NaijaWed N More

Vendor Review: Shay Ashmon Artistry

2012-12-18T13:57:00.000-05:00

Bride's Grade: A+

There are many women who when getting married MUST HAVE a makeup artist. I wasn't one of those women. I had settled on the fact that I was going to do my own makeup, as well as my bridesmaids' makeup that day and had no problem with it since I do makeup pretty well. However a good friend of mine, Shay Ashmon, who had begun expanding her artist portfolio offered her services to me for my traditional wedding and white wedding. Of course, I took her up on her offer.

My traditional wedding was actually 6 months before the white wedding. Shay actually arrived with everything before I did. She did an absolutely wonderful job!

A couple months before the wedding, we had a makeup trial so I could get an idea of what I really wanted on the day of the wedding. I wanted a look for the ceremony and then a look for when I changed into a traditional outfit. We tried several different looks and decided on one for the ceremony. 6 months later, came the day of the wedding.

On the day of the wedding, Shay was, of course, early and already set up by the time I arrived (4 hours before the ceremony). I requested that she attend to me last as I wanted to make sure my makeup lasted as long as possible. Although I had 4 bridesmaids, only 2 had their makeup done by Shay (pics below) as the others wanted to do their own makeup.

Shay was available throughout the wedding for touchups as needed quite a few (I cried and cried) and prepared to do my face for when I changed to my traditional clothing. I wanted to do a little bit of a smokier eye look.

Even after a couple of hours of dancing (and sweat), my makeup didn't budge.

Shay did a wonderful job and I would recommend her to anyone that would need a makeup artist. She went above and beyond and I greatly appreciated it.

Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2012-07-31T14:48:00.000-04:00

This style of dress is DEFINITELY next on my list for my next aso-ebi outfit. Enjoy!

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Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2012-07-31T14:46:00.000-04:00

This outfit was worn by Miss Ghana during the 2012 Miss Africa Pageant. Isn't this GORGEOUS? I just love the fitted area of the dress with just one layer of ruffles, topped off by the fringe in the mid-section. Enjoy!

Source

Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2012-07-24T14:42:00.000-04:00

Even though I love one shoulder dresses, this one isn't quite my style. Just a little much for me......

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Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2012-07-17T14:38:00.000-04:00

Where was this dress when I was looking for a new style for one of the many weddings that I'm going to this year? This is just simply beautiful. Enjoy!

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Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2012-07-10T14:35:00.000-04:00

Isn't this dress just festive? The mermaid or fish, as some of us call it, trend doesn't seem to be waning at all and I like it. Enjoy!

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Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2012-07-03T14:25:00.000-04:00

Here's another more traditional outfit for aso-ebi outfit for the week. I definitely like the way that this one is styled and I've been looking for something that has some black in it. Enjoy!

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Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2012-06-26T15:24:00.000-04:00

Who said puffy sleeves and bows were out of style? It's never really been my style, but I would definitely wear this. Enjoy!

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Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2012-06-19T14:57:00.000-04:00

This is outfit is too cute! I normally don't go for 2 piece outfits when it comes to Nigerian clothing, but I definitely could do this. Enjoy!

Asoebi Outfit of the Week

2012-06-15T17:48:00.000-04:00

Recently, a friend of mine wanted her bridesmaids to wear a very traditional outfit for Aso-ebi, which isn't that common as most girls have very Western styling when it comes to Nigerian outfits nowadays, but sometimes you can find something cute.

Source

What do you guys think?

Wedding Recap, Part II - Wedding Processional

2012-03-30T21:57:00.000-04:00

It was very important to me that my wedding start on time.

After I stressed to guests SO MUCH that the wedding will start on time, it would've looked bad if it didn't. To give people some leeway, we started the ceremony at 4:05p.

The garden where the ceremony was held is set up like an amphitheater with several ways to enter. This picture is right before the ceremony started. I entered on the right and the bridal party and everyone else entered on the left.

I was shuttled down to my side via golf cart and the bridal party, as well as the groom, entered under the arbor that was the top of the hill. The very first to walk down was my pastor who was officiating over the ceremony. He actually was unable to attend the wedding rehearsal the day before so I provided him a detailed timeline of the wedding day beforehand. It still didn't go completely as expected, but it is what it is.

We decided to have our parents walk down as well so that many of our guests could recognize who are parents were. The walk was a little long but everyone made it down just fine and the songs they came down on The Prayer by Donnie McClurkin and Yolanda Adams. My mother was the first down escorted by my first younger brother.

