Real {UK} Wedding: Ade + Yomi

Today’s wedding was originally featured in the Spring/Summer 2011 print edition.  The bride and groom are both originally from Nigeria but grew up in the UK.  It was in medical school, although Yomi was 4 years ahead of Ade, that the couple first laid eyes on one another.  Eight years later, they tied the knot in classic style with the most refreshing color palette of mint green, white and ivory.  The images were photographed impeccably by Anna Rosell.  Meet the couple.

Ade’s bouquet contained peonies, freesias, eustoma roses, agapanthus, stephanotis and carnations, and had a collar of variegated hosta leaves and neatly tied with a bow of white satin ribbon.

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By Kaylyn Eshesimua

What happens when you mix the art of medicine and the workings of love? Just ask couple Ade Adeniyi and Yomi Agbaje. The two met while attending medical school in London and together in the midst of becoming family physicians, kindled an enchanted romance fit for royalty. So began their courtship, which eventually, crowned into a surprise wedding proposal on January 29, 2009 during a lovely dinner at one of the most exquisite restaurants London has to offer. In front of all to watch, Yomi had their waiter for the evening reappear, lift the lid off the platter and to Ade’s astonishment, a Tiffany’s jewelry box was presented in front of her while Yomi on bended knee asked Ade to spend the rest of his life with her. ”All I could do was stare at the box, I didn’t even notice when Yomi left his seat and came to kneel right next to me,” said Ade. “I am not quite sure what his proposal words were exactly as I was just so shocked and surprised by the whole thing. He did ask me to marry him and of course I said yes.” Consulting with friends and family while also looking at their own busy work schedules, Ade and Yomi set their wedding date on August 7, 2010. Knighting herself as an organized person, Ade chose to enjoy the process of planning their grand-scale wedding herself, however, she did encounter a few obstacles on the way. “The biggest obstacle was trying to keep within budget,” said Ade. “However, our overall budget did double by the time we got married – weddings are so much more expensive than we thought!” Fortunately, finding the locations and other wedding ideas was no trouble at all for Ade, as she had accommodated help from a particular wedding website. “I found The Knot website very useful,” said Ade. “It gave me plenty of guidance when it came to budgeting, choosing a theme and design ideas, meeting with vendors, etc.” The wedding events started on the evening of August 6, 2009 in Greenwich London. Ade and Yomi celebrated their traditional engagement ceremony surrounded by close family and friends. “It followed all the usual cultural acts that would have taken place as if were we getting married back in Nigeria,” said Ade. The following day, although rain showers had taken its toll, nothing was going to dampen Ade and Yomi’s high spirits on their noble day. The ceremony was held at the Holy Trinity Church in Wandsworth, London, where bountiful floral arrangements and large bunches of lilies tied with oversized bows adorned the pews. The maid of honor and bridesmaids wore sage green strapless dresses and silver heels and the groomsman wore charcoal grey suits with matching mint green ties, befitting for their silver, green, ivory and white color scheme. As the classical song, “Cannon in D” by Pachelbel filled the atmosphere, Ade, wearing an ivory La Sposa wedding gown walked down the aisle with her father as Yomi, dressed in a three piece light grey suit paired with a mint green tie waited gracefully ahead. “The church was beautifully candlelit as I walked in with my father,” said Ade. “I couldn’t stop the tears. I was just so overwhelmed by the fact that this day that we had been working and planning and arguing for had finally arrived.” Once Ade and Yomi were officially pronounced husband and wife, the two exited the church to the song “The Wedding March” all while chiming church bells and joyous guests cheered in glorious harmony. “It had thankfully stopped raining by this point and we were able to get some lovely pictures at the church,” said Ade. Following the ceremony, all 300 guests were escorted into a storybook setting as they entered the Hurlington Club, a private members club in Fulham London. The reception decorations designed by the event planning company, Invisible Blue, provided a central canopy design with swags of white voile drapes and circular chandeliers over the central dance floor, ceiling and the French doors around the edge of the reception room. “I had seen some pictures on the Internet and in some bridal magazines of the type of look I was going for,” said Ade. “With a little tweaking from the designer, we pretty much were able to achieve our look. The party included appetizers and cocktails and then an elaborate seated dinner of jollof and fried rice, plantains, beef with oxtail, roast chicken, red snapper and roasted vegetables. Guest also enjoyed a five tier lemon and vanilla round cake covered in crystals, pearls and lace motif details. “We wanted food that would not only be beautiful and easy to eat at a wedding but would also suit our Nigerian and non Nigerian friends and family,” said Ade. In addition to being wined and dined with an ultimate feast, guests had an added treat of hearing a live jazz band, a Nigerian band and a dj throughout the entire evening. “The dancing was out of control,” said Ade. “We even had a boy versus girl dance off!” Although their majestic celebration had come to an end, Ade and Yomi had plenty of time to look back on their special as they traveled to Malaysia and Singapore for their honeymoon stay. “If we had to do it all over again we would ask for sunshine, otherwise we would not change a thing!” [/tab]
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