The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

For a culture and nation that puts so much emphasis on the union of marriage, there’s a distinct lack of flair and creativity when it comes to the all important wedding. Maybe that’s unfair – when you’re invited to an Egyptian wedding, there are certain expectations and you know that you’re in for one hell of party, after all. But when a bride and groom want to do something out of the box, something personalised and something unique, the avenues to achieving that aren’t always obvious. This is where Our Wedding Carnival comes in.

This weekend, Red Square is set to hold its third annual edition of the event at and it’s shaping up to be the biggest and most comprehensive one yet.

Taking place on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th April at Garden City hotel, InterContinental Semiramis, Our Wedding Carnival is set to bring together the biggest purveyors of wedding-related services under one roof, cementing it as the undisputed chief destination for all things weddings.

Since launching in 2013, Our Wedding Carnival has very quickly come to be as important to pre-weds as their special day itself – well, maybe not quite, but any married couple will tell you that it’s all about the preparation. Planning a wedding is, of course, stressful – almost traumatic at times for some – and the people at Red Square understand this. That in itself is what makes Our Wedding Carnival such a huge spectacle of an event; it streamlines what is an endlessly complex and thorny process, giving you immediate access to the people and things you need.

But there’s much more to Our Wedding Carnival than catering for the physical and material needs of brides and grooms-to-be.  With five designer fashion shows, live hairstyling by regional giant, Kriss, and make-up demos by Moahmed Abdel Hamid set to take place under the influence of this year’s ‘Underwater’ theme, the real underlying success is the way in which it treats the concept of a wedding. To Red Square and everyone involved behind-the-scenes at Our Wedding Carnival, a wedding is more than a vehicle or stepping stone to married life. It’s a special occasion; a momentous day; one of the very few moments where all your family and friends are with you at the same time – there’s a reason they call it ‘the Big Day’.

Our Wedding Carnival strives to show Cairenes that their wedding can be anything and everything they want it to be; that they needn’t settle for what’s easiest – because Our Wedding Carnival just does that in making things easy as you piece together the puzzle that is their wedding day.

Despite being such a huge undertaking, Our Wedding Carnival is giving back to the community, too through Egyptian initiative, Benebny Hayah (We’re Building a Life). The project aims to redevelop villages across Egypt’s rural areas through a number of different schemes and plans. The collaboration between Benebny Hayah will see Our Wedding Carnival pay the wedding expense of ten orphan brides. Speaking on the partnership, Benebny Hayah project manager, Cherif Azzouz couldn’t be happier. “Our collaboration with Our Wedding Carnival offers us a great opportunity to make a difference to underprivileged brides.”

 But what of the event itself? Well, in addition to a housing over one hundred exhibitors covering everything from make-up and bridal wear, to floral and interior design, Lebanese designer, Hadi Katra, will showcase his work for the very first time in Egypt.  Another heavyweight name in the fashion, Bahig Hussein, will also unveil his Dancing with the Stars collection exclusively at the event, while Antar & Lahomi, Blanche Maison de Couture and Rosa Clara’s international brands also set to make appearances on the Our Wedding Carnival catwalk.

Ladies, get ready; guys, man-up and get involved. To register for your attendance at Our Wedding Carnival, click here. For more information about the event, check out the official Our Wedding Carnival Facebook page and stay-tuned to Cairo 360 for more coverage.