[PDX] Portland International Airport

Approximately 15 minutes away.

Because this is downtown Vancouver, your options are free street parking or parking garage. Street parking is free on Saturdays, however please allot time to find parking. The closest parking garage to Hilton is Lot #18 Park & Go Parking Garage. You will pay one flat fee of $3.50 through the contactless payment app: Parking Kitty that you must download on your phone. Here is the directions to get to this parking garage: https://tinyurl.com/NoHassleGarageParking Hilton will be a short walk cross the street.

Your options are many! The Hilton in Vancouver, Washington is approximately 20 minutes northwest of PDX Airport. Any hotel, airbnb, or rental near or in Vancouver would be recommended. If you want to stay in the Oregon side, recommended areas are with the zip codes 97225, 97005 which will be about 17 minutes south from the venue. If you want to be closer to our home in Wilsonville, choose zip codes 97070, 97140, 97035, and 97062 which are areas in Wilsonville, Sherwood, and Tualatin (two zip codes for this city), respectively. For perspective, the Hilton in Vancouver is about 40 minutes north of Wilsonville.

The Muslim faith is practiced by just about every ethnic and cultural group in the United States. This could mean that your first Muslim wedding might also be your first Egyptian wedding, or your first Bengali wedding as well which would add different cultural layers like different style in clothing, different spoken languages, different foods, and different music etc. Islam is a very popular religion and close to 25% of the world’s population are observers. As such, a Muslim wedding simply means the couple are members of the same faith, but that doesn’t mean they have the same cultural backgrounds. Islam is not a monolith one size, one culture :) In general for this wedding, expect it to be completely alcohol free. Also expect to dress more conservatively. If you are female, most women will be modestly dressed from head to toe, but you are not expected to cover your hair. However, it is recommended not to show any cleavage, revealing, or wear tight clothing. If you are either female or male, expect that men and women will not hand shake or hug each other, unless they are married or parent/sibling relations. The intent is 100% out of respect. Please do not think this is to infer an unwelcoming atmosphere. To the contrary, it just means greetings will warmly be exchanged verbally without touching from opposite genders. However from same genders, there WILL be lots of hugs and kisses to go around. Also most likely there will be congregational prayer and individual prayers, that you are not obliged to observe. During this time, the praying will not be able to talk until the prayer is complete. Additionally, for this wedding, there will be music and an exclusive ladies/mens only portion, where song and dance will be welcomed in this exclusive setting only- not when we are sitting in a mixed gender setting. If you are female, please note that pictures will not be allowed to be taken during this time out of respect for privacy. Words you will probably hear and what they mean: Alhamdulellah=Being in a state of gratitude to God and giving all praise to Him for what we are thankful for. InshAllah= God Willing. Allahu Akbar= God is Greatest. Said when we humble ourselves to God's supreme omnipotent power above all things, commonly said to summon strength from His power. Also said when we celebrate happiness/successes/ and or victory knowing that it only comes from the power of God. So in a wedding context, it is recognizing a new union in Holy matrimony and humbly praising God. MashAllah=it is used to say something good has happened, acknowledging that God has willed it, giving praise. In a nutshell while food, music, and spoken language will represent our diverse cultures, the one resounding common denominator will be in praising God together. It will absolutely be our pleasure to have you join us! Please feel free to reach out if you have any more questions.

During the mixed portion of the wedding both men and women are welcome to sit with their families/spouses/siblings and friends. However later in the evening after dinner and cake, this portion will be exclusive for ladies only. Ladies will be able to enjoy music and dance as the room will be closed off with a room divider to offer 100% privacy. There will not be any phones allowed and no pictures will be taken. So please come prepared to change/take off hijab if you like! Men will also have exclusive time to enjoy song and dance as well, however pictures can and will be taken inshAllah (God willing).

There will be limited gluten free, nut free, vegan, and dairy free options. Look for the marked GF, NF, V and/or DF acronyms on the food signs. If there are other allergies that we need to know, please reach out!

While we'd love to have all kids join us, this wedding is capped at ages 16+ to attend, JAK. (May God reward you generously, thank you for understanding.)

We kindly ask that only those individuals specifically mentioned on the invitation are invited to join us on our special day. Your understanding is greatly appreciated!