Updates from Malta...

Hello everyone ! Greetings from Malta :)

First off, the trip from Pittsburgh, albeit delayed went off well. One of my friends, E sent me off in style by having a very nice car service take me off to the airport.
The flight from Pittsburgh to NJ went pretty well - I slept throughout though, so I don't know if I'm in a position to judge the quality of the flight ;), but my pre-wedding dress had an entire overhead cabin to itself, so that was awesome.

Arrived in NJ, and was promply met by my friend and bridesmaid's sister, Shirley, (who can't make it to Malta because of she's starting B-school at Wharton and has some pre-school stuff). She whisked me off to pick up my dress, which had been beautifully packed. Thanks to the wonderful ladies at Something Special bridals - Lisa, Lynda and their mom, Irene.

Made it back to the airport and went to check-in, thankfully the nice Lufthansa attendant, turned a blind eye to my excess handluggage - I'm only allowed 1 but I had my purse, my little stroller, my huge wedding dress bag and pre-wedding dress bag...Sadly though no upgrade for me, my dresses did however, fly in the first-class cabin. The flight attendants on the flight from EWR to MUC were so excited to keep watch over my prized possessions, while I slept throughout the entire flight .

Made it to Munich, safely and geez, the airport is big or maybe because I had to lug my two dress bags, roller suitcase carry-on and oversize purse across the airport (a picture of me would have been awesome here, but just thought about it, oh well).

The flight attendants on Air Malta from MUC to MLA were even more fantastic, I got an upgrade without even asking! As soon as I got on the plane with my dresses, they promptly cleared closet up front for one of my dresses, and strapped the other across three first class seats :) then asked me for my seat # (20F, way in the back) and he said why don't you just sit up here :) Yay me !

Finally made it to Malta :) KOK and 9 of his groomsmen arrived shortly after, and I immediately distributed all my heavy stuff to the men. Actually didn't even grab my bags from the carousel until they arrived.

Now for the horrible news, remember my make-up trial from a few weeks ago? She cancelled on me ! Yup you read that right, 4 days to my wedding and my make-up artist cancelled ! Long story here with lots of excuses. I just simply asked for my deposit back and didn't engage in any conversations. It may seem like I'm pretty calm, but I was livid and unfortunately KOK got the short-end yesterday... Will update on the status of the make-up saga tomorrow...

I did however have my hair trial today at Alfie's Hair & Beauty Salon, I don't remember the lady's name but will get it when I post pictures from the actual wedding... She did a great job and I really liked it. She didn't use any product in my hair for the trial since it's a weave and I won't be washing it. I have quite a few of my guests attending the wedding who read my blog but nonetheless, I'll put up a few teaser pictures for my blogville friends :)
BTW, yes I did finally find someone in Pittsburgh to do my weave for me, although I had found folks in other places, last minute issues didn't allow me to leave Pittsburgh to do my hair. Thanks to my friend Ms. O for the hook-up ;)

top view

view with the famous veil ;)

Ok folks - that's all for now. It's 1.11am in Malta and the bride really should be getting some beauty sleep :)

Checklist updates...

Today it's 3 weeks and 3 days left until I'm Mrs. A :) . This is the home stretch -the destination is in view -  I can't wait :) 


A couple of updates and checks off the to-do list: 

