Celebrating the beauty and vibrance of their cultures, Bunmi and Kiran wed at their vibrant multicultural wedding which beautifully blended traditional Hindu and Nigerian wedding customs!
Bunmi and Kiran’s modern romance started online. It didn’t take long for them to hit it off. From their first conversation full of witty banter and laughs, they both knew there was something special between them.
Bunmi and Kiran knew they wanted to get married before the proposal and bought a ring together around Christmas. Months passed and Bunmi began to grow impatient, as she felt a bit lonely since she was studying in San Francisco, far away from Kiran who was in Brooklyn. On Valentine’s Day, Kiran surprised Bunmi by flying to San Francisco for an extended visit. However, on that day, there was still no proposal. Kiran was waiting for the perfect moment.
Since he was staying for some time, we planned a trip to Los Angeles for vacation so I could meet some of his college friends. And on the very last day, hours before we caught our flight back, Kiran proposed to me on a quiet beach in Malibu. It was perfect.
– Bunmi
Kiran and Bunmi’s multicultural wedding celebration was all about honoring and blending their cultures. Their day featured a traditional Hindu ceremony, an abbreviated Nigerian traditional engagement, dancing, and traditional Nigerian and Indian wedding attire.
We shared everything from our clothing, wedding traditions, and music from India and Nigeria. And especially FOOD! We both come from cultures that love lots of spice, color, and flavor in our food so we made sure our guests left full and all got to try something new and tasty!
– Bunmi
Learn more about Bunmi and Kiran’s multicultural wedding and see the beautiful details below!
- Couple: Kiran & Bunmi
- Occupations: Education Tech Company Customer Success | Physician
- Wedding date: June 9, 2023
- Wedding location: Crystal Plaza, Livingston, NJ
Quick Facts:
- Gifts for bridesmaids and groomsmen: We didn’t have a wedding party in the traditional sense, but it was amazing to see so many friends and family that we hadn’t seen in so long travel from far away to celebrate with us. We honored our close friends with gold-colored gele and fila and everyone looked so good!
- Gifts for one another: Keeping this one a secret ;)
- Ceremony entrance song: “Big Pimpin'” by Jay Z…it was always gonna be this song! It’s from an inside joke from when we first started talking.
- First dance song: Our surprise first dance was to “Buga (LoLo)” by Kizz Daniel to open the dance floor
How did you meet?
Like most modern romances we met online, but from our first chat full of laughs and witty banter, we knew we had something special. We went out for tacos and ended the weeknight date at a rooftop bar. And now, here we are!
Tell us about the proposal.
Months before the actual proposal, we already knew we wanted to get married so we bought a ring together around Christmas time. Fast forward a few months and we still weren’t engaged so I guess I was starting to get antsy. This was during COVID in early 2021. I had been living in San Francisco that year to complete my medical training and feeling quite a bit lonely since Kiran was back home in Brooklyn.
Guess who surprised me on Valentine’s Day! He’d flown across the country and managed to keep it a secret! It was an amazing surprise, but still no proposal. Since he was staying for some time, we planned a trip to Los Angeles for vacation so I could meet some of his college friends. And on the very last day, hours before we caught our flight back, Kiran proposed to me on a quiet beach in Malibu. It was perfect.
Describe your wedding style.
So now we’re planning this big multicultural wedding and trying to decide what to wear was a challenge. Believe us, if it were up to our families we would have had at least three outfit changes! We decided what was most important to us was that we represent both of our cultures, Indian and Nigerian with our attire while also navigating two different faith ceremonies.
Kiran wore a beautiful cream-colored sherwani (traditional long suit) for the traditional Hindu ceremony. For my saree, I chose the light silver color as a nod to the traditional “white” wedding dress that I was forgoing, and loved the yellow for some summer brightness.
For the Christian ceremony, we made some small changes, like Kiran removing his hat and adding a boutonniere and me adding a bouquet for a nice touch. After the morning ceremonies, we changed into traditional Nigerian aso oke for the reception which included a shortened version of a Nigerian Traditional engagement. We found some great accessories, particularly from Etsy sellers, to set off both of our outfits.
What was the wedding shopping experience like for you?
Once we decided on the colors and the two outfits figuring out where to get them from was the next task. For the Aso oke, our planner, Feyisola, pointed us to Shadiat who helped us design the fabric and final looks. I also spent a lot of time on Pinterest collecting ideas! This wasn’t going to be my first time wearing Indian attire but it was my first saree, so we did try on some different designs at event clothing stores in Edison, NJ to get psyched up. This also helped us to get a sense of what we wanted.
With our wishlist in mind, Kiran’s mom was instrumental in helping us purchase our Indian attire during a trip she took to India. We spent a lot of time on WhatsApp Video together! The most difficult part of shopping was fitting since we were not able to travel and be present when our outfits were purchased or made, so we had to spend some time at the tailors during the last few weeks before the wedding. Luckily, everything came out looking great!
Culture:
Our wedding was all about celebrating our culture. We shared everything from our clothing, wedding traditions, and music from India and Nigeria. And especially FOOD! We both come from cultures that love lots of spice, color, and flavor in our food so we made sure our guests left full and all got to try something new and tasty!
What is your best memory from your wedding?
We had planned a surprise choreographed dance to open the dance floor for the evening and we were so relieved when we pulled it off! It was the last step of the night for us before we could fully relax, dance, and enjoy, so when we finished we had a moment when we were like “We did it!” That was one of my favorite parts of the whole day.
What is the best advice you can give to engaged couples?
Trust each other first! Take the time to learn about, respect, and love each other’s cultural traditions. Decide together what you’re comfortable with, and be clear about what you want with those who are there to help you. Some parts of planning will drive you mad so be sure you two can laugh your way through it and have fun.
Looking for more traditional Hindu and Nigerian wedding inspiration?
Click here!
Vendors:
- Photography: HAK Weddings
- Planning & Design: Statuesque Events
- Venue: Crystal Plaza
- Bride’s Makeup: Brides by Melanie B
- Bridesmaid Makeup: Liv Beaute
- Saree Draping: Dhara Saree Draping
- Indian catering: Mogul Catering
- Nigerian catering: Bolas Kitchen
- Decor: Mandaps by Dhoom
- Cake: A’s Exquisite Cake
- Nigerian Attire: Shadiat Alasooke
- DJ: Mike Music
- Nigerian Gele tying: Ggeemakeovers
- Men’s Indian attire: manyavar.com
- Henna: Henna by Riddhi
- Nigerian Jewelry: 3JSUNISEXFABRICS
- Indian Jewelry: Kushals
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