Followed by NaijaKing's parents.

Then my gorgeous groom came down on his own.

My uncle couldn't help but to shake his hand on the way down.

We finally started the bridal party entrance and they entered in on I Promise by CeCe Winans.

My flower girl was my very young cousin and my ringbearer was my nephew.

After everyone came down, it was finally my turn. I came in on the opposite end of the amphitheater and my walk was EXTRA long but that's exactly what I wanted. I wanted to give myself, as well as everyone else, a moment to take in my processional plus get as many pics as they wanted. One thing I find when I go to weddings is that I never get enough time to take pics of the bride walking down.

My father was the last person to walk down on the same side as the bridal party and we met on the second level of steps before entering the crowd of people.

After we met, we walked down together to meet my soon-to-be husband.

Missed a recap?

Wedding Recap, Part I - Wedding Weekend

Vendor Review: Taste of Africa

2012-03-22T14:47:00.000-04:00

It's taken me a while to determine if I actually wanted to do a review on my caterer as it's difficult for me to want to hurt anyone's feelings. I hope that with this review, too many feelings aren't hurt. Let me forewarn you, this is a little long.

Taste of Africa

Bride's Grade: C/Groom's Grade: C

If you're interested in the longer version, contact me and I will provide you the full story. The below is the abridged version.

I initially contacted Ms. Funmi of Taste of Africa in March 2011 to meet with her and get an initial quote. Because I've eaten food at 3 weddings that she has catered and she came highly recommended from several people, I pretty much didn't consider anyone else in my research although I knew of several other caterers (but had never had their food).

When providing the initial quote, she informed me that there were 2 ways that she quoted her catering services. The first was service "per head" and the second was service by "cooler/pan of food". She informed that "per head" costs more, but because I intended from the beginning to have buffet service, I thought it would be best to do service by "cooler/pan of food" as I thought that's what she meant by buffet service and didn't inquire further about what was included when service is completed "per head". She also informed me that I came to her quite early to get a quote and she couldn't guarantee the pricing because of the market fluctuations with food costs. I understood and stated I would revisit with her by July to confirm the costs and possibly sign a contract at that time. She was VERY cost efficient in comparison to other caterers that I had gotten basic quotes from.

Approximately 2 weeks before the wedding, I sent her a VERY detailed email (hey, I'm particular) stating what would need to be done once arriving at the venue as far as setup and breakdown. A week passed and I hadn't heard anything from her and I was beginning to wonder. Just as I was about to call her, she calls and informs me that her internet was out and she just saw the email. She stated that she would help a LITTLE bit but she hadn't intended on doing all of the things that were listed in the email as that is considered "per head" service not "cooler/pan of food" service. Although I was a bit disturbed by this revelation a week before my wedding, I said I understood and decided that I made sure that my coordinator understood what needed to be done since the caterer stated it wasn't part of the costs.

If it wasn't for the events of the day of, I probably would have given her a B+ even with the miscommunication the week before the wedding.

Although I provided the address in the previous detailed email and my coordinator emailed her the day before with her contact information, the day of the wedding, she called me at 2:30p to confirm the address of the venue which I gave her again. My ceremony started at 4p and Ms Funmi was to bring the food by 4:30p so that my hostesses could set up for the 5p cocktail hour. Unfortunately, she still ended up getting lost to a point where my coordinator's assistant ended up having to go get her from where she was located. The food didn't arrive at the venue until 5:30p after cocktail hour had started.

My coordinator and hostesses scrambled to get the appetizers out for cocktail hour while the rest of the food was brought out. Throughout the rest of the evening, my coordinator tried to work with Ms. Funmi, however, she kept reiterating that she wasn't paid to do that type of service. At one point, Ms. Funmi walked up to me to ask me about the servers I'd gotten because she felt that she was doing everything and that they weren't doing anything, however, that was not what I understood from several sources.

After my wedding was over, I'd spoken with my coordinator, several hostesses, and Ms. Funmi to get as many sides of the story as I could before writing this review. The food was impeccable, as it always has been with all the food I've ever had from her and she was cost-efficient and worked with my budget, but it's with GREAT hesitation that I recommend her based on service and communication. Maybe my misunderstanding came from my "American" thinking as Taste of Africa was my only Nigerian vendor which I chose because I wanted to make sure the food was authentic (unlike some Nigerian weddings I'd been to where the caterers were very unfamiliar with the food and had problems). My suggestion is that if you decide to use her is that you make sure that you discuss EVERYTHING that has ANYTHING to do with food with her to make sure that all of the kinks are worked out.

