These stories are woven in between veins, hidden away; so deep beneath our corsets. Our souls, entrenched in words that are broadcasted only through our hearts surrounded in cages of bone and blood. Here you see Hania Zaman - our BRIDE in an exuberant arrangement of thread work and embellishment. Created by one of Pakistan's finest Bridal designers ELAN. When is marriage instilled in a young girl? Why do we dream of great romance or that marriage is eternal bliss? Culture to its finest craftsmanship. A great woman always says, right after sunset 'Never wish or feel ill about your future, especially when it comes to marriage. Hold true to your being and remain strong. A great man of your desires will come and keep you happy. This is my wish' - Mama.

Quoting my dear Mama isn't to raise any form of bewilderment. She tells the truth. We work hard to maintain a balance between life, family, honour, respect, fitness, health, meditation and everything else you can possibly imagine. So why not wish for the best, the greatest; your greatest! This is how she was raised and millions of other young girls. To be calm and collect while the world is in turmoil. If your family ever needed you, you either complete your work in advance or you let your breath be your regime. Can you imagine how life would be if with every breath you breathed another thought, another movement. Every step you took was to build your home with love; fervidly contending to your children and significant other. We need several minutes to complete a task, how is this possible? As we grow, we acknowledge our mothers and run around aimlessly trying to build our own force in our homes. My tongue raging endlessly in English after coming back home from school, exhausted while she drinks her cup of tea. I didn't know she was relaxing. She never once needed to, or made it seem that way. MASHALLAH. She listens and till today she is there. A Bride is a woman defined by her upbringing; her mother, if not present, then her father, a sister, a guardian. What I love about this this photograph which was taken by the very talented Athena Blude is that this portrait evokes Hania's eternal elevated state as a BRIDE. Her memories extended in her long hair, woven up towards the sky and gracefully dressed by the heavenly veil. Her jewels are subtle as she wears her simplest all gold set. This is her moment and she remembers all that she was told, heard, read, wrote and folded in secrets close to her heart. Within one breath, she remembers it all.