This is the best first birthday party ever!! Not only because it was a stellar backyard fiesta but grandma & grandson both celebrated their birthday's!  

This is one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever had the pleasure of shooting. My dear friend Christopher, married his beautiful lady in October and I have to say there wasn't a dry eye the entire day. They pulled out all the stops and it was absolutely beautiful. They had so many surprises for their family throughout the wedding and it was so great to see everyone reactions. I was teary-eyed the entire time. Ill let the photos speak for themselves. Love you Ericka & Christopher! xo

Beautiful private event at the Astorian. Be sure to look at the entire post to see who the event was for! ;)

Event Design: Johanna Terry Events Venue: Astorian

Love all of the beautiful pieces created by Burdlife.

Such a beautiful event hosted by The Astorian.

Modern Luxury Brides hosted a bridal show that consisted of tons of amazing vendors & a fashion show!!

Couldn't be more blessed to be apart of such an amazing event!

xo Layla

Participating Vendors:

The Astorian

LG Entertainement

Todd Events

Neal Hamil Agency

Modern Luxury Brides

A Day to Remember

Berings

Petite Sweets

Jeff Shell

Two be Wed

Johanna Terry Events

Cordua Catering

&& much more!!!

Houston Modern Luxury Magazine is celebrating 10 years of success!!!

It was such an honor to be apart of such a wonderful event and getting to meet so many wonderful people in the community!!!

Here's to another 10 years!

Contributing Vendors:

The Astorian

LG Entertainment

Johanna Terry Events

En Vogue Events

Cake & Confetti

Cordua Catering

Page Parks Corportaion

TOOTSIES

Sakes Fifth Avenue

Intipalka

Milagro Tequila

Reyka Vodka

Hendrick's Gin

Monkey Shoulder

Sailor Jerry Rum

JD Entertainment

Location: New Orleans, LA Ceremony: Jackson Square Reception: Westin on Canal Second Line: Kinfolk Brass Band Reception Band: Pick 6 Cake: La Lousiane Linens & Decor: Your event Delivered Hair & Makeup: Toni & Guy Bay Colony Invitations: Gatherings in South Shore Second Shooter: Chelsie Burkhart

Styled Shoot: Credit Three Nails Workshop

Its all in the details. 

I love bright, colorful ceremonies.

Okay so funny story this one. This is my soon-to-be brother-in-law & his beautiful (now) wife!!! Its been a while since I've blogged so that why you see the Christmas decorations. Any who, my now fiancé (then friend) called me up saying they needed a photographer for one of his brother's pre-wedding parties. I never say no to a good party!

Arabic weddings are one big party, with a bunch of parties leading up to the big day. This party was the henna party & my new family definitely knows how to throw a party because I had a blast!! :)

This is my then friend, now fiancé ;) & I at the end of the night. I'll be posting our story in a couple of days so be on the lookout. :)

This beautiful couple tied the knot a little over a month ago and I have to say I was very honored to have photograph their wedding. It was so sweet and special! Jihan & I became great friends throughout the time of talking about her wedding and awaiting her big day! I even photographed her Mehndi (Henna Party). Even though this post is short & sweet, it was definitely one of the most special weddings I have have the privilege of photographing.

We started out the day by having their traditional Islamic Ceremony followed by the wedding in the evening. For those of you that don't know much about Islamic Ceremonies, I'll explain as we go. :)

In the SouthEast Asian Culture, women adorned their hands and feet with henna which substituted as gold. It is said the darker the henna, the more blessed your marriage is. If you've ever had henna done you know how messy it gets, so you can only imagine how long you'd have to leave it on for it to be super dark. 

During the ceremony, the men & women are separated. The head Sheikh (Imann) does all of the talking, with a sermon followed by a couple of questions for the groom and the bride's father. The groom has to ask permission right then and there in-front of everyone for the bride's hand in marriage and with the father's blessing they two are wed. 

And now onto the wedding portion...

In order for the groom to enter the hall, he has to "pay a toll". He has a "financial advisor" negotiating his way into the hall. He has to agree to pay a certain amount of money for the bride and once the bride's family agrees, he's in! This was so fun to watch! 

Jihan & Rafe,

Thank you so much for choosing me to photograph your special day! I wish you two a blessed marriage filled with love, prosperity and an abundance of happiness!!

Photographer: Layla Hillail, Le Zu Photography

Venue: Hilton SouthWest

Hijab: Hijab Couture

This beautiful lady got married a little over a month ago and these are just a few images from her Mehndi, which was so much fun! When you're done, don't go anywhere her wedding post is right after this one!

