- Tell us how you met and all about the proposal.
- What was the wedding shopping experience like for you?
- Did you incorporate any culture into your wedding?
- What is your best memory from your wedding?
- What is the best wedding advice you can give to engaged couples?
- Want more timeless multicultural wedding inspiration?
- Vendors:
Combining the bride’s Afghan heritage with the groom’s Egyptian background, Saha and Gamal tied the knot in a timeless multicultural wedding celebration at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington DC, the city where they first met.
The couple first crossed paths at the Georgetown Waterfront, one of Saha’s favorite spots in the city, during the height of the pandemic in 2020. Two years later, Gamal brought Saha back to the shoreline to pop the question.
A month after the proposal, the couple kicked off their wedding festivities with an engagement party at the Mayflower Hotel.
“In our culture, the engagement party is known as ‘Shirni Khori’ and is as big of an event and as formal as a wedding,” Saha explained. Following Afghan tradition, the couple gathered over 100 guests to mark Saha’s family’s formal acceptance of Gamal’s proposal. The evening featured a combination of Egyptian and Afghan customs, delicious food, and plenty of dancing.
The couple went equally all-out for their wedding, which took place at the D.C. Ritz Carlton in September of 2023. While the couple wanted to add modern elements to their big day, they also wanted the event to feel timeless. “Our goal was to have a wedding that our children can look back to decades later and still find the design and décor to be relevant,” Saha says.
The day’s festivities began with a traditional Islamic ceremony known as Katb al kitab or Nikah, which was performed in three languages: English, Dari, and Arabic. At the reception, the couple continued to honor their cultural backgrounds; from the traditional Egyptian Zaffa band to the Afghan Ayana Mussaf ceremony, the reception perfectly paid homage to the couple’s heritages as they celebrated their nuptials with their loved ones.
Read on for all the details on the couple’s timeless multicultural wedding!
- Couple: Saha Khaterzai & Gamal Amin
- Occupations: Bride – Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. House of Representatives | Groom – Director of Operations at Marriott International
- Wedding date: September 15, 2023
- Wedding location: Ritz-Carlton, Washington DC
Tell us how you met and all about the proposal.
We met in Washington, DC at the height of the pandemic (June 2020). Long before meeting my husband, the Georgetown waterfront was my favorite place in DC. Coincidentally, my husband and I initially met at the Georgetown waterfront.
Prior to proposing, he went ring shopping with my sister while I was out of the country. On December 3, 2022, Gamal proposed at the Georgetown Waterfront and unbeknown to me, he hired one of my favorite photographers to document it. Afterward, we had a private dinner at Fiola Mare.
A month after the proposal, we held an engagement party at the historic Mayflower Hotel in DC. In our culture, the engagement party is known as “Shirni Khori” and is as big of an event and as formal as a wedding.
What was the wedding shopping experience like for you?
I knew I wanted to wear a Monique Lhuillier bridal gown ever since I came across the designer. I saved the Alexandra gown in 2019 a year before I met my husband. When we got engaged, Alexandra was the first gown I tried on, and absolutely fell in love with the gorgeous strapless sweetheart corset dress, the drop waist, and the unique sculpted ballgown.
Afterward, I tried on at least 120+ gowns from every major designer including Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, and Elie Saab but my heart was set on the Alexandra gown. The dress is the epitome of elegance. I had a custom bolero created as I wanted a very traditional bridal look. I also had a custom cathedral-length veil with matching lace created for the dress.
Did you incorporate any culture into your wedding?
The wedding was a celebration of Afghan and Egyptian culture. We started with henna night, known as Shab-E-Kheena in Afghanistan, and Laila Khena in Egyptian culture.
In Afghan culture, the bride will traditionally wear a green dress to signify happiness and prosperity, and women wear colorful traditional Afghan clothing. I wore a traditional Afghan dress in green known as Afghani. All the materials for my dress were shipped from Afghanistan and custom-created by my family. The groom also wore traditional Afghan clothing that was created in Afghanistan. The henna night is a night filled with dance, music, henna tattooing, food, and much more.
Our ceremony was an Islamic ceremony, known as Katb al kitab or Nikah, performed in English, Dari, and Arabic.
Our stationery was custom-designed and created in Egypt.
The invitations were handmade in pink velvet and written in Arabic, Dari, and English representing all three languages. We also created a custom monogram that was on all of our stationery as well as our cake.
We also entered our wedding reception with a Zaffa band. Zaffa is an Egyptian tradition of bringing the newlyweds into their reception hall surrounded by music and dance. We had a band of bendir drums, bagpipes, flutes, and horns. The band also sang traditional Arabic songs.
During the wedding, my family also performed a traditional Afghan dance known as Attan while wearing traditional Afghan clothing. My sister performed Ragsheh Chagoo, an Afghan tradition where the groom must earn the knife from the bride’s sister by paying her money before the couple can cut the cake.
The bride and groom also partook in a traditional Afghan ceremony known as Ayana Mussaf.
During the Ayana Mussaf, the bride and groom’s sisters hold a traditional shawl over the bride and groom. The bride and groom are given a mirror to look at each other, and this is supposed to symbolize the beginning of their married life as they see the reflection of each other for the first time as a married couple.
What is your best memory from your wedding?
Our best memory is being surrounded by our loved ones on the dance floor during our reception. We entered our wedding reception with a Zaffa band and pretty much every single one of our guests was on the dance floor celebrating and dancing with us. It was so special to feel all the love and warmth from everyone in the room.
What is the best wedding advice you can give to engaged couples?
This may be controversial, but our best advice would be to prioritize your guests’ experience. Rightfully in planning a wedding, it is easy for couples to focus on what works best for them given it is a celebration of their love whether it is the location, timing, or other aspects. It was very important to Gamal, who comes from a hospitality background, that our guests have a great experience, and I think guests really appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes into planning a more enjoyable experience for them.
The best advice we received is that the wedding day goes by so fast, and it is important not to leave each other’s side all night long, or in our case all day long. My husband and I spent the morning getting ready together and that will be some of our most cherished memories. We also spent the entire evening together and love that we have the same memories and got to cherish those moments together.
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Vendors:
- Venue: The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C.
- Photographer: Vicki Grafton Photography
- Videographer: Bowen Films
- Florist: Bee Inspired Events
- Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier
- Bridal Salon: Carine’s Bridal Atelier
- Shoes: Jimmy Choo
- Stationery Designer & Printing: Khattab Invitations & Printing
- DJ: Wave Entertainment
- Band: Faris El-Layl Dabke
- Hair: Amanda Fiorita Hair
- Makeup: Alex Aguilar
- Cake: The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C.
- Rentals: Fabrication Events, Something Vintage Rentals, & FM Events Production
- Jewelry: Diamonds Direct
