Zainab Alsalih Launches an Exquisite Book on Dubai Weddings
An exquisite coffee table book entitled 'A Carousel of Weddings – From Dubai with Love' was launched by Zainab Alsalih, a globally recognized luxury wedding planner based in Dubai, and the Founder and Creative Director of Carousel Weddings.
Gifted with a natural sense of grace, and a passion for creating and celebrating beauty all around her, Zainab is the founder and creative force behind the Dubai based luxury-wedding boutique, Carousel, and one of Dubai’s leading female entrepreneurs. Founded in 2008, Carousel quickly became one of the region’s best-known companies for event planning and design, and Zainab’s expertise is highly sought-after by the industry.
The 248-page luxury hardback book invites readers to personally discover the mystique and romance of a Dubai wedding and explores the rise of the city’s profile as an in-vogue destination for the ultimate wedding through the eyes of Zainab Alsalih.
Page after page, this new book explores the world of weddings – from invitations to flowers, and from precious jewels to the unique and indelible gala settings created by Zainab and her Carousel team.
With chapters dedicated to rich Arabian and Middle Eastern traditions, wedding gowns designed by some of the world’s greatest couturiers, bridal hair and makeup, and table settings, the book provides a wealth of insight and inspiration for brides, grooms, florists, wedding and event designers, planners and professionals.
For the past 15 years, Zainab has been commissioning professional wedding photographers to capture her magnificent weddings. From the thousands of photographs taken at the hundreds of weddings that she has organized over the past 15 years, Zainab selected images of some of the most magical weddings to be featured in this book. All the images published are from real weddings featuring the brides and grooms that have shared part of the author’s journey as a luxury wedding planner and designer.
Zainab, whose reputation as a premier wedding planner extends well beyond the Gulf shores, shares her rich experience in organizing opulent luxury weddings for her global clientele. "A few decades ago, weddings in the UAE were relatively simple family affairs. Today, Dubai is a glamorous and highly sought-after wedding destination, and couples fly in from all corners of the globe to celebrate the most important day of their lives on these shores." Zainab says.
Mr. Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, wrote the foreword for the book, which has the support of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). The book beautifully illustrates their message that Dubai is one of the world’s best cities to live and work in, thanks to its diverse destination proposition, unique lifestyle and exceptional quality of life.
As a wedding planner par excellence, Zainab is regularly asked to consult on the city's wedding industry's evolution. In collaboration with DET, Zainab organized the last edition of Engage!20, which brought over 250 of the top luxury wedding professionals in the world to discover the endless possibilities that Dubai offers as a luxury and exclusive wedding destination.
'A Carousel of Weddings – From Dubai with Love' was recently launched to coincide with the beginning of the UAE’s wedding season. The book is produced, edited and published by Catherine Belbin Communications (CBC), a UAE-based bespoke media, content and publishing studio specializing in contemporary design, interiors and architecture. CBC also curates coffee-table books and editorial content for an international clientele.
Limited to a first print of only 800 copies, the book will be available at major bookstores in the UAE and priced at AED 250.
We asked Zainab to shed some light on the background of publishing the beautiful 'A Carousel of Weddings – From Dubai with Love' book, here's what she had to say:
What was the inspiration for the pioneering 248-page luxury coffee table book, which is the first of its kind focusing on bespoke regional weddings?
I wanted to give a global audience a better idea of what it means to plan a Middle Eastern wedding.
Also, I wanted to inspire brides, grooms, planners, designers and other wedding professionals through the work I have done over the past 15 years, of which I am very proud.
The book is illustrated with hundreds of photographs of real weddings. How soon after launching Carousel did you realize that there was a need for such a genre of book?
From day one, I realized that every wedding was going to be unique and truly one-of-a-kind, so it was important that each of them was well captured in photographs and thoroughly documented.
I also gave each of my weddings a distinct name and theme.
Why did you choose to only feature photographs of genuine weddings that you organized?
Today, anyone can go online and view an endless array of wedding photos. I wanted my book to be unique, real and authentic. The photos had to be mine, and ones that are not found anywhere else.
It is also testament to the hard work myself and my team and partners have put in over the past 15 years to make these events, and these moments, come to life.
How long did it take you to write this book, which is filled with inspirational ideas for weddings as well as valuable insights into the traditions of a Middle Eastern/ Dubai wedding?
As we say, there is often a silver lining to events or things that take place that we don’t like.
For me, the silver-lining of Covid was that I finally had the time to write this book, which I have been thinking about for a while, but never had the time to do.
The material in the book took 15 years to put together. The writing of the book itself probably took around 12 months.
With elaborate settings, poetic descriptions and romantic quotes featured throughout the book, there is no doubt that you are passionate about your work and are a true romantic. Where does your inspiration come from?
It comes from the love of my couples for each other and for their families.
That has always been my greatest source of inspiration, and it’s the reason I do what I do.
The book enjoys the support of Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism and includes a foreword from Issam Kazim, CEO Dubai Corporation of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. How did this come about?
As a wedding and event planner, I have always had a great relationship with Dubai Tourism, and we have collaborated in the past on important events, including the global luxury wedding conference Engage Summits, and Engage!20 was hosted in Dubai, with the support of Dubai Tourism.
I also provide expertise to them specifically related to weddings, so when the book was ready, I shared an early draft with them, and they loved it, and gave me their full support, which I am so proud and grateful for.
