An Elegant Multi-Cultural Wedding in North Carolina -Munaluchi Bride

For many people college is a time for discovering yourself, for exploring, and more often than not, for falling in love. For college sweethearts Elena Sloan and Chike Nwankwo, love found them on the campus of University of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill where Chike was a junior and Elena a sophomore. They found each other at Elena’s off campus housing cafe where the two immediately became intrigued and hit it off instantly.

With Elena being such a private and emotional person, she expressed to Chike that if they were to ever take the next step in their relationship, she didn’t want a big cinematic production of a proposal. She would just want the moment to be intimate, personal and from the heart. So on the weekend of June 7th 2013, Chike decided it was the perfect time to make this next step. It would be Elena’s parents’ pastoral anniversary, and Chike figured she would never suspect it as it wasn’t your typical birthday or holiday proposal. Chike prepared himself and informed Elena’s best friend and both of their parents about what he was about to do. The couple traveled to Elena’s hometown where Chike was able to pop the question with only the most important people in her life around her. Elena was totally surprised and her mom really appreciated being able to be there to witness such a special moment. For the remainder of the night, Elena celebrated by calling everyone to share the awesome news while Chike slept the remainder of the night away as the hardest task to date was officially complete.

The happy couple tied the knot on June 24, 2014 at The Hall and Gardens at Landmark, Garner, NC with a multicultural mix celebration. Chike is Nigerian, so they made sure to incorporated some of the Nigerian welcoming and celebratory traditions into the reception. The entire day was captured by Photographer/Videographer Bluebox Weddings showcasing the days festivities and celebrations. This elegant Coral and Gold wedding was the perfect blend of two cultures exhibiting the softness and intimacy them both along with their fun vibrant side. Congratulations to the newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Nwankwo who exhibited such an elegant and beautiful mix of the two cultures.

Quick Facts

Wedding Date: 06/21/2014
Wedding location: The Hall and Gardens at Landmark, Garner, NC
Wedding Flowers: Peonies, Roses, Hydrangea
Wedding Theme: Elegant and romantic. I wanted to use nice warm colors since it was a June wedding, coral and gold were the primary colors.
Wedding Menu Favorite: The Dessert Bar!
Bridesmaids Gifts: Personalized Robes for the Bridesmaids
Groomsmen Gifts: Custom Flasks for the Groomsmen

Wedding Style

My wedding dress was the Amour gown by Kenneth Pool. It featured a sweetheart neckline, embellished natural waist, and full skirt. My favorite wedding accesory was a tie between my actual wedding dress and my bird cage veil I wore at the reception.

Most Memorable Moment

When we made our grand entrance into the reception, Chike kept dancing and we danced the entire song which wasn’t even our first dance but we were both in the moment and everyone was cheering it was so much fun.

Wedding Advice

My best advice is to just enjoy the day. Everyone says it but it is really true, the day will go by so fast! Also just know that in the end, even when things don’t go exactly as planned, your guest will have no idea and will think it was an awesome wedding regardless.