Today I have the utmost pleasure of sharing some of the detail images from one of my favourite weddings of this past summer. This one was special as it was the wedding of a cousin of mine and everything about it was spectacular. The couple are Eritrean Canadians and so there were many elements of Eritrean culture that were featured during the wedding. I will only be sharing details due to the privacy request by the couple.
This was a cousin from the Aberra side of my family woop woop! (had to give them a shout out). If you don't know, the Aberra brothers (one of which was my grandfather on my mother's side) were the original entrepreneurs out of Eritrea, they ran one of the largest bus lines in the city of Asmara back in the day, and though those days are long gone they are forever one of my entrepreneurial inspirations!
Anyway back to this wedding... it really all was amazing from the venue, to the outfits, to the opportunity to see so many of our relatives (Aberra family members) who turned up in large numbers from all over North America and the World! Thank you to Newal and Ibrahim for having me as your photographer to capture your special day! Congratulations!
Vendors (Click on their names to visit their social media pages/websites):
Wedding Venue: Scarborough Convention Centre
Wedding Decor: Bliss Beginnings by Baneen Abidi
Melse Venue: Thorncliffe Banquet Hall
Melse Traditional Decor: Rami Decor
Bride's Make-Up: Neo's Beauty
Bride's Bouquet: Zuhoor Designs
Videographer: Naoma Khan
If you would like to book me for your 2018 wedding or special event then get in touch HERE!
The bride's bouquet for the wedding was stunning and was created by Zuhoor Designs. It was requested by the bride for it to look like one big rose. Apparently this is called a "Glamelia" in the world of floristry. Let me say that"Glamelia" was something! I had certainly never seen anything like it in all the weddings I have covered.
The "Bride and Groom" Champagne Glasses were super cute. P.S Of course it was non-alcoholic champagne that got served
Each of the bridesmaids at the wedding wore one of the lovely headbands shown below
Wooo check out that rock! I love the rectangular design! Oh and those shoes again my oh my!
I incorporated the "N" and "I" letter lights from their Nikkah Party (which I photographed earlier in the year) in this detail shot below.
The 5- tier cake was certainly one of the largest I have ever seen. I liked that it was simple but had those beautiful lace details and pops of red roses.
It was beautiful to see all the women dressed up in their colourful yellow Zurias serving the food. Each group of women wore a different colour of Zuria based on their affiliations with one another.
The dancing was off the hook and apart from the Habesha and Arabic songs I have to say I will forever link French Montana's song "Unforgettable" to this wedding as it was played a couple of times at the reception and Melse (how fitting as it was an unforgettable wedding)
MELSE DETAILS
A Melse is a traditional Eritrean/Ethiopian wedding event that happens on the second day of a wedding. The Melse at this wedding featured tons of cultural touches and lots and lots of dancing!
What a colourful backdrop! The decor specialist (Rami Decor) did some great work on this traditional decor setting
Injera is usually served on a platter for the bride and groom to share with their bridal party
Hambasha is a type of sweet bread that is served with traditional coffee after a meal.
Finally since it pretty much rained all day on the actual wedding day, we simply did not have the ability to do outdoor shots so we scheduled a post wedding bridal session and I have to say I absolutely loved the images like the one below. Remember brides this is always an option if you were not able to do portraits on your wedding day for one reason or another. Getting back in to your wedding dress on a less hectic day than your actual wedding day can result in a fun shoot!
Okay so I hope you enjoyed this blog post! Watch out for a number of blog posts coming up in the following weeks! Until next time...
À bientôt !
-Karimah