Our blogger couple Ruth and Ayo are moving things along! (Catch up here!)
So, it was funny the other day someone was asking us what was happening with the wedding. Now while we’ve felt very at peace, and being enjoying the process, we did realize that for our family and friends some of them may have been wondering if they’d missed anything as we did in fact get engaged in February!
We’re excited to have set a date in September 2018 so this past month was the time we wanted to start involving those closest to us and invite them along this once in a lifetime journey for us. The starting point for us was thus announcing our bridal party.
For months, we had gone back and forth on exactly how many family and friends we wanted on our bridal train. And as such, the difference in our personalities was apparent. Ruth is an introvert and Ayo being very much the extrovert would have wanted a good 15/20 guys on as part of his #Groomsquad! But the one thing we could agree on was that we wanted to have an even number (so Ayo is learning fast the first rule of marriage – happy wife, happy life!) so we settled on 7 each.
HOW WE CHOSE OUR BRIDAL PARTY
We always say that investing in people is the greatest investment we can make so for us, those who we count as friends we really see as family and that’s why we wanted to carefully think, pray and discuss for months who we would choose to join us.
We wanted it to be people who have really been our ride or dies, who have been there for us in the toughest moments of life but also celebrated with us during the best times in our life and those who have been a source of support, wisdom and encouragement to us as a couple. We also felt it was important to have people that we knew would gel well together and make the experience of getting married one that was stress free and those who we know would really make the #turnup real. Particularly as we’re Nigerian, dancing in at the traditional engagement and real wedding are a big deal so that (especially for Ayo haha!) was important.
WHY WE WANTED TO GIFT THEM
Once we’d chosen our bridal party, we decided early on that we really wanted our family and friends to feel like we were celebrating their involvement in our lives as much as they were celebrating our union. We’ve often heard horror stories of when people give up so much time and money to be on someone’s bridal train and it ends up being a horrible experience.
Ruth worked with our designer to have our wedding monogram designed a few months ago so the first step was creating the cards which she would give to her maid of honours and bridesmaids. Next, we each reached out to two pretty cool brands who we’d taken notice of a few weeks before and wanted to collaborate with.
#BrideSquad
PrettyNPersonal – So in October I went to the National Wedding Show and I came across this incredible brand called Pretty N Personal. Their stuff was so elegant and immediately I knew I would want to gift the girls with some of their stuff. They supplied the stunning boxes, makeup bags and personalized glasses.
Gifts N Petals – My future sister-in-law came across this brand based in Nigeria and immediately I contacted them. They were lovely to work with and supplied the personalised mirrors, hair brushes and slippers.
#GroomSquad
Pen Heaven –So I thought I would follow suit in line with my OTT bride (!) and gift my boys something to commemorate so I thought what better way to do it than with some pretty cool personalised pens. Given most of my boys are entrepreneurs I thought it would be a good thing to gift them something stylish and classy but at the same time a bit novel.
Solesmith (Socks) – Anyone who knows me knows that I have a prediction for funky socks and so some personalised socks from Solesmiths were for me a perfect addition.
ANNOUNCING THE BRIDESMAIDS
So, for my bridesmaid announcement, I wanted to make a huge deal of it (#standard!). So, I told the girls a range of stories from it being that I wanted to have a late celebration of my birthday so we wall went out for dinner and drinks. Once they were all seated, said I just needed to get something and then brought out the boxes. The look of shock on their faces, the tears and the screams – wow it made the planning of the last few months – SO worth it! Some were shocked at the proposal itself and others by the detail. To have my girls who really are my sisters during this whole process is something I don’t take for granted at all and I can’t wait for all the other adventures!
ANNOUNCING THE GROOMSMEN
So, as a guy I’m quite different and if I’d had my way, I would have happily announced the #Groomsquad with little fuss. While Ruth decided a nice dinner would be her mode of breaking the news, I decided on a far simpler means – via telephone! And then posted the gifts to my boys.
WHAT THIS MEANS AND NEXT STEPS
So now that we’ve got the announcement out of the way, we’re looking forward to the next step as we finalise the venue and dates. We’re looking forward to checking in with you for the next stage of the journey!
