Westin & Hilbana's Ethiopian Inspired Summer Wedding

September 06, 2023 • Leave a Comment

"Chehalem Cultural Center", "Newberg Oregon", "Summer Wedding", "Oregon Wedding", "Commonwealth Lake", "Beaverton Oregon", "Amanda and Bryan Photography" Westin & Hilbana traveled from their home in Las Vegas to Oregon where Westin grew up to celebrate their wedding!

Summer here in the beautiful PNW is much milder than Las Vegas so we can't blame them for coming to Oregon for the special event, especially when most of his family is still here.

Hilbana's wonderful family and close friends were happy to come along and share in the festivities. Her Ethiopian roots were a big part of the day! Ethiopian wedding tradition and culture is one of the richest in the African continent. Westin and Hilbana chose to have a modern wedding but still incorporated some traditional flair to their special day.

The arrival of the groom is an integral part of the Ethiopian wedding ceremony. On the morning of the wedding, the groom prepared himself in the company of his groomsmen. In the meantime, the bridesmaids together with the bride, her mother and aunts got ready for the wedding. When the groom and his entourage arrive at the bride’s location, they find everyone, including the bride, ready and waiting for him. This was a joyous and fun moment, with music and dancing. Afterwards the groom leads the bride and all the wedding party to their awaiting vehicles.

The get away limos drove us all to the beautiful Commonwealth Lake Park in Cedar Hills where we took all of the formal portraits of the wedding party, family, and of course- of Westin and Hilbana.

After a spiritually upbuilding talk at the local Kingdom Hall, Westin and Hilbana recited vows and exchanged rings which concluded their wedding ceremony.

A beautifully decorated reception for the newlyweds was held at the Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg Oregon.

To kick off the reception festivities, the bridal party entered dancing to a special song followed by the newlyweds grand entrance, they all danced together for a moment before taking their seats for a delicious dinner. Traditional first dances and cake cutting followed. Once general dancing opened up to the rest of the guests, let me tell you, the dance floor was not empty at all until the call for the bride and grooms exit was announced.

Westin and Hilbana wore a "Kaba" which is a traditional Ethiopian embroidered cape embellished with gold trimmings for their reception exit.

What a beautiful day! We are more than excited to have been a part of such an awesome wedding!

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Keywords: Chehalem Cultural Center, Commonwealth Lake Park, couple photography, Ethiopian wedding, natural light photography, Oregon Wedding photographer, pacific northwest photographer, PNW Wedding Photographer, Portland Wedding, Vancouver Wa photographer, Washington Wedding Photographer

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