Questions
The things couples
actually ask.
Straight answers, including on the two subjects most wedding websites avoid: what it costs, and whether we are the right fit.
Working with us
- What happens after we contact you?
- You will hear back from Sabine herself, not a sales team. The first conversation is free and usually covers three things: the dates and which ceremonies you are holding, the approximate number of guests, and what you already have booked. From there we can tell you honestly whether we are the right fit before anyone discusses money.
- How early should we get in touch?
- Earlier than most couples do. Attire in particular takes time — mushanana for a bride and her mothers and attendants is a coordinated set of fittings, not a single order. If your date is within a few months, say so and we will tell you plainly what is still achievable.
- Can we hire you for only one part?
- Yes. Many couples come for Gusaba alone, or only for attire. Working across the whole sequence is what we are built for, but it is not a condition of working together.
- Can you work with vendors we have already booked?
- Yes, and it is common. If you have a venue, a photographer or a caterer already, we work alongside them. We would rather join a team you trust than ask you to unpick decisions you have already made.
Rwandan ceremonies
- Do you handle Gusaba?
- Yes — and it is the stage we most enjoy. Gusaba is the hardest room in the sequence to dress, because two families sit facing one another and there is no single stage to design toward. The seating is the architecture, and everything has to read from both directions at once.
- Do you make mushanana, or only rent it?
- We make and fit traditional and modern wear to measure, for the bride and for the women around her. That is unusual: most couples hire their decorator and their tailor separately, then spend months trying to get the two palettes to agree.
- We want a modern wedding, not a traditional one. Is that a problem?
- Not at all. Most couples we work with are somewhere in between — a traditional Gusaba, then a contemporary church and reception. The craft is making the two halves feel like one celebration rather than two unrelated events.
- Do we have to hold all four ceremonies?
- No. The civil ceremony is the legal requirement; the rest are cultural and personal choices. Plenty of couples hold Gusaba and a reception and nothing else. We work to whatever shape your families have agreed on.
Budget and logistics
- How much does this cost?
- It depends entirely on which ceremonies you are holding, how many guests, and how much is being made rather than hired — so any number quoted before that conversation would be invented. Tell us the shape of the wedding and we will give you a real figure, not a range designed to get a meeting.
- Can you work to a modest budget?
- Yes. A smaller budget changes what we propose, not how carefully we do it. What we will not do is take a budget we know cannot deliver what you are picturing and let you find out late.
- We live abroad. Can you plan our wedding in Rwanda?
- Yes, and a significant share of Rwandan weddings are organised exactly this way — funded and decided from outside the country, with the couple landing days before. It is a different job: more photographs, more written detail, more decisions made remotely. We are set up for it, and we will tell you which choices genuinely need you in the room.
- Where are you based?
- Kiyovu, Kigali. We work across Kigali and travel elsewhere in Rwanda for the right celebration.
Begin
Still unsure?
Ask the awkward question. We would rather answer it now than have you wondering.