Elektra & Yasir: A Wedding at the Sunshine Mosque

Elektra and Yasir married in the middle of a hot Melbourne summer, on the seventeenth of January 2026. We were with them from the afternoon until the evening, from a garden full of palms to a hall full of family at the Sunshine Mosque in Ardeer.

Elektra smiling up at Yasir, her bouquet held close

Among the palms

The afternoon was bright and clear, and we began in a garden of tall pines, palms and grass trees beside a lake. Elektra wore a long-sleeved white gown with a pearl collar and a long veil falling from her shoulders, and the breeze kept lifting it into the air. Yasir laughed his way through the portraits in his cream suit, and the two of them could hardly look at each other without grinning.

Elektra and Yasir walking along a shaded garden path under tall pines, her veil lifting behind her

Elektra and Yasir standing among palms and grass trees in a sunny garden

Elektra’s veil flying out in the breeze as she stands beside Yasir in the garden

Yasir and Elektra smiling at each other among palms and grass trees, a bouquet of pink and peach roses between them

Yasir laughing in a cream suit and black bow tie

Yasir grinning as Elektra looks up at him under the trees

Elektra and a friend in a silver satin dress swirling their dresses and sleeves beside the lake

Family and friends in the garden

Their people joined them in the garden: Yasir lined up with six of his friends, long shadows across the path, then the whole group together. By the lake, Elektra and a friend in silver satin swirled their dresses, the two of them put on matching sunglasses (hers white and heart-shaped), and Elektra laughed with a friend in red.

Black and white photo of Yasir standing in a row with six friends on a sunny garden path, their long shadows in front of them

Elektra and Yasir with a big group of family and friends in the garden, grass trees and a palm behind them

Elektra and Yasir with two guests in dark suits beside the lake

Elektra in white heart-shaped sunglasses smiling beside Yasir in his sunglasses

Elektra laughing beside a woman in a red dress among the grass trees

Yasir sitting on the edge of a garden fountain as Elektra stands beside him

Paths, a pond and a dance

Then it was just the two of them again. We followed a shaded path through palms and ferns, where Elektra rested her head on Yasir's shoulder, walked the lakeside path, and sat on the edge of a round stone pond in front of an old cottage. On the path by the palms they danced, and Elektra reached up for Yasir's face, laughing.

Elektra and Yasir walking along a shaded garden path

Elektra resting her head on Yasir’s shoulder on a path lined with ferns and palms

Elektra and Yasir walking along the lakeside path under overhanging trees

Elektra and Yasir at the edge of the lake in the afternoon sun

Elektra laughing as she and Yasir sit on the edge of a round stone pond, an old cottage with a decorated gable behind them

Elektra laughing and reaching for Yasir’s face as they dance on the path beside the water and the palms

Elektra smiling with her hands clasped in front of the white drapes of the hall

Welcomes in the hall

At the Sunshine Mosque, the hall was dressed in white, with gold arches, a curtain of fairy lights and roses everywhere. Guests found iced biscuits with the couple's names at their places, posed at a wall of roses, left voice messages on an old blue telephone and raided the lolly table. Elektra and Yasir went from table to table, hugging family and friends, with heart hands for one table in particular.

Elektra with her arm around an older woman in a dark lace dress beside the white wishing well

The head table under a gold arch and white flowers in the reception hall

A white sign with Elektra and Yasir’s names in gold script at the reception

Yasir cheek to cheek with an older woman in a burgundy headscarf, both smiling

Elektra and Yasir making heart shapes with their hands at a long table of smiling guests

At the head table

They took their seats at the head table under the gold arches, banked with white and peach roses, both of them laughing at whatever the guests in front were saying.

Yasir grinning at the head table behind white and peach roses

Yasir and Elektra side by side at the head table, listening

Words and the signing

An older man in a grey suit spoke to them in front of the head table, and he had them both laughing and then quietly listening. Then came the signing at the head table, with everyone watching and clapping.

An older man in a grey suit speaking into a microphone in front of the head table as Yasir laughs and Elektra smiles

Elektra laughing at the head table as the older man in the grey suit speaks to her

The reception hall at the Sunshine Mosque, full of family and friends at long white tables

An older man in a grey suit and a woman in brown showing Yasir where to sign at the head table as Elektra watches

The domes in the late sun, then dinner

As the sun dropped, we stepped outside for a few portraits in front of the mosque's domes and its long arcade of arches, glowing in the late light. Back inside, dinner was a buffet along the side of the hall, with iced coffees carrying the couple's names.

Elektra and Yasir in front of the white domes and arches of the Sunshine Mosque, a white sports car beside them

Guests serving themselves from trays of hot food at the buffet in the hall

The rings

After dinner, by the head table, Yasir slid a ring onto Elektra's finger, and they held their hands out side by side to show them off.

Yasir sliding a ring onto Elektra’s finger in front of the gold arches

Close up of Yasir’s and Elektra’s hands side by side, showing their rings

Elektra holding out her arm to show a stack of gold bangles

Gold, bangles and blessings

Then the family came up one by one. Yasir fastened a necklace for Elektra as she lifted her hair, relatives fastened bracelets on her wrists and pinned gold and banknotes onto ribbons the couple wore, with a hug for every gift. By the end Elektra had a stack of gold bangles on her wrist, and the two of them stood for one last family photograph with their ribbons covered in notes.