My beautiful black and white wedding

 

We chose two regal theme colours – black and white to celebrate the union of two cultures – French and Nigerian, and while people were sceptical about our colour choices, look how beautifully it turned out.

The lesson learned is to follow your instincts and just be creative. And let your guests in on your theme and reasoning. My guests style choices were a pleasant surprise.

I drew the inspiration of draping a long black sash across my vintage style dress and hair from one of my favourite musicians – “Pink.”

An ordinary contemporary wedding dress? I simply wasn’t having it.

I stole Pink’s sash AND her rock and roll SWAG.

My fabulous husband wore a fabulous dark blue, but shimmery three piece suit to go with his exuberant, enthusiastic and sparkling personality. He couldn’t wear black because he would’ve just looked like any another guest. My knight in shining armour had to stand out! And he did…

In France it’s all about the “bisous” (Kisses) and below you can see all the bisous meted out freely by family, in-laws and friends.

Ofcourse our Naija bridesmaids were not to be left out of the kissing debacle. They did it Naija style!

 

THE FAMILY/ LA FAMILLE

 

Check out the fabulous way our guests rocked the black and white outfits below.

My creative guests surprised me delightfully with their colourful black and white combinations.

 

 

The men were dashing in white and black concepts.

They all looked stunning in amazing black and white outfits I didn’t even imagine existed. So beautiful.

 

The men were excited to try white on black combinations. So innovative. So determined to make our wedding rock!

 

Even the kids rocked it!

 

Pre-reception cocktails/finger foods

 

ENTER THE RECEPTION

We did all the decor by ourselves. From the black and white petals on the tables, to the black and white flowers, chair covers, bows, curtains, embellishments etc, we did it all. And it was worth it.

 

And then the reception hall was transformed into a night club with dazzling changing lights and puffs of steamy smoke effects, and then all hell broke loose on the dancefloor…it was the French versus the Nigerians…

 

 

It got so hot and steamy that even the groom had to take off his jacket to face the face off on the dance floor.

 

Below- the MC, the DJ and light/sound engineer who made the party rock.

 

And now we leave you with the lovely comments left by our guests about the wedding:

“There was absolutely nothing out of place at the wedding. I loved EVERYTHING about the wedding.” – Evie Imasuen.

 

 

“Venue was nice. DIY is the best way to go! Smaller close knit venues like these are better. Creates friendly intimacy between guests. The MC & DJ were fantastic. As for the food, the Africans needed bigger proportions. The games/entertainment was good and the drinks were more than enuff.” – Natasha Ezinwa.

 

   “On the 14th of April 2016, I set off to a town called Valence in France to attend my friend cum sisters wedding. I knew it was going to be a pleasant experience but nothing prepared me for the fantastic time that I had. The marriage proper was at 2pm at the Marie(hope I spelt it right) that’s what they call the registry. It was a short ceremony and quite interesting although I didn’t understand up to a quarter of what they said, and what I understood was interpreted by a nice Nigerian lady (Karima) who speaks both French and English. After they tied the knot, we went for a photo shoot at the park (lovely park I must add). God was obviously with us that day as the weather was really beautiful. Sunny and warm. (even for me wey dey fear oyibo cold). Now came time for the reception at 6 in the evening. Best party I ever attended. There were ‘small chops’ (oyibo type) and conversation outside the hall for about two hours. (there’s a name for this activity that I can’t recall at the moment. French tradition.) Then we entered the hall and had other activities, game shows for everyone and the couple. Drinks everywhere, red wine flowing like fountains. Na the food tire me sha. But that’s not surprising, I no like onyinbo food. Any food without enough pepper and salt ain’t for me, so I obviously can’t make a good judgement call about the food. At 11 after all the formalities of the wedding reception were over, ‘the lights went out’ and the disco lights came on. COME SEE GROOVE. DJ was on point, mixing Naija, French, American, English, German (da da da Nneka knows what I mean) Spanish music. It was super FUN!!!!! We finally left the reception/party at 4am after thoroughly enjoying ourselves. The wedding experience for me was the best I’ve ever had, completely different from anything i’m used to. Thumbs up Nneka, you gave me a fabulous experience.” – Fumnanya Catherine Attah.

 

Photography by Deval, Valence France.