Would I use her again? Yes, but ONLY to bring the food and make sure that that is what is understood beforehand.

Vendor Review: Callanwolde Arts Center

2012-03-16T15:12:00.001-04:00

*I actually wrote this last year, but forgot to post it. I know that it's been a LONG time since I've posted on my blog, but I'm getting back on my game. I have a lot to share so stay tuned.

Well....our venue ended up being a hard choice, but in the end we chose:

Callanwolde Arts Center:

Bride's Grade: A/Groom's Grade: A

Did you guess right?

When I began researching venues, I had several criteria:

Ceremony could be held outside in a garden (my husband was adamant about this otherwise, it would be held at a church which I wasn't all that interested in doing)
Reception space could be inside and hold 200+ people
Venue would allow outside catering of some sort
Venue would allow us to bring our own alcohol
Venue costs would be no more than 18% of my budget

Once I started looking, it narrowed down my choices to about 5 places:

Atlanta Botanical Gardens
Piedmont Park
Cator Wolford Gardens
Callanwolde Arts Center
Villa Christina

Ultimately, we went with Callanwolde Arts Center because they fit almost EVERYTHING in the budget. It also allowed us to set up the children in a daycare room as it was a mansion with several rooms in the house. We did end up going over our venue budget as it took up 25% of the budget instead of the original 18%.

*Tip: If you go over budget in one area, make sure to make it up somewhere else. In our case, we made it up in photography, videography, and my dress budget.

We booked Callanwolde 13 months out from our wedding, and in that time, they changed 3 rental managers, however, it wasn't a headache to deal with at all as they made sure the transitions were simple and easy.

The best thing was Michael Rice, the event manager who spoke with us during our pre wedding meetings, rehearsal and the day of. Because our wedding was outside, we decided to rent chairs for people to sit (instead of on the steps; the chairs inside the venue are not for outdoor use). We were going to set the chairs up ourselves after the wedding rehearsal, but Michael and his team set them up for us, which we thanked God for as we knew it took quite a bit of work.

All in all, it was a GREAT choice and would definitely recommend this venue.

Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2012-01-03T15:05:00.000-05:00

I haven't seen an ankara outfit as a jumper, EVER. But this is SO cute! Not sure where I'd where it but I'm sure I could find some place. Enjoy!!

Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2011-12-27T15:02:00.000-05:00

If this isn't sophisticated, I don't know what is. I love the sleeves and the dress adds the right amount of sexiness. Enjoy!

I don't know where I got this picture from, but if it's yours, let me know and I'll give you credit.

Vendor Review: AlexK Events

2011-12-23T15:51:00.000-05:00

AlexK Events

Bride's Grade: A/Groom's Grade: A-

One of the must haves of must haves on a wedding day is day of coordinator (DOC).

I know that some feel it may not be in their budget, but it was the ONE thing that gave me peace of mind on the day of the wedding. If it's not in your budget, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE (for the love of God) use someone that you trust who will do it for free.

Kim of AlexK Events was an old college friend that I found out was now planning weddings on the side and decided to have her day of coordination for my wedding.

Starting 3 months out, she was there every step of the way. We had several meetings to discuss what needed to be done on the day of and reviewed things with the venue prior to the wedding day.

The day before the wedding she helped to coordinate the wedding rehearsal and the setup of the reception.

On the day of the wedding she was extremely instrumental in keeping everything organized. Being that this was her first Nigerian wedding, I told her that things could get REALLY crazy but she kept things in order even when things went a-rye with my caterer and didn't miss a beat.

I was so grateful to her being there and keeping everything together that I don't know what I would have done without her. I would recommend her to anyone!!

Wedding Recap, Part I - Wedding Weekend

2011-12-21T22:25:00.000-05:00

And let the detailed recaps begin....

Thursday, October 6

I woke up early to head over to Kinko's to get the ceremony programs and table numbers cut to size. It was a little hectic as I had to call 3 Kinko centers before heading there because either the center didn't have an electric machine cutter or they were too busy to do the job. Thankfully, the gentleman at the Kinko's I went to was very accommodating and did everything I needed. Unfortunately, I got some VERY bad news from the caterer by finding out that I actually had no chafing (warming) dishes for the food for the wedding. Finding this out was VERY stressful just 3 days before the wedding. I'll give more detail about this situation during my review of the caterer, but moving on.

I also picked up one of my bridesmaids on Thursday. Because I thought I had all the time in the world, I actually decided to take her bridal dress shopping for the majority of the day.

*Tip: Never underestimate the amount of time you have leading up to the day of the wedding.

After going bridal dress shopping, we stopped by my mother's home to drop off her reception dress that needed to be fitted. My mother was the one who made her dress, so she just needed to fit it closer to her body before the wedding.

After a long day, we made it back to my house at close to 10p. We stayed up to around 2a to put together the 105 ceremony programs and do a few of the 40 (we had 2 copies of each table number per table) table numbers that needed to be put together.

Friday, October 7

I woke up early again so I could start working on the table numbers. I got through a few more before my bridesmaid woke up and we needed to head out and pick up one of my friends from the airport. Initially, I was suppose to take my friend bridal dress shopping as well, but my bridesmaid convinced me that there wasn't enough time to work on DIY stuff AND go bridal dress shopping, so we nixed the shopping. After picking my friend up from the airport, I stopped by a floral shop to pick up 3 dozen roses for my DIY bouquet and toss bouquet then headed home to work on more last minute stuff.

With another hand on deck, we were able to finish the table numbers, sangria drink favors, and the ceremony arch (that unfortunately didn't get used, more on that later). It was another long day to finish last minute things, but thankfully, it got done. You can see the table numbers and sangria drink favors (with cork in the top) in use at the wedding.

At around 8p, my coordinator came by to help while I headed over to my hair stylist's house to get my braids put in. She actually helped to cut the majority of the fruit that was served during the cocktail hour (THANK GOD!!!). The style of braids that I actually put in is called interlocking (some call it treebraids) which only took a couple of hours.

Saturday, October 8

This day was going to be more busy than any other day. Everything was planned so well in my head, but it didn't really work out. This was the plan:

Rent a Uhaul for all of our decorations and rentals
Deliver it to the venue
Head to the wedding party luncheon
Go back to the venue for our wedding rehearsal and reception setup by 2p

The first thing that went wrong was that the Uhaul center was actually LATE in opening the store. My husband and I got there 5 minutes before they opened and when it came time to open the doors at 10a, no one was there. I was really SHOCKED that no one was there to open the store. Saying that I was livid would be an understatement, however, I tried to restrain myself from strangling someone. Someone did eventually come, but it was 10:30a before we got the Uhaul, throwing my day off by 30 precious minutes.

Source

After we got the Uhaul, we headed to the party rental store (thankfully, it was only 5 mins away) to pick up the chafing dishes (that were ordered 3 days before the wedding), glasses, and plates to be used for the buffet during the reception. We also were able to pick up the decorations that were being stored at my house, however, we were now running late to head to the wedding party luncheon which was to begin at 11:30a. At first, I tried to push it to 12p. When it got to be 11:30a, I went ahead and cancelled the wedding party luncheon altogether as there was no way that we would be able to get the Uhaul to the venue and drive to the luncheon by 12p. I was disappointed that my plans were not working out as I thought they would but it released some of the stress of the day.

We actually ended up arriving at the venue by 12:30p to drop off the decorations and decided to go ahead and start off loading everything from the truck. My husband, the event manager, along with the best man were taking things off the truck while I was discussing things with my coordinator who was going over last minute details with the venue staff. Unfortunately, the ceremony arch that we spent SO MUCH time building was destroyed in transit. We were unable to use the arch at all, but ultimately decided to take the flowers off the arch and put them in vases for the ceremony.

I requested a few of my hostesses, as well as my bridesmaids to help with setup on that day. So, we were able to get the reception setup done in 2 - 3 hours. After we setup the reception, all the bridesmaids and a few guests were suppose to head over to the bachelorette party.

I was informed by my in-laws, as well as my parents that my husband and I were expected to appear at separate dinners that the families were having at this time (who has time for that the day before the wedding). I was quite miffed at the fact that both families decided to have separate dinners that I wasn't informed about until the last minute to appear at. You would think that either family would have tried to find out what everyone's plans were to try and coordinate. Instead, everyone wanted to plan their own thing and just expect us to show up as if we had NOTHING else to do the day before the wedding.

REALLY?!?

At the end of the day, I showed up at my parent's house for 15 minutes, in which, they weren't even ready to entertain anyone. When I showed up at my in-laws home, they actually had all the pastors of the local church along with several family members ready to pray over us. My husband and I were very thankful of all the prayers that we received that evening.

I was finally able to head over to the bachelorette party by 9p were my sister (who unfortunately wasn't in town yet due to delayed flights and didn't arrive until 10:30p) had set up my spa night. While there, I got my mani/pedi, and a massage which was SO needed. I had a GREAT time at my bachelorette spa night, talking, chit chatting, and all that jazz.

I eventually headed home at about 12:30a in preparation for one of the biggest days of my life.

Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2011-12-20T14:58:00.000-05:00

I think some of you may remember when I was having my reception dress debacle and I considered doing my dress in a style VERY similar to this. I'm quite happy that I chose not to (as well of those of you who voted against) do my dress in this style as this is WAY too much, even for me.

Source

Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2011-12-13T14:55:00.000-05:00

So, I'm not big on the pink "X" in the front but I LOVE the ruffles. And of course, I'm all about the mermaid style of dress. I've yet to get a black African outfit in my arsenal and should really make efforts to do so. Enjoy!

Source

Vendor Review: Keith Hammock Photography

2011-12-09T12:21:00.000-05:00

Keith Hammock Photography

Bride's Grade: A+/Groom's Grade: A+

This BY FAR, was the best decision my husband and I made for the wedding! After booking our venue 2 months after we got engaged, we began setting up appointments to meet with photographers.

*FYI: I researched over 300 photographers for 6 months before choosing a photographer (what can I say...I'm thorough). When I'd gotten down to 10 photographers I liked, I actually showed the websites to my husband to narrow down who we'd like to meet which became 3 photographers.

Keith was the second photographer that we'd met in the 3 that we were going to interview. Keith lives in Macon but was willing to meet us halfway for the meeting which we were so happy about. When we met with Keith, we asked him key questions, including if he'd ever photographed an African wedding in which he stated that this would be his first if we chose him. He also showed us the albums he creates and informed us of what type of equipment he uses.

We didn't feel pressured at all and he let us know that we had plenty of time to make a decision. We signed with him 2 weeks later.

We planned on having our engagement session in late spring and we actually received our CD of pictures within a week of the session. The pictures turned out phenomenal.

We looked forward to our wedding day in which 2 weeks before the wedding day, I provided him a detailed timeline of the day, as well as some must-have shots. On the day of the wedding, he came EARLY with his wife Flecia, who assisted him in taking photos. He made sure to get the photos on the list (or at least ask if I still wanted to take the photo) and seemed to be getting pictures of everything.

At the end, I received almost 1500 photos, as well as 30 retouched photos. I am more than pleased with his work and will recommend him to anyone who will hear. He went above and beyond for us and I thank him for it.

Giveaway Winner!

2011-12-08T22:09:00.001-05:00

Out of everyone w!ho took the quiz, only 2 people got all of the answers right.

Our giveaway winner is

RUTH!!!

I've emailed you and hope to hear from you regarding where to send your gift.

Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2011-12-06T14:44:00.000-05:00

Now THIS here is right up my alley. The so ever popular one shoulder with the different layers AND it's asymmetrical. Some would say this has too much going on but this would be perfect for me. Enjoy!

Source

Aso-ebi Outfit of the Week

2011-11-29T16:39:00.000-05:00

I wish outfits like this would look this good on me, but I tend to notice that I look better with form fitting outfits. Nevertheless, this is VERY cute and I might try this style anyways. Enjoy!!

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Giveaway Reminder!

2011-11-29T14:35:00.001-05:00

Don't forget that I have the My Wedding Giveaway going!

You have a chance to win a $25 Visa Gift Card!

Click here to access the REALLY quick quiz.

Good luck!

Wedding Quiz Giveaway

2011-11-22T17:45:00.001-05:00

So I mentioned some months ago that I didn't want to clue you into everything during the planning stages because I was going to have a giveway. Now that the wedding is over and you've seen a few aspects, here's your chance at the giveaway.

I'm going to ask a few questions that relate to my wedding and if you paid attention to the last few posts, you will have the answers for it.

*If you are viewing this through you're GoogleFeed, you must go to the website to complete the quiz*

Based on the most correct answers, a winner will be chosen. If there is a tie, the winner will be drawn at random using random.org. And one more stipulation....you must be a follower of the blog either through Facebook or Google.

The winner will receive a $25 Visa Gift Card and it must be completed by November 29, 11:59p. Good luck!!!