Real Wedding - Nana & Akinola

Today's real wedding feature is on Nana & Akinola. I found their wedding on Essence and I thought it was really nice! Ghanaian Nana Eyeson and Nigerian Akinola Akiwowo dated for two years before getting married. Akinola actually proposed to Nana on New Jersey Transit. She wasn't expecting it because they had actually just finished argueing! The two lovebirds became husband and wife on July 18, 2009 at the urban chic Mezzanine in Newark, New Jersey.

“The theme of our wedding was African chic, which can easily be translated into "Coming to America,” the bride explains with a laugh. “We were very adamant about keeping the look of the wedding clean,” she adds.

For her dress, Nana actually added an ivory satin sash and two Swarovski crystal brooches to her wedding gown for a couture touch. The bride and groom also changed into a second look for their big day...Nigerian garb that was purchased during a trip to the country.

To cut cost on the wedding cake, the couple purchased a smaller elaborate cake for pictures and served a much less expensive sheet cake for the bulk of their guests.

I loved the dark purple and ivory together! Check out some of the lovely pics from their big day!

Propose in Essence!!

So I doubt many men are browsing my blog, so all you ladies out there who have male friends or family members who are thinking about proposing soon and want to do it in a big way, proposing in Essence is a great idea!

Go to Essence.com for more details!

Enter today! Here's how:
1. Tell us what makes her so extra special and why you want to surprise her with a proposal in ESSENCE.
2. Send your submission in English to marryme@essence.com no later than 11:59 ET October 31, 2009, along with your full name, address, daytime and evening phone numbers and a photo of you and your lady.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal male residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 19 years or older at the time of entry. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. For official rules, go to ESSENCE.com.

Real Wedding - Kimberly & Omar

Today's real wedding feature is on Kimberly & Omar Finley. The lovely pair met the winter of 1998 at a party while attending Hampton University. But soon after meeting, they had a slight mishap and Kim cut all ties with him. Fast forward to February 2001, Omar had just been introduced with an investment opportunity and while on the computer placing an order, Kim approached him and asked what he was doing. "And that was the beginning of forever" says Omar. Shortly after, they took a 8 hr road trip to Atlanta and talked the entire time. By the end of the trip, they were best friends. That weekend, Kimberly's grandmother had a party and Kimberly's gift was singing her grandmothers favorite song. When Omar looked at Kimberly and heard her voice that day, he said he knew he was in the same room with his wife.

Omar proposed to Kimberly on Oct 6, 2004 in a simple & intimate way. Omar initially planned a romantic evening out on the town that night but since Kimberly had such a grueling day at work, she begged him to agree that they just go to his house and watch a movie. After the movie was over, Omar presented Kimberly with a box that had a dress in it. He asked her to try it on and model it for him and she agreed. As she walked towards him, he got down on one knee and with the sincerest heart asked her to be his wife and of course her answer was "YES! YES! YES!"

On May 21, 2005, the lovebirds wed at Trinity United Methodist Church in Atlanta, GA in front of 405 guests! Their reception was held at the Atrium at the City Hall in downtown Atlanta. Their colors were salmon, pink, & lilac.

Kimberly joins the DIY Club because her and her mother made the parting gifts for the guests. The gifts were round miniature silver boxes with clear lids/tops. Inside the containers were pink and lilac M&M's. They topped each container off with a lilac or pink bow.

Kimberly made a beautiful bride and they make a wonderful couple together.
Check out a few pics from their big day!

My Bridal Shower!

This past weekend was my bridal shower hosted by one of my maid of honors/BF, Jackie. My mom, lil sis, and so many of my friends helped out so much! (thanks guys!:) I was soo overjoyed that so many people came out to celebrate this big occassion with me. I am truly blessed and thankful to God to have such wonderful, inspiring, and genuine people in my life!!

