The Gorgeous Art Museum Wedding and Ethiopian Reception of a CNN Anchor

Rahel Solomon and Marcel Pratt at their Art Museum wedding / Photography by Alison Conklin Photography

Ask Rahel Solomon and Marcel Pratt where they first met, and they’ll give you the same answer: a professional networking event at Del Frisco’s in Center City. But what the duo can’t agree on is who noticed the other first. “My version is that Marcel was across the room in a group telling a story, and he was the center of attention. I was drawn to him,” says Rahel, a CNN anchor and business correspondent. “Slowly the crowd thinned out until finally it was just the two of us.”

But Marcel — a West Philly native who was the city solicitor before becoming a managing partner at a law firm — noticed her too: “I was immediately struck by Rahel’s kindness and beauty,” he says. Their courtship meandered through Philly — a first date at a Center City restaurant; a second date at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, followed by a sunset walk along Kelly Drive — but their engagement was more far-flung: Marcel proposed on an isolated strip of Eagle Beach in Aruba in May 2023, just as the sun melted into the horizon.

Old City stationer Chick Invitations designed the suite for the wedding with rich jewel tones and gold.

The couple, who now live in New Jersey, soon set to planning a weekend of nuptial celebrations, held on July 13th and 14th of last year. They knew they’d need to host two events — a traditional American wedding for 200 guests followed by a melse, an Ethiopian reception held the day after the wedding, for 500. (Rahel is Ethiopian and was born in Sudan, but she grew up in Delaware County and West Philly.) They brought on Donielle Warren, owner of Northeast Philly’s Elegant Events Planning + Design, to helm the process. “One of the challenges was coordinating two distinct celebrations — the formal wedding and the cultural melse,” Warren says. “Balancing these different styles while ensuring both reflected the couple’s vision required careful planning and communication.”

Bridesmaids donned stretch-satin dresses in cabernet by Cynthia & Sahar, which complemented Rahel’s Eva Lendel gown, a strapless corseted design with a detachable overskirt.

The setting for the first event was a no-brainer. “We wanted to get married at a venue that represents Philadelphia’s magnificence and has sentimental meaning to us both,” explains Rahel. “The Art Museum fit both criteria.” And so the duo recited their vows beneath a lush floral arch in the museum’s breathtaking Williams Forum before enjoying dinner and dancing in the Great Stair Hall, a grand space crowned by a magnificent copper statue of the Roman goddess Diana.

The traditional American ceremony took place in the soaring Williams Forum, its glass staircase draped with greenery for a soft elegant touch. The florals were by 7Blooms Wedding & Event Florals.

Guests found their table numbers on sleek columns tucked among candles and sprays of flowers.

During the cocktail hour, a professional photographer snapped magazine-worthy shots of guests as they posed in a “portrait lounge” backdropped by the museum’s decor. (“Think iconic Vanity Fair after-party photoshoots,” says Rahel. “It was a hit.”)

At the reception, guests dined on mahi-mahi, short rib, and sweet potato gnocchi in the balcony of the museum’s Great Stair Hall, where the walls are adorned with massive Baroque tapestries.

The criteria for the melse was less subjective: The venue had to be temperature-controlled (it was the middle of summer), large enough to fit 500 people, and amenable to outside Ethiopian catering.

The answer? Bucks County’s sprawling, bucolic Spring Mill Manor, where they honored Rahel’s Ethiopian culture in a vibrant gathering filled with rich tradition.

A cultural decorative backdrop was set up at Spring Mill Manor.

Rahel and her attendants wore henna and traditional Ethiopian jewelry.

Rahel and Marcel participated in an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, during which freshly brewed coffee is served (usually by the woman of the house) to extend warmth and friendship to guests. During this occasion, Rahel poured coffee from the jebena, or flask, into small cups called sini.

A cultural symbol for Ethiopia, the mesob, a round handwoven basket, is used as a dining table. “Eating together is an essential part of Ethiopian culture,” says Rahel.

And this is something Rahel and Marcel easily agree on — ask them to describe the weekend in a word, and they’ll both say “magical.”

THE DETAILS
Photographer: Alison Conklin Photography | Venues: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Logan Circle (wedding);­ Spring Mill Manor, Ivyland (melse) | Event Planning & Design: Elegant Events Planning + Design | Florals: 7Blooms Wedding & Event Florals | Catering: Constellation Culinary Group (wedding); Dama Pastry & Cafe (melse) | Cake: Bredenbeck’s Bakery | Gown: Eva Lendel from Love Couture | Groom’s Attire: Commonwealth Proper | Melse Attire: Enku Design | Hair: Turquoise McKenzie from A Touch of Lavish Salon (wedding); Freweini Beyene (melse) | Makeup: Erica Nikole | Attendants’ Attire: Cynthia & Sahar (bridesmaids); The Black Tux (groomsmen) | Invitations: Chick Invitations | Officiant: Darron McKinney from Bright Hope Baptist Church (reverend) | Transportation: Ace Limousine | Music: Vegas Experience from EBE (wedding); DJ BnJamn (melse) | Videographer: Zela Films | Rentals: Lilac & Lace Co. (wedding); Collective Event Group (melse) | Lighting: Revolution Event Production

Published as “The Art of Love” in the December 2024/January 2025 issue of Philadelphia magazine.

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