How We Pulled It Off is a monthly column in which newlyweds spill the beans on planning their destination weddings, from agreeing on the right location to incorporating local traditions and designing a memorable weekend for their guests.
There are worldly couples, and then there’s Noha Olivia Fahmy and Syed Saif Ul Mujahid. Noha, who works at luxury brand LVMH, was born in Geneva of Swiss and Egyptian descent and grew up across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, while Saif is from Pakistan and works at TikTok. They met as students in 2012 while living in Doha, Qatar, and now call Dubai home. “We are, as they say, citizens of the world,” Noha understates.
When the couple got engaged in Dubai in 2023, they knew that the majority of their loved ones would have to board a plane to attend their wedding. So, they figured, why not host it in a special place? Marrakech was one of the first places they considered, for its melting pot of European, North African, and Middle Eastern cultures, and on their first planning visit, they fell in love. “The beauty of Marrakech is that it can accommodate any culture for any budget and any party size,” says Noha. “It fits everyone in one way or the other.”
Ahead, Noha and Saif share how they plotted their November 2024 nuptials in Marrakech for 100 guests, from a boisterous Pakistani party on the first night to kick things off to a lovely ceremony among the palm trees of the Ksar Char-Bagh through to dancing the evening away under disco balls and hammered-metal lanterns.
Do a lot of research
Couples planning destination weddings tend to go one of two routes: Either they first hire a planner who’s an expert in the location and can direct them to the right venues and vendors within their budget, or they choose a venue and use one of the venue’s recommended (perhaps even in-house) planners. Noha and Saif decided to make things harder on themselves by doing extensive “parallel” research on those two big hires, as well as DJs, lighting, entertainment companies, and more. “A lot of it came from our own work and research, which personally made me feel more comfortable about the destination and what was available,” Noha says. “I like to take matters into my own hands sometimes.”
Six months out, in April 2024, they visited Marrakech to lock in these big decisions, visiting their favorite venues and meeting with potential planners in person to assess their vibes. “From there on, once we were back, everything was through social media and online,” says Noha.
Land on the dreamiest venue
Upon seeing it, the couple flipped for Ksar Char-Bagh, a 14th-century Moorish-style palace-turned-riad located within a palm grove. The groom loved its configuration. “It’s a perfect wedding venue logistically because the space is divided into four different zones, so the way we envisioned the flow of our wedding matched perfectly with the physical space,” says Saif. The garden made for a lovely pre-ceremony welcome area, after which guests were ushered through a massive wooden door into the majestic courtyard with its dramatic aisle lined by pools for the ceremony. The billiards room, with its carved fireplaces, was a moody spot for cocktails, and dinner and dancing took place in and around a glasshouse, called the Orangerie. Additionally, the 25 guest rooms of the hotel meant their closest family and friends could take over the property and stay with them. (For the remaining 75 guests, the couple shared a handful of hotel recommendations in their favorite neighborhood—around the Dar El Bacha palace to the educational institution Medersa Ben Youssef—and explained the pros and cons of staying within the world-famous medina).