For quite some time now all I've been wanting to do is open a studio; a place where I can meet clients, a place to for me to be able to do certain type of shoots and a place to call my own. Reality finally set in a couple of months ago when I found the perfect little spot. You may or may not know, I grew up in the Martial Arts industry and until I started doing photography that was all I knew. My parents opened up their first Martial Arts facility in the Clear Lake area 19 years ago this June and it was mine & my brother's home away from home. As the years went on we opened up two more facilities and our main location in Clear Lake grew, we added more buildings and are still expanding. With our expansion, a few years ago, my parents built a nice size office in the back of our main facility and it wasn't really used much. I finally got the courage to ask if I could move in and without hesitation they both said yes. It was definitely something that I had been waiting a long time to do so I was beyond excited that my dream was actually coming true. I started planning it out in my head back in December and all I had to do was wait for the current tenant to move out completely and I could move in. Once April hit I was ready. I moved in and it became my new home away from home. The best part about it is that I grew up on the grounds where my studio is located so I couldn't be happier about my location. Its definitely my little slice of heaven.

I am beyond blessed that I was able to open up my studio and now have a place to do the things I have envisioned for this next step for my company. I hope you enjoy the tour, in photos, of my studio. You'll definitely need to come visit in person though!

Enjoy!!

Studio hours are by appointment only, if you'd like to come have a private tour don't hesitate to ask! :)

So I guess since we had my nieces 1st birthday party, she's officially a year old. Time goes by way to fast!!!

Happy birthday Dandooni!! xo auntie layla

Macarons: Macaron's by Patisse Cake: Jenny's Bakery

Hello beautiful people!!!

So with last weeks exciting news, I have some more amazing news to share!!!

Le Zu Photography is celebrating 3 years in business!! Wow!! I can't believe how fast the time has gone and how blessed I have been! I have had some amazing clients over the past 3 years and I couldn't be more grateful for all of the opportunities that have come my way! I want to thank everyone who has helped to make my dreams come true and to everyone whose life I been so fortunate to be apart of to capture memories for many years to come! I absolutely, positively LOVE EACH & EVERY ONE OF MY CLIENTS!! You guys are utterly amazing and I wouldn't be where I am today without you!

In addition to Le Zu turning 3 years old I have decided to do a 2 month special for all of you!! Now just because it's running for 2 months, doesn't mean you need to wait until the last day to book your session. Trust me, my schedule books up extremely fast and I wouldn't want you to miss any opportunity!

For all of you lovely people, I am offering an amazing deal! $300 off any wedding package that I offer AS WELL AS 30% off any event or session package!! HURRY!! DON'T WAIT!! BOOK YOUR SESSION BEFORE TIME & SPACES RUN OUT!!! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at lezuphotography@yahoo.com.

Much love!!! xo Layla

WOW, what a year!!! I don't even know where to start!! I want to first say that I have been truly blessed this year, my business has grown so much and is still growing! I have been so very grateful for all of the amazing clients I have had over the past year and no session was ever the same. I was exposed to so many different clients and I have been so happy for each and every opportunity that came my way. This year was a very trying year for me and I am happy to say that I pulled through and came out even stronger than before. It has been a lot of trial and error and finding out what works and what doesn't definitely takes time and I think Im happy to say that even though Im still very much learning a lot I think I have finally found what works for me and my company.

I hope to continue to grow my company more and more each day and be blessed and honored to photograph more beautiful faces along the way! I can't wait to see what 2013 brings and hoping that it brings everyone health, happiness and prosperity!! It has truly been an honor to work with all of the amazing people I worked with over the past year. I started off last year with a 50th wedding anniversary for one of the sweetest couples I have ever met and I will be ending it today with a family session! Below are just some of the sessions I shot over the year, if I put all of them up you guys would be here too long. ;) I definitely grew a lot as an artist and can't wait to grow even more!

I will be starting off 2013 with some personal projects and a wedding!!! Im super excited and can't wait! Im ready to share with you all the next chapter in my life as well as in the people that I meet along the way.

I hope you all have an amazing New Year and live each and everyday as it was meant to be lived, to the fullest!

I want to leave you all with this: Smile every where you go, laugh when unnecessary, cry when needed, hug a little harder even if its too tight, kiss those whom you love longer and just be YOU! The world needs more people like the one you are. Happy New Year Everyone!! xo~Layla

Hello my darlings!!!

A little over a week ago, I had the esteemed pleasure of photographing a fabulous concert!! Café Byblos, in Houston always host's the best events!! This particular event was a concert with some Arabic superstars!! The super stars were Elie Massaad, Dina Hayek & Mr. Ramy Ayach, these artists put on an amazing show! I want to thank Café Byblos, Mr. Maroun & Ms. Rula for hosting such an amazing event! I can't wait until the next one!

xoxo ~ Layla