1. Over the weekend, I picked up my bridesmaids dresses for distribution - I have bridesmaids all over. I dropped off the ones going to London with my sis-in-law's sister (she's headed there this weekend), mailed one to a bridesmaid in St. Louis, MO and will mail off the two going to Nigeria this weekend to one of KOK's cousins (she's headed to Lagos next week). 
2. Had my last fitting - no pictures until after the wedding sorry - my veil also came in (veil part 1 & part 2), and everything looked gorgeous together - I'll be picking up at the end of the month, a few days before I fly out to Malta. I'm having slight panic attacks about that, hoping for some nice flight attendants on the Lufthansa flight, and hey, if it's not too much to ask, a free upgrade ;). Tried to upgrade with my FF miles but because my ticket is a heavily discounted group rate for the wedding, it's not eligible for upgrade awards :( . 
3. The RSVP's are still coming in, but the guest list is a moving target, but that's a story for another update - look out later this week. See the RSVP tracker at the top left of the page...
4. I am still unsure about my hair ! It's natural and I either wear it out as a fro (see pictures below) or in braids. Do not let the pictures deceive, it shrinks A LOT ! It's actually about 6"+ when straightened and I can put in a little ponytail... I'm planning to have a weave done, but no idea where to get it done. So if you know any great hair stylists in the Philadelphia, NJ (Jersey City area), NYC or even Baltimore, DC area please leave me a message. I am desperate ! 
5. Finally, had my make-up trial as well with Sade of HauteLook by Sadé. She's KOK's cousin, and will be doing my make-up for the wedding weekend festivities. Here are some pictures : I think I'll keep the pink instead of the red lips? What do you think? I'll do the red lips for the pre-wedding party on the Saturday before the wedding... 

Wedding Wednesday - Traditional Wedding Recap 1

I posted the link to view pictures from our traditional wedding earlier this week. Over the next few weeks, I'll be doing a recap of the events of the day.  


Today, I'll start with the first outfit I wore. First off, I did not see the outfit until the morning of the event. Among the Yoruba people, apparently, the grooms family is responsible for providing all that the bride wears that day. I use the word apparently because during the course of our traditional wedding coming together, there were many different opinions and some of my family felt it was their responsibility to dress me as I should come out in my own clothes as I was not married yet. The issues were resolved, and I wore the clothes provided by the K's family.
Since I hadn't seen the outfit, I had to rely on my sis-in-laws to describe the colours to me so I could pick the shoes and bag I would carry.  


Jewellery - Coral beads known as Iyun Yoruba. The jewellery was custom made by Cephas Jewelers in Lagos - Touche Plaza, 25B Admiralty Way, Lekki, Lagos - 08029050775, 0818216655. My mom together with the owner of the store came up with the design and I didn't see until the week of the ceremony when I arrived in Lagos. 

My make-up was done by the fabulous Banke Meshida Lawal; This was one of non-negotiable's. She also tied my head-tie and iro as well. I always knew I wanted her to do my make-up so when the traditional wedding was being planned, I left everything to my mom except make-up and my photographer. She did ask for my input on other stuff but I did not actively make the decisions. 

                     

My outfit was made up of a yellowish-cream aso-oke buba (the top of the outfit) , a fuschia pink gele (my head-tie) hand designed with touches of coral coloured designs and the iro (wrapper around my waist) is actually a single piece, the same fabric used in the buba was sewn on to the bottom of the alaari.The alaari cloth is mostly worn by the Ondo people in Nigeria (where K is from) and so it came into play in my outfit. For some reason, I do not have a close up of my shoes or clutch;  will add when I get the CD of pictures from Enimien - our photographer. 

Kola and I got our shoes from a shop in London called Ivory, they are located on Bond Street down the street from Pronovias shop there, and my clutch was from a friend - Yuwa who sells accessories - Sorrela. 

complete outfit

another view of our outfits

 Kola's outfit was sort of a tribute to his dad. His father passed away in January of 2006 and to honour him, Kola wore his fathers own clothes and the alaari cloth I had was actually custom designed to match. The only new items Kola wore was the white buba (his top) and his shoes. He also wore coral beads as well... 

I love this picture of KOK

Complete Attire

All the photographs are by Enimien Etomi Inegbedion, our fantastic photographer. My other non-negotiable vendor for my wedding. She was amazing !! She will be doing a photo-booth  at the wedding in Malta - I can't wait :)  She was assisted by Lanre Balogun of Libran Eye. 

All photographs by Enimien Etomi Photography