Bethlehem + Esrom

Her Big Day Team
Aug 6, 2015
5 min read

Title: One Day Habesha Wedding

Location: Snoqualmie, WA Wedding Date: July 27, 2014 Venue: TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club Number of Guests: 200 Cultures Represented: Eritrea

Wedding Theme: Vintage Classic

What was the most memorable part of your wedding:

How excited our guest were to see the back drop of our wedding ceremony. It was a beautiful sunny day and was just a perfect view of the cascade mountains behind us. Most of our guests had not been to that part of Snoqualmie and were just so surprised at how beautiful the view was.

Instead of the traditional two day Habesha wedding, with the white dress wedding on Saturday and the traditional Melsi on Sunday, you decided to fit BOTH celebrations on just one day. Can you tell us more about that and why you chose this route?

The main reason why we decided to fit both celebrations in one day was mainly not having to spend time and energy planning two separate events. We realized it was possible to incorporate both events and the key thing to make it a successful event was organization and following the timeline that we outlined for the event.

We made sure that everything was on time and selected key components from both Saturday and Melsi to incorporate instead of trying to do everything. Overall, doing it in one day saved us a lot of time of not planning two separate events and financially saved us a lot of money by not having to pay for an extra wedding.

That's very smart! If you could do it all over again, would you do it all in one day?

Yes definitely!

What would you say were the Pros and Cons of having a one day wedding?

Pro: Doing a one day wedding saved us a lot of time and hence allowed us to use that time to put extra focus and energy to better plan our one day wedding. Another big plus to having a one day wedding where the ceremony and reception were in the same location allowed our families to enjoy the moment from the beginning to the end without wasting time travelling to different locations.

Overall, the big advantage of having one day wedding is that it financially saved us a lot of money without having to pay for the second day.

Con: Was a little bit constrained on time so there was no room for errors and we were not able to incorporate all the traditional ceremonies of Melsi. For example, I was not able to do Henna. Also, having to braid my hair for the Melsi portion took a little bit more time and the sun had gone down. As a result we were not able to take as much photos as we hoped in our traditional Eritrean attire for the Melsi.

Overall, setting a strict timeline of the day helped us to stay on track and everything ran smoothly!

This must have been hard for the parents and family members to accept! Was it difficult to get family on board and how did they feel about it after it was all said and done?

Change is always difficult for most people to accept in the beginning , but if you have the vision and willingness, you can help to open people’s eyes. We knew it was going to be a difficult task to get everyone on board, but we made a pack with each other to stick with our plans. Initially there were some distant family members who were skeptical about whether it was possible to pull it all off in one day, since most of them have not seen it before, but once they experienced the wedding, most changed their minds and were pleased.

All of our guests enjoyed the fact that it was a small and intimate wedding and realized it was possible to incorporate both events in one day. At the end, many of our guests approached us and said this was the kind of wedding they hoped their children will have one day and that they enjoyed it very much.

Wow! That's awesome that they were able to experience something different and have positive feedback! Way to set the standard and pave the way for future habesha couples!!

What would you say was the easiest and most difficult part about planning a two day wedding to fit in just one day? Were you able to include all of the cultural elements such as braiding of the hair, henna, traditional attire, traditional decor, etc.?

Easiest part was working with all the vendors as I did not have to worry about any of the vendors not completing their tasks and all were very prompt in their response. Also, another easy part of planning one day wedding is the simple fact of having the ceremony and reception in one location, allowing the event to be successful and allowing us to stay on track on our strict timeline.

Finally, organizing and planning ahead was key to our successful one day wedding. The difficult part about a one day wedding, surprisingly, was trying to organize everyone for the family photo prior to the wedding ceremony. Having over 60+ people for the family photo kind of made it difficult and overall trying to get everyone where they needed to be was a process itself. The other thing that was a little difficult was braiding my hair in the middle of the wedding. It took a little bit longer than expected so we were not able to get as many photos taken during the day light in our traditional attire.

Overall, we were able to include most of the cultural elements with exception of not being able to do the henna. We were able to include some traditional décor without it clashing with the rest of the décor. For example, the shape of our cake was in a Mesob but at the same time encompassed the vintage theme of our wedding.

We absolutely love your white mesob cake with the cupcakes! Definitely traditional with a classy and modern twist!

Any tips or words of wisdom to the couple who is thinking about having a one day Habesha wedding? Would you recommend it?

I would definitely recommend doing a one day wedding and it is very doable! Key thing is organizing and planning everything ahead of time and setting a strict timeline for all involved parties (i.e. vendors and family members). Overall, having a big wedding would have made it harder to have a one day wedding. I definitely believe having a small intimate wedding in one location is what made it more feasible. In the end, if it is your dream wedding just make sure to stick to your guns and not allow anyone to take that away.

BRAVO to you for setting your own standard, staying true to yourselves and starting a trend while you're doing it! Thanking for sharing your story and experience with us!