Blog of a conceptual photographer

BRIDAL SHOWER for an Ethiopian Beauty

After experiencing the Bridal shower illustrated below, my thoughts of how a bridal shower is celebrated will never be the same.  All I’ve known of bridal showers are events held at the bride’s maid’s home with potluck style catering and the bride’s  wedding party and a few close friends and family.

Well the Ethiopian Bridal Shower that I captured as a favor to a friend was nothing of that sort as you can see below.

The bridal shower was held at Simon’s Waterfront Banquet Center. Some can say the venue is mainly used for weddings. Though in this case, the venue held 50 ladies to celebrate a beautiful Ethiopian bride to be.

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As I entered the venue, I saw a sign in the hall which directed me to the Bridal shower party designated room upstairs.

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I then entered the banquet room to find a gift table covered with rose pedals. Again, I was shocked to the level of extravagance for a bridal shower.

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After the momentary shock and amazement of the venue for a simple bridal shower, I proceeded with the setup my command center and awaited the future bride to be.  A few minutes went by and the future bride arrived to her surprise the bridal shower thrown by her close friends.

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After the initial walk through greeting each guest, the future bride attached her veil and continued to chat with her close friends and family.

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The future bride continued to talk with her guests before the food was served.

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After a few moments, the guests were given the green light to approach the trays filled with a good assortment of dishes that smelled absolutely amazing.

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As each table got up to get food, a few guests approached the future bride’s table to say hello and catch up.

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Once enough of the food was consumed the brides talked for a few more minutes till the music started to pick up in speed. With the Ethiopian music playing in the background, the guests stood up and approached the dance floor to have a good time. In the image below, the future bride to be is dancing with a close friend doing a kind of shoulder shrug move which i picked up on by the end of the event.

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After the dancing, the 50 ladies all formed a circle for a prayer performed by the elders as the bridal shower came to an end.

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At the end of the event, I felt truly blessed to capture the love shared between the friends and family.

After reviewing the images, I was very happy with the outcome and after I shared the images to the ladies and bride,  they were impressed. The future bride was impressed to the point where I was offered to be flown to Ethiopia to capture the special day. Unfortunately, I had to respectfully decline as the wedding day already fell on a special day which is my girlfriend’s birthday that i couldn’t miss at any cost.

I was truly flattered with the offer of doing a destination wedding and that someone would actually pay me to fly thousands of miles to capture their wedding. I must say that this experience warranted an increase in my rates to what they are to date.  Thank you!

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