy journey. Not at all!
In fact, most of the prettiest flowers are the ones with the thorns.
When you do come across such flowers (& their thorns), remember that ‘what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger…‘
2016 – I just have one word for you – EXTREME!
The goals were overly achieved and ridiculously missed, I cried my eyes out some nights and most days I laughed unstoppably, documented oh-so-amazing couples & met mind-blowing creatives, my social media followers, and made new friends that I’m so utterly grateful for. I lived life to the max and accepted myself as Glorious Mess.
2017, Ima make you MY year. I’m already daring to dream even bigger. Wishing for the impossible. And trust me Habibi, I then will wish for more. I am ready to live out Louder. Boldly. Fearlessly!
Thank you, yet again, for following along my journey. Cheers to moving forward, new beginnings, taking risks, dreaming big, loving and living out loud….because I strongly believe that the best is yet to come 🙂
Happy 2017!!!
I feel so fortunate to work alongside wedding industry professionals who are one step ahead of the game & are always willing to help their clients – the Brides-to-Be.
Just like last wedding workshop by Mylist.ae, I was invited to speak to future brides regarding the latest wedding and photography trends. And yes, I will be blogging about it in my UnOfficial Bridesmaid for those who missed.
The workshop was held at the beautiful venue of Ethan Allen in Dubai.
The amazing wedding professionals who took part in this workshop included:
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Julie & Anne for inviting me (again) for this workshop and putting together yet another helpful & successful event. Also, a heartfelt thank you to Ethan Allen for being an amazing host, to all the vendors who participated and shared their expertise, and to all the brides who attended the event.
I hope this event was educational, fun, and full of ideas for you and helps you with Your Dream Wedding, ameen.
Until we meet again…
Love,
~ Rima
One of my hobbies is to binge-watching YouTube videos.
While doing so, sometimes I stumble upon videos that uplift me to a degree that I feel more resolute. More curious. More determined to pursue my dreams.
If you are in search of some kind of revival, definitely check out this gem of a video by Price Ea. He is a very talented American artist, rapper, and music video director. I absolutely loo0o0ove his videos’ cinematography and more than that, the concepts and messages behind them.
I hope this video makes you write a good story of your life….and your own Brand New Ending…
