Category: travel

love & friendships, Nigeria, Series, travel, Weddings

I’s Married Y’all | Traditionally | Part Deux

Nnennayalator

I guess I will make this a more consistent habit with posting since my hiatus provided me some inspiration for this blog series. Since I am so kind and my timelines are full of folks getting engaged, might as well tell my experience of planning my traditional wedding, maybe i can save a few or two from some headaches that you are bound to have, mkay? Before getting into the meat and potatoes of my unique experience planning my “Destination Traditional Wedding”, I want to give a quick… I mean very quick background of why I decided to travel 5,373.6 miles for my Traditional wedding because this process was not beans, and I kind of did not have a choice (hey dad!)

Now I am my father’s first child and he let me know from jump that I had no choice but to go home and do my traditional wedding… AS IN… collect all your friends that can make it, plan your heart out from your base [DC Chillin’] and meet all of us back home (he said it with so much ease and seriousness… almost like mufasa) [freeze blog] Yall want to know a cute fact? So Ej and I are from the same village. Our dad’s were friends, we crossed paths before (he remembers… I so dont), but homie turned Trad Hubby and I were meant to be, as corny as it sounds [unfreeze blog]. Being that our relationship was so effortless you would think planning this traditional would be a cake walk, right?!

Let us just say I had numerous breakdowns all the way up to the Nkwanwite [Igba Nkwu in some parts of Igbo land, etc], and there is nothing that can save you from the stress, not even my trusty wedding planning app @joytheapp ( you can check out our website for the trad at withjoy.com/elejeplusejike(Click here) if you need ideas or just want to look at pics, you can request the code there). The app was good for passing along information and organizing yourself, even if no one wanted to use it, it is still an awesome app to use for wedding planning (shameless plug). I really wanted to make my trad as digital as possible, which should make everyone’s and my life easier and more organized, and BOY DID PEOPLE RESIST lol. I also wanted to change the RSVP culture we have, because after the fact I found out that my people thought RSVP stood for Rice and Stew Very Plenty (I am serious), but hey it was worth a shot and my church wedding will be RSVP enforced, with security (hmph!)

If I have any advice for any budding future trad brides planning a traditional wedding from a distance it would be to constantly check on your vendors, have someone on ground (a good team would do, I had no wedding planner lol), and enjoy the ride! Because as hectic and stressful as it was, I did not even notice or care during the occasion. I got to experience 1 of the 3 weddings that I have to have, and I would not have it any other way.

Ciao,

Nnennayalator

Check out some more pictures from the traditional wedding:

WhatsApp Image 2018-01-22 at 11.56.55 AM
celebrity mua: @isabelmakovers | stylist: @misschiefcouture | wedding beads: @veevboutique
travel

“Guess who’s Bizzack” | Travels & Tips

Nnennayalator

Yoooooooooo! So I am back from an amazing time in Cuba & Nigeria! I know I said I would be more consistent but like…  I LIED [no vex]. Between work, planning these back to back trips, Contemporary African Woman blog [check it out https://iveryarie.wordpress.com/, I like… blog there too or whateva] I really had no time at all to post. I am beginning to sound like a broken record so allow me to get to the meat and potatoes of this post!

fabrica de arte cubano

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fabrica de arte cubano

CUBA!

Now, lol I was suppose to have posted this AEONS ago, but  too much jet lag and daylight savings nonsense to deal with. I will be giving hella pointers on a successful Cuba trip because I get questions about it daily. If you are traveling with a group like I did [Shout out to Umu Igbo Unite Travel], planning all the details are essential.

  • Travel Visa: Funny enough, depending on which air line you partake… [as a US Citizen] you can get your visa from your airline day of at your gate, but you need to have a return ticket, sign the affidavit, and chose that it is people to people experience. DO NOT say for vacation [holding ear… una hear me!?] If you want your visa ahead of time, or your airline does not offer your visa [which would be weird.. ask them], then you can go to the Cuba consulate and get one. I have one in D.C., however… TIME is just not of the essence.
  • Accommodation: Now I opted for AirBnB. If you got that guap and want to stay in a hotel, by all means go ahead, I liked my AirBnb. It took a little while to figure out which one to decide on [twas 5 of us], but we decided on ‘Casa Sisi y Dami’ in Miramar. Very cute & spacious spot, I had my own room, bathroom, kitchen, fridge stocked with refreshments, lounge and entrance… homie our spot was NOICE and in Miramar by the water. Now Madre [that was what I called her because she was Damien’s [Dami] mom. She cooks too [which you are better off]- all for a cost though [very inexpensive].
  • Monies: Here was my FIRST mistake. Yall, change your money with your bank, and change ahead of time because the airport exchange sure was expensive AND they ran out of money. I was changing from US Dollar to Euro, and that was a FAIL. Change to the Canadian Dollar and you will get more [wamp wamp, i struggled end of my short trip].
  • Food: YO, I was mind blown at how underwhelming the food in Cuba was. I was comparing it to other Cuban restaurants I have been to in like Miami, and it was a big let down. We were better off eating at our AirBnb than outside. You can check out El Literal, La Guardia, restaurants on Calle Obispo [Obispo Street], or see if your AirBnB prepares food for you. Just DO NOT have high hopes, you have been warned. Oh, but them dranks… are dranks for a reason… they GO hard!
  • Tours: Now, here was the SECOND and last time I got GOT. You can make arrangements for proper tours, but we thought we can look around by ourselves in Old Havana. After walking and wandering aimlessly for 10 minutes, we gave up and tracked down the initial man that came up to us for a tour “for a good price”. I will warn you, they know who the tourist are, and they will target you. We were pressed for time, saw some of the major monuments, and then came the fuxkery. We wanted to eat at a local restaurant, and he said he knows where to take us- La Familia. When we got to La Familia [cute spot], homie sat down… demanded his money [with tip], ordered his drink… finished his drink and said he would come back… NEVER DID. To make matters worse, the food was UNDERWHELMING, yet again. So be mindful.

THIS POST IS GETTING A LITTLE LONG… YALL KNOW I DO NOT HANDLE LONG POST WELL LOL… WRAPPING THIS UP

  • Transportation: This is pretty cheap as well. Do not let anyone play should be the theme of your trip and of this blog. You can get a classic car tour, or any cabs around, just be careful a lot of people are capitalizing off this opening of tourism so make sure they have a license to be a cab driver or all of yall will get in trouble. Just master the art of haggling, it will be your saving grace.

If you have any further questions, just hit me up on my facebook, instagram, or @ me on twitter. I am pretty responsive and you can check out the pictures and all because this blog post is getting hella long lol, your eyes must be just as tired as mine. Any way, I HIGHLY suggest Cuba, it was an awesome experience and I will be going again for sure!

Ciao,

Nnennayalator