My name is Melate, I am Ethiopian and currently 29 years old. I am working as a consultant. I am very family oriented and spiritual. I love eating and food. My hobbies include sports and volunteering.  Segnie and I met on September 22, 2013. Segnie came to my house with mutual friends for a typical get together that I always enjoyed hosting. We two began to talk and really connected with one another. Me, being her friendly outgoing self, didn’t think too much of it all. But Segnie, on the other hand, was left smitten. When leaving my house, he told his best friend Yoni “She is the one, I know it”. By May of 2014 Segnie was greatly debating proposing to me on a trip we had planned to the Dominican Republic. However knowing how much I cared about tradition and my family’s approval, he waited. Then in July, Segnie sent “shemagela” (an Ethiopian term for elders), to my parents’ home to ask for my hand in marriage. They joyfully accepted and helped plan my surprise proposal. August 6, 2014, Segnie surprised me, and asked me to marry him, at my 28th birthday dinner in California in front of my anticipating family and friends. Segnie was terribly nervous because of the wide eyed attention, but gathered the strength to kneel down on one knee and ask me if I would marry him. With tears of happiness running down my cheeks, I of course said YES! My first thought after i said yes was OMG is the really happening!? I was in shock and was speechless. For anyone who knows me I am very talkative but for once I was at a lost for words.

When I woke up on my wedding day I felt calm and a sense of peace over me. I was so excited for the day. Having my girls right beside me feel like I had my support system behind me who had been there from day one, through the good and bad. I selected my dress because I loved the elegance and simplicity of the dress. It flattered my body and had a gracefulness to it that I loved. I picked out the colors for my girls because my cousin and bridesmaid Bayti suggested the color because I could not find a color I loved. The gray/silver color with white was beautiful and classy. Walking down the isle made me feel like my dreams came true. I felt like I was in a fairytale.

When deciding on the style for my reception I wanted something that was classic and simple yet chic. I never imagined my wedding so I really started from scratch and had think about things I never thought of before. I know I wanted to stay true to our style of quality and simplicity.  Walking into the space during the reception I was overwhelmed with the love and energy in the room.  Our first dance was to Yene Konjo by Eyob Mekonnen and Zeritu. The song is special to us because it describes our love and appreciation for one another and our relationship. The most memorable moment of the night was when THE BEST Ethiopian wedding singer showed up to my wedding! My brother surprised us by getting Tsagaye Eshetu to be the singer. He knew how much I loved him and wanted him to be my performer.  The only close issue we had  was that our cake topper was actually left at the house. We ended up not having it but luckily our cake and decorations surrounding it were so beautiful no one noticed we did not have the name cake toppers we got on it.  If I could have changed one thing about the day it would have been to to come to the reception a bit earlier. We showed up at 8 for a 6:30 start time. I just wanted the night to be longer and wished we should up to enjoy more time.  It also would have been great to have gotten advice from other Habesha Brides who had any tips to make the wedding more cost effective! Planning for multiple days in the U.S can become a bit pricey.

For the Melse I wanted it to be both traditional and modern. Some of the must have elements were Tire Siga, Mesobs, and of course the Kaba. For the Habeshalibs I wore I wanted something unique but still traditional. As for my bridal party of 26 I wanted to make sure we could find something that will accommodate all the body types. My favorite part of the Melse was the Dabo sim ( bread name) that is given by Segnie family and my family either accepts or rejects the name. I received the name MuluWerk 🙂 One piece of advice that I would give to future Habesha Brides would be to make sure to stay true to who you are and your culture and incorporate all tribes you both may have.