Semhar + Mussie

Her Big Day Team
Aug 6, 2015
4 min read

Title: A Vintage Affair

Bride: Semhar Groom: Mussie

Location: Bay Area, Ca

Wedding Date: May 10/11, 2014

Venue: Ceremony: Saint Mary Eritrean Orthodox Church- San Leandro, Ca, Reception & Melsi: Paradise Palace Ballroom- Fremont, Ca

Number of Guests: 400

Country Represented: Eritrea

Description or Theme of wedding: Our colors were sapphire blue, canary yellow and platinum. We wanted to incorporate each color into our Victorian/vintage theme. Our invitations/response cards, reception linens, custom aisle runner and backdrop lighting all were Victorian design. Our head table was bold with oversized candelabras, large crystal medallions, and tons of candles. Our guest tables were blue damask print with 3 looks: tall yellow floral vases adorned with hanging crystals, short yellow floral pieces, and tall silver candelabra with hanging crystals. The venue itself was full of several hanging chandeliers, which was a nice touch of glam.

My husband wore an all-white tux for the ceremony and changed into a black tux for the reception. The fellas wore charcoal grey tux with suspenders (no vests). My ladies wore sapphire blue chiffon gown with matching yellow shoes and yellow bouquets.

I was in a ball gown for both the ceremony and reception. I wanted to keep the same dress, but have a different look for the reception. For the ceremony, I wore a cathedral length veil trimmed with crystals, a bold crystal headpiece, and long train. I changed into a French veil for the ceremony with a different hairdo and bustled my train.

The most memorable part of your wedding: A couple of things… I married the man of my dreams where we first met, Saint Mary Eritrean Orthodox Church. I was also blessed beyond measure to have BOTH my parents walk me down the aisle, which was an answered prayer! Three of the most important priests to me performed our sacramental marriage. Something that was extremely touching was my church choir group surprised us with a new mezmur (worship song)!

Did you do anything unique, crazy or fun: We decided to have cocktail hour, which we were a little nervous about (didn’t know how our habesha guests would perceive it). Apparently it was a hit! Our caterer outdid himself with a variety of hot & cold hors d'oeuvres our entire guests loved. We also had pianist, Elias Negash play his tunes during this time. Our families & friends enjoyed the music, food, cocktails, and the photo booth before our arrival.

What was the most difficult part about planning your wedding: Mussie & I wanted a smaller wedding consisting of 400 guests. Though our families were not fond of a small wedding, we stuck to it, asking our guests to bring in their Reception Card (a few did trickle in without). There were tons of people we could not invite so it was difficult making our guest list (for our parents as well). We are so grateful for the love we received from everyone despite this!

What was the easiest part about planning your wedding: Picking the band was the only one thing we did not think twice about. The entire Selam band is phenomenal & it was a privilege to have them. Also, we gave ourselves a year and three months to plan so we had plenty of time to do everything we wanted. If one thing didn’t work out, then we weren’t terribly overwhelmed.

Any words of wisdom to the couple planning their wedding: Marriage is much more than a day or weekend of festivities, though the celebration is important. Couples can easily get so caught up in planning an extravagant wedding and neglect preparations to becoming husband and wife; so do have a balance.

Make the time in advance to be counseled by your priest/pastor, seek marriage counseling, or any other preparations (reading books together) to ensure your marriage will forever be pure and a long-lasting journey.

Secondly, respect your guests and arrive on time to each event (ceremony, reception, and melsi). As the bride and groom, you’ve worked so hard to make your event a success that you should be able to enjoy every bit of it.

God bless all the lovely couples and your marriages!

Vendors:

Bride's attire: white wedding- Blossom’s Bridal, Dublin, Ca 925.560.0402

Makeup: Saturday- JuJu Li- San Francisco, Ca 415.425.6990 Melsi: Marwah Zakinthos- Fremont, Ca 510.3861416

Hair: Saturday- Rita (Bella Beautie)

Melsi braids- Rahel- San Jose, Ca (Drives to your location for entire bridal party only) 702.545.7822 *They also rent out Kaba set (includes small one for flower girl)

Groom's attire: Men’s Warehouse

Photographer: Nebsee Foto- Orlando, Fl (nebsee@gmail.com)

Videographer: Aron- Bay Area, Ca 510.8461354

Wedding Planner: Me. Day Of Coordinator was my sister

Wedding Decorator: