Dream Weddings: First Annual Addis Ababa Bridal Show

Colourful flowers, flowing white dresses and a variety of other wedding décor filled the open area of the Millennium Hall last Saturday and Sunday as many brides and grooms-to-be flocked to the centre to attend the first ever Addis Ababa Bridal Show.

Samrawit Takele, managing director of Romhay Travel Tour and Event Organizer, is the lady behind the event.  

“2300 people attended the event in total. Events like this have happened before, but never this vast,” said Samrawit.

The Addis Ababa Bridal Show, which was fully sponsored by Romhay Travel Tour and Event Organizer company, is set to be an annual event and according to Samrawit, will be taking place around the same time next year as it was a success for both the vendors as well as the future newlyweds.

There were a variety of professional vendors that attended the event. With the show being held at the Millennium Hall, it was the perfect location for vendors to showcase what they had to offer the brides and grooms. The vendors included wedding photographers/videographers, dress shops, wedding décor stores, flower shops, hair/makeup consultants as well as travel offices to help with the honeymoon planning.

With an entrance fee of 50 birr, the show was well worth it for the attendees, according to Samrawit, since many people connected well with the vendors.

“People noticed that we meant business,” said Samrawit. “The vendors got a good connection and did a lot of business and everybody seem to really like it.”

Planning a wedding can be one of the most stressful times in an individual’s life. According to the Daily Mail, one in six women cite planning a wedding as their most stressful life event and 23 percent of the men saying that it was the most stressful thing they have ever done.

The purpose of the Addis Ababa Bridal Show was to decrease that stress by offering ideas and helping future newlyweds to plan their big day with the advice of all the vendors that were present. 

The cost of an average Addis Ababa wedding estimated to be around 200,000 birr, events like this are important as it allows the bride, groom and their friends and family to potentially shop in one location and make their wedding planning easier.

Read more at: The Reporter