Just Married:
As Wedding Prices Rise, Couples Search for Alternatives
The inflated cost for wedding ceremonies can be intimidating for couples who may be burdened by spending large amounts of money on a one- or two-day ceremony, especially for younger couples who may not have established careers.. Some couples, however, are looking for alternatives: ways to save money but also preserve memories of their union. As a result, some couples decide to only have their photographs taken in studios and in front of outdoor landscape in traditional wedding attire in order to memorialize their marriage. EBR’s Fasika Tadesse spoke with brides and grooms who considered studio photos as a replacement of a wedding party as well as photographers about a trend that seems to be on the rise in Ethiopia.
For many Ethiopians April and May are known for hosting a large number of weddings, as evidenced by the cavalcade of cars featuring brides and grooms that honk their horns, especially on weekends. On any given day during those months, it is not uncommon to see these cars flood major streets throughout Addis Ababa.
As a tradition and portion of Ethiopian culture, many brides and grooms with their families prefer to have a wedding party, depending on their economic capacity. But no matter what the brides and grooms do not consider to miss the party with different reasons including just to partake what others do, or just not to disappoint their families or to reserve memories about their wedding.
Weddings in Ethiopia used to be more than tying the knot. For many people, it is a special day that should be memorable as possible. Although weddings still have their own rituals, in the context of urbanization many of the rituals are being modified.
Recently this trend seems diverted by some brides and grooms following the expensiveness of wedding party expenditures and the emergence of modern way of living which the young generation is adopting.
Recently, many couples opted to just have professional photographs taken in traditional wedding attire in lieu of having a large ceremony. This new emerging trend is creating a new business line for photo studios.
Dawit Adnew and Betehem Mezgebu, two newlyweds who decided not to have a wedding party, illustrate this switch. However, the bride and groom also wanted to have memories of their wedding, so they decided to go Elmika Studio to have pictures taken in wedding attire.
The groom works as a distribution agent for a Turkish company that manufactures bakery ingredients, including enzymes, powders and bread improver with a monthly salary of ETB10,000. The bride works as a receptionist with a monthly salary of ETB2,000.
“In our rough market, assessment a wedding ceremony with 80 attendants costs ETB94, 000, which is unaffordable for us,” says Dawit. “So we decided not to have a wedding party, as we found it unnecessary [to spend that money], and [we] decided to have a family dinner gathering at our new home to introduce our families to each other as well as to have some pictures in wedding attire in order to create memories,” Dawit told EBR.
The couple paid ETB25,000 to have their pictures taken at Elmika Studio for the studio’s full package, which includes an photo album with 48 pictures that are taken at the studio and at a scenic, outdoor area located in Sebeta, 24 kilometres southwest of Addis Abeba. The package also includes 500 ‘thank you’ cards and one large photograph with a 50x80cm photo frame.
Girum Alemshet, owner of Girum Digital Studio, testifies to the increasing number of brides and grooms who prefer to have their photos taken at the studio instead of spending money on large, traditional wedding. The increasing inclination by the brides and grooms such as Dawit and his wife, towards having wedding photos without wedding ceremonies seems lead to the increasing number of photo studios, which have different status and capacity in the capital.
During the past four years, a total of 231 business licenses were issued for photography studios in Addis Ababa. In the 20011/12 fiscal year, only 28 people received licenses for studios, but that figure rose to 98 the following year. In 2013/14, the number declined from the preceding year, with 56 licenses, but was still double the amount of the 2011/12 fiscal year. During the past nine months of the current fiscal year alone, the bureau issue 53 business licenses for photo studios.
For the photo studios, the months between September and November, as well as from January to February and April and May are considered as high business seasons and in which several customers request services. The bride and groom should spend a full day for the photo shots inside and outside a studio. Studio photo shoots may take one-and-half hours, whereas outdoor photo shoots may take up to several hours depending on the places where the photos will be taken.
Established 14 years ago, Girum Digital Studio, manly works on wedding photos and videos. In recent years, during high wedding seasons, the number of customers visiting the studio has jumped to three to four per day, which is up from one or two several years ago, according to the owner. “Sometimes up to four customers came in a day, which is beyond our capacity,” says Girum.
Girum brides and grooms different packages that include a number of materials, including photo albums, thank you cards, large photographs and frames, and a signing board (which the families and friends of the bride and the groom sign on it). The price of the packages varies based on the place where their customers choose to have their photographs taken. The price for the studio are almost fixed with a lowest price offer of ETB5,500 and the highest offer ETB10,500.
For landscape photo shots outside of Addis Ababa, the price ranges between ETB15,000 and ETB30,000. For the landscape shots Girum offers different prices depending on the places where the brides and grooms prefer to have photos. Beyond his customers’ choice he offers places in Ethiopia as well as certain locations abroad. Locally, Girum offers includes different lodges in Hawassa, Bishoftu (Debre Zeit), Addis Ababa and Zeway with a maximum price of ETB40,000.
Girum also offers photo shoots in Paris, Dubai, and America. He charges 2,000 euro for Paris, USD7, 000 for America and up to ETB80,000 for Dubai. For the landscape packages out of the country, Girum also demands accommodation and airfare from the brides and grooms.
Most of the photo studios in Addis Ababa offers a full package ranging between ETB10,000 to ETB40,000 according a mini survey conducted by EBR. The price variation is contingent on the type, size and quality of the photo albums and the places where the brides and grooms select for shots outside the studio. The albums have a capacity of holding 20 to 100 photographs. At many places in Addis Ababa, photos taken inside the studio have a similar price range, while landscape photo have more price variation.
“The price of landscape photographs varies depending on the location of the place for the shoots and the cost we paid as rent for the places,” said Girma Bekele owner of Glory Studio.
Following the increasing demand for wedding photograph packages, prices have risen compared to last year. This can be observed by the experience of the couples Abdi Kumsa, a property administration and management officer at the Corporative Bank of Oromia and His auditor wife Eyerusalem Getachew who paid ETB8,000 for a full package to Amlin Studio a year ago. The couple received an Album having 30 photos, one signing board, one big size photo with its frame and 500 thank you cards. This year, a similar package would likely cost around ETB10,000.
Subsequent to the increasing number of the brides and grooms who prefer to have wedding pictures by studio packages, Girum finds out the demand is rising not only from local customers it is coming from Ethiopian customers who live in abroad, so he is in the final stage of opening a branch photo studio in United States, with the aim of gaining more clients. EBR
3rd Year • June 16 – July 15 2015 • No. 28