LAW SOCIETY WEDDING IN LONDON
It brings me so much joy to blog about Kemi and James central London wedding today.
The couple first met in 2012, with their friendship blossoming into lasting romance. As Kemi tells me, the more time she spent with James, “the more we fell for each other.” It so happens that after a few short weeks of being an “official item,” they were both then seconded overseas for work, meaning that the first year of their relationship, was spent apart.
Fast forward to 2019 though, and the two of them were making plans for their beautiful wedding celebration in London.
The Proposal
James had a very clear plan of action in place for when he was going to pop the question to Kemi.
“I had been saving for an engagement ring for just over a year, which Kemi knew nothing about. When I hit my savings goal, I started thinking a lot about how I was going to propose, but in the end, it just slipped out!
We were having a conversation about the future and I said something about wishing we could be married, with our own house and garden.
Kemi said, "Are you asking?” I replied "yes" and then she said "Oh my God, yes!"
Love and Marriage
The Temple Church in London was not Kemi and James regular place of worship; however, it was ultimately chosen as their wedding venue and the bonus being that its within a walking distance to their reception venue.
“James and I didn’t share a regular place of worship before we got married. We were married in the Temple Church in London, but this was not previously a regular place of worship for either of us. As part of preparing for our wedding and marriage, we regularly attended mid-week evensong services at The Temple Church.
Looking back, this was one of the highlights of the wedding preparations for me, as it felt very special and gratifying to be worshiping together.”
The Wedding Planning Journey
Planning the wedding was initially quite stressful for Kemi, but she felt at ease once I was able to step in to coordinate things.
She has some fond memories though of her wedding planning experience with James and had the following to say,
“For me, I think I enjoyed the period of time when James and I were driving up and down Essex and London looking for the perfect venue.
It was just really nice spending that time together in such a 'loved-up' frame of mind and thinking about all the different types of wedding day James and I could possibly have. I also really enjoyed those moments just before you finally chose 'the one', whether that was the venue, the catering or the dress.”
Wedded Bliss
For the both of them, “having fun” was a priority and thankfully for me they had an unbelievable time at their wedding events.
Kemi stated,
“James and I were very particular. We had real clarity about what we wanted our wedding day to look like. We were trying to fit a lot into one day, with a full traditional Yoruba engagement ceremony taking place in the morning prior to the church wedding ceremony.”
The wedding day itself, was “perfect in every way” with the most memorable aspects being “the ceremony, the décor and the food.”
Bride, Kemi also talks of other special and important moments during the wedding celebration, with the traditional Nigerian engagement party being one the biggest highlights.
“The traditional Nigerian engagement was better than I'd ever imagined it would be. If I hear any of the songs that played during the ceremony now, it immediately takes me back to this point. (Check out October’s blog post on their traditional engagement)
Exchanging our vows during the church ceremony was another memorable moment for me.
I will also never forget, after the reception, walking into the lobby of The Savoy, wearing my huge, sparkly, Cinderella-style wedding dress with my new husband by my side pushing in a full-sized pram with our sleeping baby in it!
I would say we were a really fun bride and groom. We spent the whole day smiling and we were there dancing the night away right until the bitter end. We really do just love having fun, and we really wanted to give our friends and family a really fun and joyful day.”
After the wedding, Kemi and James travelled to Abu Dhabi for their honeymoon, with baby in tow.
Kind Words
As Kemi and James coordinator, I was focussed on making sure everything ran smoothly. Kemi recalls a moment when she felt as if it would have been better to hire my services earlier on in their wedding planning journey.
“I can’t actually recall when in the wedding planning we decided to hire Ronke/Bliss Nuptials, but I certainly remember thinking we should have hired her much, much earlier.
We didn’t have one overarching wedding supplier. Instead we had engaged separate suppliers for absolutely everything, so that we could achieve the day that we really wanted.
It was a no-brainer to hire Ronke to co-ordinate all of those suppliers in the lead up to, and on the day. Ronke had such a professional manner and really listened to what we wanted. She had great ideas of her own and helped us find solutions to any problems.
We completely felt we could put our trust in her to help us have the wedding day we wanted.”
Top Tips for Couples
I asked Kemi and James what their top tips are for other couples getting married and Kemi told me,
“Get wedding insurance. We didn’t actually do this even though we had so many different suppliers. It’s the advice I would give our past selves though. Also, the wedding day goes really fast. Try and 'stop' at various moments to just take it all in and savour the day.
After our experience with Ronke, I would definitely recommend using a wedding co-ordinator and/or planner if you can.
Ronke is fantastic at what she does, and I feel very confident recommending her to others.”
Thank you for allowing me to feature your stunning wedding, Kemi and James. Wishing you loads of happiness for the future.
Did you loved Kemi and James wedding? Let me know in the comments below.
I would love to help you plan or coordinate your big day too, so please contact me here, or email me directly at info@blissnuptials.com or on mobile (+44) 0772 5652 807.
Let’s connect over on my Instagram too @_blissnuptials
Contributing Vendors
Wedding Coordinator: Bliss Nuptials and Events @_blissnuptials
Photography: Edgar Chudoba Photograpy @edgarchudobaphotography
Videographer: Edwin Louis Films @edwinlouisfilm
Church: Temple Church, London
Venue: 113 Chancery Lane @ 113chancerylane
Décor: 113 Chancery Lane @ 113chancerylane
Catering: King Solomon’s Catering @kingsolomonscatering
Cake: Favoured cakes Wedding @favouredcakesweddings
Live Band: Tailored Entertainment @ tailoredents MC: Ashley Mitchell
Wedding Dress: Morilee Lucrezia/Oke-Vina Textiles
Bride's Shoes: Tommy Hilfiger wedge sneakers
Groom’s Suit: Moss Bros/Oke-Vina Textiles
Makeup: Eni Jau MUA @enijaybeauty