Gilded glitz and glamour

Winter in Karachi means one thing: weddings. The mercury in Karachi may not always dip as much as winter fiends may like (although your water heater will almost assuredly be on the blink if it does) but the one thing you can guarantee this meteorological season is a tidal wave of weddings.

With the bride being spared the embarrassing effects of humidity washing away her makeup and all foreign relatives being assured a holiday, there is no finer time to plan a Karachi wedding than at the tail end of the year. Or, if everyone else has already snapped up those December wedding halls, then the early days of the new year will also suffice – a fact that has certainly has not gone unnoticed by the denizens of the world of showbiz. Here is a round-up of the star-studded family weddings in celebrity households that have caught our eye in recent weeks.

Sheheryar Munawar

It would be criminal to omit mention of Sheheryar Munawar marrying the love of his life Maheen Siddiqui after he remained tight-lipped about their relationship for so long. The wedding festivities that kicked off with a lively dholki culminated a few days later in a wedding reception where Maheen radiated traditional elegance in what appeared to be a heavy red and gold dress with a full, flowing skirt. Maheen, however, added a modern twist to her traditional colours, choosing to flaunt her luscious locks rather than cloaking them in a dupatta.

Before the wedding reception, the couple tied the knot in an intimate Nikkah ceremony attended by close family and friends. Images and videos from the event, widely shared on social media, showed the groom in a cream sherwani with gold accents and a matching turban, while the bride matched him in an elegant white and gold ensemble.

The ceremony, held in a private setting, captured heartfelt moments as the couple signed their marriage certificate, surrounded by their loved ones. "Each event was planned with so much heart and soul, but the Nikah holds a special place in my heart," wrote Frieha Altaf as she shared a reel of the daytime event showing guests moved to tears. "The intimate nature of the event made every moment feel even more meaningful and special.

Yashma Gill's sister

If Yashma Gill's sister Arooba's wedding has given us anything, it has been yet another chance to soak in the wholesome bestie friendship between Yashma herself and her fellow star Hania Aamir. The pair have taken the dance floor by storm with their perfectly choreographed moves, rocking out without missing a step. As well as Hania draped in her sari, this wedding was a chance for the so guys and gals of showbiz to outdazzle the sun with their formals and reds, purples, golds, and blues. Along with Hania, fans would have caught a glimpse of Aagha Ali, Nida Yasir, Mehwish Hayat, Saboor Ali, and Mansha Pasha (among many others). As with any wedding, this event has not come without its fair share of drama – this one involving the guests and their Instagram followers. Or rather, the guests' eye-catching dazzling formal attire, and the followers who were unimpressed. Mansha (who, it turns out, has had a packed social schedule this wedding season), came under fire this week with followers shaming her with disgruntled questions under her photos of a lilac lehnga with a midriff-baring top. "Why have you guys opted to be naked? You are inspired like crazy people by India and copy every ridiculous thing," reads one comment in Mansha's IG feed.

"Why is it necessary to drag India into everything?" shot back Mansha. "If you don't like the outfit, fine, but please don't come across as having some kind of complex."

Asma Abbas's son

Always keen on keeping her fans in the loop via her YouTube vlog, Asma has posted several behind-the-scenes peeks at her son's wedding, with daughter Zara Noor Abbas also joining in the fray on Instagram. Zara shared pictures of the family celebration on her Instagram page, with the bride flaunting a beautiful heavy silver dress with a dupatta arranged like a Western bride's wedding veil. Mother of the groom Asma and sister of the groom Zara understood the assignment and rocked outfits following the same colour scheme, albeit with Zara adding a fur scarf to complete her ensemble (which she later regretted, as she informed us in a separate reel on her IG handle.) Fur notwithstanding, Zara showcased how weddings bring family together in a photo dump on Instagram alongside a loving caption.

"This day was more than just a wedding - it was a celebration of love, family, and resilience," penned an emotional Zara. "Despite the rain's best efforts to dampen our spirits, we persevered and made this day unforgettable."

Paying tribute to her brother, the groom, Zara added, "Somethings I'll never forget - running in and out of halls in the coldest day of Lahore, having rain washing away the decor and food stalls - watching my little brother become a husband and making sure his lady love was okay. The rain may have tried to ruin our perfect plans, but it only made this day more memorable."

Khaled Anam's son

Acting veteran Khaled Anam and wife Tehmina Khaled celebrated their son Ammar's wedding reception this week, bringing in the who's who of showbiz in full force. As Khaled has fondly shown us in his Instagram posts, the event was a magnet for the big guns of the Pakistani entertainment industry. Khaled's Gentleman co-stars Humayun Saeed and Yumna Zaidi marked themselves present for the occasion dressed to the nines, along with Aijaz Aslam, Shaista Lodhi, Bushra Ansari, Adnan Shah Tipu, Seemi Pasha, Mansha Pasha, Zeba Bakhtiar, Jibran Nasir, Junaid Khan, and Dino Ali – to name but a few. The icing on the cake? A reel of Khaled serenading his nearest and dearest with a soulful melody on stage with his rich, booming, pitch-perfect vocals, accompanied by guitar. As for the happy newly married couple? The bride rocked a traditional shocking pink sharara, with her groom opting for what appears to be a white tuxedo (complete with bow tie), their dazzling smiles saying it all.