Now of course, they all joked on me because I did alot of the decorating myself before they even got there to setup! lol ... But the touches my friends added made it all perfect! Special thanks to Jackie for putting it all together, Karee (our future caterer to the stars) for making all the great food, Candace (suiteofsweets.blogspot.com)for doing the cake and cupcakes & Sonya for organizing the Bachelorette fun we had after the shower! :)

So check out a few pics below!

My Bridal Shower sign


Me!


Me & my mom


Me and my lil sis/One of my Maids of Honor


Me(after crying) and Jackie, Maid of Honor & Hostess of Bridal Shower


Cupcake tower (Done by Candace - suiteofsweets.blogspot.com)


Personalized Water Bottles


Opening gifts


Room decor


Group Shot


Favors


Ice Cream Sundae station


Pic of Armond & I

DIY Project #5 - Inexpensive Party Decorations

Today's DIY posting will highlight a few inexpensive ideas you can do to decorate a birthday party, baby shower, bridal shower, or any other kind of event!

#1 - Chairs
If you are having an event and you need to rent chairs for it, alot of people totally rule out metal folding chairs. Why? Because generally they look sooo regular. But there is an inexpensive way to jazz up your regular folding chairs...and the magic word is TULLE! Tulle runs about $0.97 to $1.30 a yd depending on where you go and its a very inexpensive way to add some pop to them. I bought pink & white tulle from Walmart and used around 1.5 to 2 yards or so on each chair. Cut out your tulle for each chair and lay on floor, then start tying it in double knots around each one. If you want, you could also do a bow! (but that may require a bit more tulle around each chair!



#2 Welcome Sign
For certain celebrations, you may want to do a welcome sign or a sign announcing the occasion. This is a very simple thing to do and it really adds a nice touch to an event. First, you will need a black styrofoam board which can be purchased at Michaels for about $4.99, fabric of your choice, spray glue, ribbon (if desired), and a computer to print out your signage. I used two types of fabric and black ribbon for mine so I will explain how I did my version.

Cut out the fabric you want to use for middle piece. Use spray glue to stick it on foamboard.


Cut out equal amounts of the second fabric you want to use and glue that to each side. It doesnt have to be a perfect cut, the ribbon will cover that up.


Next take your ribbon (I used 4 inch wide ribbon) and glue it on each side covering up the line made by your outer fabric.


Print up your wording in Powerpoint or any other program you have, cut it out, and glue it on as you desire. You can add pics as well. The choice is up to you..and wallah you have your sign ready for posting! You can hang it up or place it on an easal as I did.

#3 Personalized Water Bottles


This is another super easy project and its become very popular at bridal showers, birthday parties, and baby showers. To create your own personalized water bottles...you just need a computer and the biggest key is you need WATERPROOF adhesive paper. I ordered mine from www.papilio.com (a 10 pk for $11 or so)
The reason you need the waterproof adhesive paper is because if you use regular sticker paper, the ink will run and completely ruin your label once you put it refrigerator or in ice bucket. If you are not chilling the water bottles, then regular sticker paper is fine.

Basically all ya have to do is determine what size you want your labels to be. I created my labels using powerpoint and did 6 to a sheet. The design is up to you. Just play around with size and print out some test sheets. There are some free templates online that you can use also. I will try to find one and attach link.

#4 Hanging tissue paper flowers from ceiling
Making tissue paper flowers is a very inexpensive and easy thing to do to decorate a party! Depending on how many you want to do, it can be very time consuming...but the final outcome makes its all worth it. This was my first time trying to hang them from ceiling and I loved the way it came out. It really makes a room pop! After you finish making them, all you need to hang them are thumbtacks and some clear fishing line which I purchased at Wal-Mart for $3.00. Tie the string around the center of your tissue paper flower and tack up in ceiling. For some variation, make your strings different lengths so they wont all be hanging at same level.

Check out a before and after pic of my bridal shower.

BEFORE

AFTER


So now you see, with a few small touches, you can make a room look lovely inexpensively!