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:
