Jamila and Nigel’s love story began dancing to the sounds of a traditional Trinidadian band during a cultural parade in Los Angeles. Having just moved from New York City to the City of Angels, Jamila and her sister were having difficulty finding the band’s meeting location at the start of the parade. Fate it would seem decided to intervene, placing Nigel in their path to offer some guidance. Initially declining his help they eventually found what they were looking, and for Jamila, she also found what she didn’t then realize she was also looking for – Nigel, already there. As the parade began and the music played in full swing, Jamila and Nigel “danced and laughed and danced some more,” becoming “immediately intrigued with one another.” That intrigue became friendship, and friendship over time became romance…
Continue reading about Jamila & Nigel’s love story, proposal, and wedding aspirations in their perfectly picturesque Malibu engagement – expertly captured by MunaLuchi Coterie member Stanley Babb of Stanlo Photography. See the complete vendor list below and view the entire image gallery here.
Bride & Groom-to-be: Jamila & Nigel
Occupations: Marketing Director & Actor /Graphic Designer
Wedding date: June 2, 2018
Wedding location: Parkland, FL
Location of Engagement shoot: Malibu, CA
Tell us how you met and all about the proposal. Both Nigel and I have Caribbean heritage. I had recently relocated to Los Angeles from NYC to start a new job. My sister and I decided to participate in a local cultural parade with a traditional Trinidadian band. We struggled to find the band meeting location and we ran in to Nigel who offered to guide us to the meet up. Being the strong, independent women we are we declined his help. Eventually, we found the location by chance, and we ran into the same guy who graciously offered us help earlier that morning. During the parade we danced and laughed and danced some more. We became immediately intrigued with one another and it blossomed into a friendship. After a few months we went to a beautiful restaurant in Malibu on the water and Nigel asked me to be his girlfriend.
It will be this same exact spot 2 years later where he would also nervously ask me to be his wife. As the sun set in the background on our anniversary, my love read me a beautiful poem about his intentions for our life and then asked me to marry him. To my surprise his thoughtfulness didn’t end there. We returned home that evening to a beautiful gathering of friends and family from all over the country to celebrate with us. And for those who could not make it, he created a video message. It was beautiful!
Describe your engagement session. We wanted to capture our love in three ways; Strength, Love and Grace. First we wanted to show our strength as a couple with a picturesque mountain view. We wanted to show our softer side and the fun we had with a beach shoot, and then finally we wanted to show our grace with a landmark Hollywood location. You can’t tell from the pictures but it was freezing! We drove out to a beautiful remote park in Malibu, CA. We hiked about 2 miles to the top of the mountain (in my dress and Nike’s!).
We decided to do an evening shoot at the beach to provide some variety and then we went to a Los Angeles staple, the LACMA. The whole day was very long but fun and we were able to lean on each other to get thru the challenges in the weather and just be supportive of one another.
What did you do on your first date? Our very first “date” I invited him to meet me with some friends at the beach. He showed up with a full fruit platter and I just thought that was so awesome! But our first solo date, we went to get some Caribbean food and then went to a lounge to listen to music and have drinks.
What’s your favorite thing to do as a couple? We love to have fun! We have a whole catalog of karaoke songs that we perform together. It’s annoying for other folks but it’s totally fun for us. We also love movies and interesting shows, we have movie nights and binge watch tv shows on demand.
How has wedding planning been so far? It’s been pretty good! We really value each other’s support and I love that my groom is helping probably more than the average. I would not be able to get so much done with out him, my sisters, bridesmaids, the moms and my wedding planner.
Tell us what you’re looking forward to most on the wedding day. Being with friends and family! Family is very important to us and I am really excited to share this moment with them. I look forward to good food and dancing my butt off.
Congratulations to Jamila and Nigel as they join together as husband and wife this June 2nd!
Vendors:
Photography: Stanley Babb
Makeup Artistry: AJ Crimson
Hair/Styling: Patrikk / Safiyyah Fatin
a beautiful mountain see. We needed to demonstrate our gentler side and the fun we had with a shoreline shoot, and after that at long last we needed to demonstrate our elegance with a milestone Hollywood area. You can’t tell from the photos however it was frigid! We drove out to a delightful.