Wedding dress shopping

Friday, my friend Yasmin took me for my first wedding dress shopping, and in Ethiopia believe me, wedding dresses is no small matters. Pass the first choc of seeing myself in a full bridal gown; I have to say it was certainly one of the funniest afternoons ever!

Tiara, lead glass, beads, layer and layer of crinoline, taffeta, satin, veils and trains did make me look like a princess escaping a fairy tale book. I tried on 5 dresses, and looked pretty ridiculous in most of them! I wish I had taken pictures.

I also learned a lot about the wedding industry in Ethiopia. Wedding are expensive everywhere, and Ethiopia is no exception. Apparently, Ethiopian men build on astronomical debt to give their beloved one the day (actually the three days) of their dream:
-wedding dress, to RENT for 1 day, between 4000 and 9000 birr (= 150 to 300 pounds)
-bridesmaid dresses, between 2000 and 5000 birr (80 to 230 pounds)
-rented car for the day (Mercedes or Limousine) between 20,000 and 40,000 birr a day! (750 to 1400 pounds)
-cameraman, 4000 birr a day (150 pounds)

Also, the married couple will need two different venues for the two official dinners they have to hold. Their party will generally be composed of 1500 people (family tied are pretty immense in this country) that they will need to feed and water (actually water needs to be read here as T’allat for this case, which is a locally made beer or T’ej, the locally made honey wine). They will need a band, flowers and a DJ. Ethiopian’s salary, for the very lucky ones, goes from 1200 birr to 30,000 birr a year… How do they do it?