A gorgeous Nigerian wedding at Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi. {Planned by Aghareed}

Sekina and Jameel got married on the 3rd January, at one of the most luxurious hotels in UAE; Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi. Joined by 300 guests, the happy couple started the day off with a traditional ceremony followed by a lavish wedding reception in the ballroom. Oh and three of My Lovely Wedding vendors contributed towards the big day!  (I actually have a feeling she was a MLW reader) #thismakesmehappy Read on for more details… 
Jameel & Sekina | Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi from Denee Motion / Denee Media Films on Vimeo.
The Planning process…
It really started a year before the wedding. I live in England and my Parents and Jameel’s Parents in Nigeria! There was a lot of emailing, phone calls and visits across continents. My Mum did a lot of shortlisting for me, and we joke that her job that year was planning my wedding. We also had a number of the vendors from England and Nigeria so we could have those meetings abroad. We had a wedding planner based in the UAE who coordinated all the vendors and made sure the wedding day turned out to plan! I think having vendors and a wedding planner who specialized in destination weddings was probably the best thing we did.

Finding the dress…
I went to Pronovias about 4 times before deciding on the dress! Pronovias have a huge selection and their Flagship store in London was only half an hour in the tube from me. It was the only store I went to so I guess 4 times is not so bad. Ended up getting my wildcard, and not the other designs I was convinced I would get.

Groom’s attire…
He wore a suit from Hugo Boss, a shirt from Thomas Pink and Gucci shoes. He also wore Thomas Pink cufflinks and a Rolex watch.

The Readings + Music…
We had a Harpist for the ceremony and cocktail reception, and a Nigerian based DJ for the reception.
Beautiful bridesmaids…
Custom Designed and Made by two Nigerian Based Designers. Elvira Jude, Lagos and Avendina, Lagos
The Flowers…
I basically had an amazing florist from focus wedding designs who created the amazing table centerpieces and my bouquet. All I did was tell her my colour scheme.  
The Cake…
Pinterest is amazing for this, My Planner Liesel at Aghareed worked with Sara from Gourmelicious to bring my ideas, which I got from Pinterest to life.
The Details + Décor…
Blush Pink and Gold!!! The ballroom had lots of Gold accents, which fitted beautifully with the scheme. We worked with Moritz from Focus Wedding Services/ Master Production Designs to make my dream of a classic romantic wedding happen.
The Honeymoon…
We technically had two destination Weddings. Our Traditional in Lagos and our White wedding in Abu Dhabi, so we have planned our honeymoon to the Maldives for our 1 year anniversary! 
Memorable moments…
Our entrance into the reception: This was amazing, we did it ‘Nigerian Style” with the bridal party lining the path to our entrance, and me and Jameel in a mini dance off.
Our First Dance: We danced to Ed Sheeran’s Thinking out loud, this was so romantic.

Advice for other couple…
Enjoy the day; it flies by very quickly…
Everything somehow always falls into place on the day, so try as much as possible not to stress. This is definitely easier said than done

The lovely vendors… 
Wedding Planner: Liesel Papke of Aghareed by Lafayette Weddings
Décor and Details: Moritz of Focus Wedding Services
Brides Makeup: Tola Olurinde of Sapphire Beauty, Nigeria.
Brides Hair: ST Beauty in Jumeirah at Etihad Towers
White Wedding Dress and Veil: Pronovias
Shoes: Miu Miu
Reception Dress: Custom Designed and Made by Elvira Jude, Lagos
Shoes: Christian Dior
Stylist: Bukola Olurinde
 Photography: Hajley
Videography: Denee Motion Films & Stills
Cake: Sara of Gourmelicious, Abu Dhabi