Aghareed by Lafayette Weddings, housed in The Dubai Mall, bills itself as “the world’s first concierge bridal service”, taking care of everything from the grandest of wishes to the smallest of chores. Clare Ebbs (below), the company’s managing partner, opens her little black book to share top trends, ideas and advice.
Top venues
• Yas Island, Saadiyat Island, St Regis Abu Dhabi
• Jumeirah’s Al Qasr venues, including Magnolia
Budget venues
• Al Hamra Village in Ras Al Khaimah
• Self-catering yacht for about 50 people
Gown galleries
• Bespoke gowns by Elizabeth Di Naya
• Apparel and accessories from Dubai's The Bridal Showroom
Personalised shoes
Christian Louboutin
Favours
Cufflinks or cigars for men; pashminas and fans for women
Flowers
Gold and blush-pink peonies and hydrangeas
Honeymoon hotspots
Bora Bora, Fiji, New Zealand
Recommended registries
• Alternative and affordable options at MyList
• Luxury wedding lists available at Galeries Lafayette in Dubai
The stress-buster
On-the-day service for couples who want to do all the planning themselves but want the logistics handled by Agareed costs Dh9,500
Average spend
• Arab wedding – Dh250,000 to Dh400,000 for 300 guests
• Expat wedding – Dh150,000 for 100 guests
• Aghareed is at Galeries Lafayette in The Dubai Mall. For information, visit www.aghareed.com, call 055 485 6727 or email bridesmate@aghareed.com
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
