Coffee ceremony: a wedding guide
Some Ethiopian and Eritrean weddings have a coffee rite. Beans roast in the room and then each cup is filled three times.
When couples book this
About 3 months before your wedding.
Still deciding the wedding
Your wishlist
Answer these before you meet anyone.
What setting are you picturing?
Comparing your options
How it’s usually priced
Usually priced as one flat amount.
Possible extras: Popcorn and bread (himbasha or difo dabo).
Booked and settling details
What you settle once booked
Roasting over coals cleared with the venue?
The live roast and incense are the heart of it — indoor venues sometimes ask for an electric roaster or a ventilated corner.
Who hosts the ceremony?
Family-hosted is the usual form — a woman of the family roasts and pours, in traditional dress, and at the melse or melsi the bride pours her husband's cup. Rentals supply the full setting: the jebena, the rekebot and its sini cups, the grass laid under it, the etan to burn, popcorn and the bread.
The week of the wedding
The day-of sheet
Confirm arrival, finish, who to call, access, a meal, and what is due.
Across the whole day
Choose which moments to include.
- Coffee ceremony
For businesses
The brief a couple sends you has these sections:
- The ceremony
- The event
- Contacts