Mena Massoud is counting down the days until he and fiancée Emily Shah tie the knot — twice.
“It’s been fun! Emily’s doing a lot of the planning,” Massoud, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly at the New York City screening of his new movie Wish You Were Here presented by The Cinema Society on Wednesday, January 15. “She’s asking me lots of questions and I’m doing a little bit, but we took a break during the holidays. We didn’t do anything planning-wise and now we’re getting started in a big way ’cause the wedding’s in July.”
The actor proposed to Shah, 30, in December 2023 during a vacation in Japan. They will have two wedding ceremonies in honor of their respective religious backgrounds.
“We’re doing three days, but really two days,” Massoud explained on Wednesday. “We’re doing a Hindu ceremony for Emily and then we’re doing a Coptic Christian ceremony the next day for me, [which] would be like a typical Western wedding. So, I think we got a little bit of everything.”
Massoud further teased that the big day will “be a great party.”
“That’s the way I’m viewing it — you’re throwing a party for your family and friends,” Massoud told Us. “And so, you’re kind of like a party planner. … I’m excited.”
While Shah has taken the lead on planning, the Aladdin star said he ultimately has the final say on his wardrobe selections.
“[I’m] still figuring that out,” he said. “Emily knows what she’s gonna wear.”
Massoud and Shah have been together since 2020, after meeting on a private membership-based app.
“She wanted to just be friends, but I wanted more,” Massoud recalled to HELLO! Indo-Arabia in May 2024.
One year earlier, Massoud told WZRA TV that he and Shah “talked for a while before” they started dating.
“I knew Em for about a year before,” he said in 2023. “So, I guess she made the first move and then I made a move. It all worked out in the end. I think the best relationships often start that way — you get to know the person but sometimes nothing happens right away [until] it all falls apart.”
Immediately, Massoud thought Shaw was “beautiful and wanted to get to know her” better.
Once Massoud and Shah’s relationship turned romantic, they started chronicling their romance via social media. They are also one another’s biggest fans, which for Shah means supporting Massoud’s film career (He most recently starred in Wish You Were Here, Julia Stiles’ directorial debut, opposite Isabelle Fuhrman.)
“I’ve done a few romantic comedies [and] lighthearted movies and it was clear this was gonna be intense from reading the book and reading the script,” he explained. “But, I wanted to do that as an actor. Of course, you want to get those opportunities. I just don’t think they make movies like that as much. I wanted to honor that opportunity.”
He added, “Julia makes it feel so easy. She really stretched me and really taught me a lot.”
With reporting by Travis Cronin
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