My Dream Wedding

By Bolaji Gelax and Atuhaire Joan

I do not take lightly the day I’ll get married. I equally don’t take for granted the person with whom I’ll choose to spend the rest of my life.

My wedding day will be the day I officiate my romance to the love of my life. Thinking about it excites me.. Haha! I love love and being able to scream and shout about it is quite a thriller.

Marriage is a big deal and being asked to imagine my dream wedding is work. The idea of a dream wedding is made whole when there’s a certain degree of perfection attached to the various aspects that constitute the wedding.

The Church

I am a church girl 101% so the heart of my wedding is the church ceremony. Being a singer, I’d love the choir to do justice to the songs that I’ll choose for that ceremony. I expect them to rehearse and sing like their lives depend on it, otherwise I may just eat someone if there are blunders as regards the music and sound system… haha. It is important that all those who come to witness my nuptial vows praise and worship God to the fullest.

The Reception

I’ve been a member of the committee organising a couple of wedding receptions and I’ve learnt that weddings usually have so many surprises, especially the receptions.

With my perfectionist stunts, I don’t know how I’ll handle all the surprises that would spring up at my wedding. Last year I was added to an organising committee just two days to the wedding. On the D-day, the DJ didn’t show up after being paid. Also, the decor was incomplete by the time the bridal entourage and guests started to arrive.
As I recall this day, I am still horrified.

Nonetheless, I choose to trust the process. “I want my wedding to be the most glamorous, outrageous and ostentatious wedding my guests will ever attend.” I want this because I am a hardworking person and I deserve no less than the best even when the best means having an army of service providers to ensure that I have that fairytale experience.

My wedding ought to be an experience; a space where people feel valued because we intended to invite them. There should be love even in the most minute of details such as the chairs, tables and even the lighting.

When it comes to the food, oh, I love food. And when I talk about an ostentatious wedding, I want an entire seven course meal… yes! We are talking about a dream wedding so let me dream in peace…haha.

Food is a very important aspect of celebrations especially in Africa, so, I refuse to leave my guests wanting. They will have an amuse-bouche, a soup, an appetizer, a salad, a main course, a dessert, and a mignardise with coffee or tea.

Talking music and entertainment, I desire sound that will transport me and my guests into a state that is not our own. I want funky tunes carefully selected from both local and contemporary music. I’d love to be serenaded by a band of talented artists with soul. Music makes us forget. Music is the life of a party. My wedding music should evoke emotions of joy, excitement and oooh… love, all at once. Let it be like a diminuendo of sorts.

Decor:

Theme colours – gold and pink. I am an artistic as well as a spiritual person. I love to feed my eyes and soul so, as I stated earlier, my wedding ought to be a lived experience. I re-echo this, “there should be love even in the most minute of details”. This service provider must be competent enough to deliver this wow feeling.

Finally, the wedding dress!

Before I meet even my bridal consult, she must know that I love details. Therefore, embroidery and embellishment are a must on my bridal pieces.

I’ve over-dreamed and at this point I feel like I no longer remember where this dream started but as I hinted earlier, I don’t mind having an army of service providers who’ll ensure that this dream is a reality.

My Dream Court Wedding

Apparently, I’m abnormal.

When it comes to weddings, what normal people, like Joan as you’ve read, concern themselves with are the specifics of their engagement ceremony, traditional and church wedding and of course, the reception. Which I admit, is fantastic! I mean, Joan’s dream wedding got me screaming, “Girl!!! You’ve got some dream, huh!” I love eet!

But me, you see, I honestly couldn’t care less how those events pan out. All I know is, I’m going to dance till my legs buckle that day. I think I’m unbothered about all that because I find all the planning and preparation that go into a Nigerian wedding tedious. Oh the headache of getting both mothers-in-law, fathers, uncles, aunties, siblings and even spiritual leaders to agree on things pertaining to the wedding is just not for me.

Count me out!

All I want is to wake up that morning, put on my breathtaking wedding dress (eerm… I can’t promise it will be a gown), get my face beaten, dreads styled and have my brother drive me to my wedding venue. I refuse to be bothered about anything else. Nope, thank you!

Now, you see my court wedding ehn, oh Lord have mercy! I have perfected its details in my head since the year I became an adult, and sweet baby Jesus, isn’t it going to be the most extravagant court wedding ever!

Where I’m from, court weddings have never been a big deal; it’s usually the least celebrated of the union process. In my white and leaf-coloured country, couples simply go to the registry with their parents or a handful of friends, sign their papers, take pictures and that’s it. No pomp and pageantry. But we’ve already agreed that I’m not a normal person, right?

I want an all-white celebration with less than fifty guests, 80 percent of which would be children with cupcakes, ice-cream, pizza, spaghetti, meatballs, candies, popsicles, water fights, cake smashing, colour splashing games, light music and laughter.

Oh, I can feel the sea breeze on my face, coursing through my long dreads and my light dress as I rest my head on my man’s shoulder.

A simple, colourful, intimate event where we all can be young, playful, silly and unashamed.

I bet reading that made you smile.

Now, that’s my dream wedding.

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Stars, I absolutely enjoyed working on this piece with Joan. She’s the fourth Ugandan I’m working with. Dear Universe, is there something you are telling me about Uganda?🤔

Joan is a sweetheart. We both love exchanging voice notes and I think it’s the cutest thing ever!😁 I also like that we laugh at each other. You should totally check out her blog HERE

Featured image source 👉 here