Arab weddings are known for their scale and their finish, and the décor brief is genuinely different from a South Asian wedding: less colour, more structure, and everything weighted toward the kosha and the entrance.
We work with Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Egyptian, Iraqi and Gulf families across Ottawa and Gatineau.
The kosha
The kosha — the couple's seating stage — is the centre of an Arab reception in a way that has no exact South Asian equivalent. It is where the couple sit for much of the night, and it is photographed continuously.
We build koshas as architectural pieces: structured drape, floral installation, considered lighting and a defined seating area, rather than a backdrop with a sofa placed in front.
- Structured drape and panel builds
- Floral installations — white, ivory, blush and gold palettes
- Couple's seating with defined staging
- Floor lanterns, floating candles and uplighting
- Aisle and entrance décor for the zaffa
The zaffa entrance
The zaffa — the musical procession bringing the couple in — needs the entrance treated as part of the design. An unlit corridor into a beautifully dressed room is a wasted opportunity, and it is where a lot of the video comes from.
We dress the entry route: aisle, doorway and the approach, with lighting that works for filming.
Palette and finish
The requests we get most often are white and gold, ivory and blush, and deep green with gold. These are unforgiving palettes — creased drape and mismatched whites show badly under reception lighting, so they reward being built properly rather than clipped together.
We press and hang rather than clip, and we level and weight every frame.
Why the kosha is a structural build, not a backdrop
The distinction matters commercially, because it is the main reason an Arab wedding quote differs from a South Asian one.
A South Asian stage is a backdrop with seating in front of it — the couple sit there for portions of the evening. A kosha is where the couple sit for most of the night, elevated and lit, with guests coming to them. It is closer to architecture: a defined structure with sides, depth and its own lighting, not a decorated wall.
That means more material, more structure and more lighting design, and it concentrates a larger share of the budget in one place than a mehndi or nikah build does.
White and gold is unforgiving — plan for that
The most requested Arab wedding palettes are white and gold, ivory and blush, and deep green with gold. They are beautiful and they hide nothing.
Creased drape shows. Two whites that do not match each other show. A gold that is slightly too brassy against a champagne linen shows. At a mehndi, colour and pattern forgive a multitude of small imperfections; at a white-and-gold kosha there is nowhere for anything to hide.
This is why we press and hang drape rather than clipping it, and why we match whites across drape, linen and florals rather than assuming white is white. It is slower and it is the entire difference in the photographs.
The zaffa is a moving shot
The zaffa brings the couple in with drummers and often a full procession, and it is filmed continuously from the doorway to the kosha.
That makes the route a design surface, not just the destination. An unlit corridor into a beautifully dressed ballroom wastes the most dynamic footage of the night — and it is the single most commonly overlooked element at Arab weddings in Ottawa.
We dress the entry, the aisle and the approach, and we light them for filming rather than for ambience. Video needs more light than a room needs to look good, and the two are frequently in tension. Tell us if you have a videographer and we will build for them.
Tell us your date
Send your date, venue and guest count on WhatsApp. Faya will come back to you directly with what fits and what it costs.
Good to know
Questions we get asked
Yes. We build the couple's stage as a structured piece — drape, floral installation, defined seating and lighting — rather than a backdrop with a sofa in front of it.
Tell us the venue and ceiling height and we will size it properly.
Yes. The entrance route is part of the design — aisle, doorway and approach, lit for filming.
It is where a great deal of the wedding video comes from and it is commonly overlooked.
Most requested are white and gold, ivory and blush, and deep green with gold. These are unforgiving palettes that show every crease, so they need proper building rather than clipping.
We press and hang all drape and we level and weight every frame.
Yes — see our nikah décor page. Stage, divider curtain where separate seating is observed, Arsi Mushaf where the family keeps that custom, and the signing table.
We work across Arab, Pakistani, Indian and Turkish Muslim weddings.
A kosha is the largest single build of the event and the main cost driver, alongside room styling and table count.
WhatsApp +1 (613) 883-4969 with your venue, date and guest count for a quote.
A kosha is where the couple sit for most of the reception, elevated and lit, with guests coming to them. It is a structure with sides, depth and its own lighting rather than a decorated wall with seating in front.
That is why it concentrates more of the budget in one place than a South Asian mehndi or nikah build does.
Because it hides nothing. Creased drape shows, two whites that do not match show, and a gold slightly too brassy against a champagne linen shows.
We press and hang drape rather than clipping it, and match whites across drape, linen and florals rather than assuming white is white. That is the whole difference in the photographs.
Yes — the entry, the aisle and the approach, lit for filming rather than for ambience.
The zaffa is filmed continuously from the doorway to the kosha, so the route is a design surface. An unlit corridor into a beautiful ballroom wastes the most dynamic footage of the night, and it is the most commonly overlooked element at Arab weddings here.