Nigerian Wedding from Sweet Pea + Branching Out

You’ve been asking for it, and we’ve heard you. We love, love, love to feature culturally gorgeous weddings. And today, we have a stunning Nigerian Wedding from Sweet Pea Events. We’re totally obsessed with the Nigerian fashion, dancing, and traditions, captured perfectly by Lindsey Shea Photography. And I’m convinced this was one of those had-to-be-there, fun as could be weddings the guests are all still raving about. The amazing team at Sweet Pea, along with the talented group at Branching Out Floral and Event Design totally signed, sealed, and delivered one for the books. Click here for even more!

The talented team at Elle Films shared some amazing video of the day – check it out!

Our wedding was a beautiful mixture of culture and elegance. My husband is from Nigeria and we knew we wanted his family’s traditions to play a part in our wedding. The day before our wedding we held a traditional Nigerian Engagement Ceremony. Nigerian culture focuses on not only bringing the man and woman together, but uniting two families. This is celebrated by lots of food, prayers, singing, and dancing, all while wearing authentic Nigerian clothes.

My mother-in-law was so gracious to fly to Nigeria to have clothing made for our entire wedding party. I loved the bold, bright colors of all the clothing; she handpicked all the fabrics herself. According to tradition, the two families are assigned a color to wear to designate them apart. Headwraps are very customary in Nigeria and we were fortunate enough to get an internationally-known headwrap artist to tie our headwraps, or geles. Wearing these geles was a new and fun experience for me and all the girls in my wedding. We held this lively event at the Hilton Anatole.

I fell in love with a green bridesmaid dress at a local boutique and decided then that I wanted the colors to be green and purple, with white accents. My husband and I both come from large families, so keeping the guest list small was out of the question. A friend of ours recommended our florist and Branching Out Floral & Event Design was terrific at working with us to create what we wanted. I told her I wanted simple, but elegant and she knew exactly what to do.

We love to dance, so we really wanted to find a great live band for the reception. We spent hours and hours searching and listening to different bands online, and then finally came across a band called Icehouse. They were incredible! We also wanted our guests to enjoy some great food, so we worked with the hotel to create a great spread, including a sushi bar, potato bar, and stir-fry! We were so fortunate to have a great team of people help us plan our big day. It was truly unforgettable!

Event Planning: Kelly Simants at Sweet Pea Events / Floral: Branching Out Floral and Event Design / Cake: Delicious Cakes / Hair & Makeup: Smoking Hot / Band: Icehouse / Nigerian Hair Wraps & Makeup: Segun Gele / Ceremony Venue: The Village Church / Reception Venue: Hilton Anatole / Photography: Lindsey Shea Photography / Cinematography: Elle Films

16 Comments about “Nigerian Wedding from Sweet Pea + Branching Out”

1. Serendipity Bridal says:

   April 25, 2011 at 12:23 pm

   So beautiful!!
2. Brinny2k1 says:

   April 25, 2011 at 12:52 pm

   Love the beautiful Colors- so vibrant!
3. Annie says:

   April 25, 2011 at 1:01 pm

   Oh my goodness, what a gorgeous wedding! Everything is so vibrant, and you can tell everyone there had a blast. I love seeing weddings that incorporate the couple's background and culture.
4. Andrea @ Superfine Bakery says:

   April 25, 2011 at 2:04 pm

   I love all the dancing and head-dresses! Just gorgeous!! Must have been so much fun...
5. Tara says:

   April 25, 2011 at 2:13 pm

   Love the bridesmaid dresses, where are they from?
6. amy karp says:

   April 25, 2011 at 3:07 pm

   Beautiful wedding and a super awesome team of wedding pros. Great job everyone!
7. Allison Davis says:

   April 25, 2011 at 3:09 pm

   Oh yay! Lindsey is an amazing photographer and it's so exciting to see her work featured here along with the amazing Kelly Simants at Sweet Pea.
8. andrea says:

   April 25, 2011 at 9:28 pm

   Awesome!! Love the colors and culture represented in this fabulous wedding! I really, really love that cake too, wow!
9. ELLE FILMS says:

   April 26, 2011 at 1:25 am

   we had a blast working on this wedding!!!
10. jessica says:

    April 26, 2011 at 5:30 am

    I love her white wedding dress, who makes it?
11. Tammy@Events By Tammy says:

    April 26, 2011 at 7:40 am

    Beautiful! I love that they had two sets of wedding attire.
12. Amy @ Branching Out Events says:

    April 26, 2011 at 10:08 am

    Thank you so much for the love everyone!!! This was such a wonderful and fun wedding to be a part of. Our Amanda and Debby had a great time working with Kelly and her amazing team of vendors. A big shout out to Lindsey for all her amazing photos.

    Happy Tuesday!!!!
13. Jeanette says:

    April 26, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    When I first started going through the post, I thought it looked like a lot of the other weddings you post. After scrolling through I was pleasantly surprised. Very beautiful, I loved how they incorporated the groom's culture. Nice post.
14. Elizabeth says:

    April 26, 2011 at 11:59 pm

    wow! Thanks so much for all the kind words everyone, to answer the questions-- the bridesmaid dresses are designed by Jasmine and I found them at a boutique called Ocone's in Ft. Worth. My wedding dress is a Pronovias gown.
15. Tammynize says:

    April 27, 2011 at 1:25 pm

    Nigerian weddings are so fun! I love it when they dance around the bride and groom and their wardrobe is so elaborate!
16. Malowa says:

    June 6, 2011 at 3:49 pm

    What a beautiful wedding, I LOVE how the two cultures were incorporated and don't they all look wonderful! AAAwww

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