I’m trying to re-organize and re-prioritize things in my life that have sort of taken a back burner over the last few months for example – reading books so hopefully I actually finish reading this one. Let see how it goes. I’m also trying to learn how to pace myself and how to take occasional breaks from the craziness that is my life and just really step back, reflect and be grateful to God for all the amazing opportunities he’s given me and for all the blessings I’ve received.

I’ll be honest and say I’m ready for our 2nd wedding to be here and over with – while I’m sure it will be an amazing day – I miss not having to do any wedding related stuff whatsoever (even though I’m not sure where I even find the time). To all the troppers out there planning your weddings without any help – I truly admire you! I really do.

Anyway enough rambling, I’ll be back with a new wedding post soon :)

My big sister Ata from InkHearts.com put these gorgeous invitations together based on the theme they chose, despite being occupied with her twin babies. I saw them and was totally awed – Fabulous and very me! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this Ata!

The invitations arrived in this pretty little box -
Just in case you are wondering who Bola is -It’s me! That’s my first name, Onada is my middle name  – people call me either or :)

And inside was this gorgeousness -

Did you figure out the theme yet? The shower took place this past weekend. Wait till you see the photos!
Coming soon :)

Our wedding took place at a place called Island Club, a men’s only club that my dad has frequented since I was a child. They have a party venue there and obviously I knew without question even before we got engaged that this would be my dad’s venue of choice to have our traditional wedding surrounded by all his best friends.

While these photos don’t tell the full story of the ceremony they do give a general idea of what happened…plus you get to see me all dressed up in my fancy “Aso Oke” :). We had a fabulous time and it was amazing to see our friends and family we hadn’t seen in forever – even my family from Vienna was there! So amazing! I really appreciate all the love and support we got and I’m so happy we went “home” to do this! Thank you and we love you guys!

These gorgeous photos were taken by the talented Jide Alakija of Alakija & Co Photography.

Enjoy!

Here goes -

My pretty clutch and shoes – I bought this clutch from England and my shoes from Barneys months before I even knew what I was wearing – I didn’t actually decide to wear them until I saw my outfit a few days before the wedding!

my dancing Choos :) -

Half of my BM crew (Vickii and Fisola – we missed you! Don’t worry we filled you in on all the details – even the mystery of the missing dress!)

Then it was time to get my face on -

Make up done, time to get my “Gele” tied -

And it begins -

Looks are deceiving, I’m not used to doing this on a regular basis and it hurt. I had to be reminded to smile about 100 times (thank you!).

Headtie done, Jewelry on.

A few portraits

And then it was time to wait until the bride (me lol) was called (at almost the end of the ceremony)….and so we took photos….

And then I checked my headtie in the mirror for the 700th time…looks ok…for now…

In the meantime our parents were having fun upstairs as the ceremony progressed with family introductions and talk about why I’m such a gem of a bride (yes please) etc…

And our parent’s dancing….

The formal marriage proposal letter -

And then the handsome groom arrived -

Photos I didn’t post: The “Dobale” when he prostrates in front of my parents and then his parents for prayers and as a sign of respect.

Almost time for me to make my appearance so I got my wrapper tied – Yes I was prancing around in half of my outfit up until this moment -

Dancing in with my friends and cousins – In case you were wondering what I had on my mind – I was so concerned about my head tie falling over (even though in retrospect that couldn’t happen as tight as it was tied) and tripping in my 4 inch heels -

Going to Kneel in front of my parents for prayers -

Saying thank you to my dad for raising me in the best way ever and making me his little queen -

Eye contact with my crying mother and the water works started -

MY FAVORITE PICTURE EVER! I love you mama!

Off to my in-laws!
Photos I didn’t post: Getting reveiled and taken over to my in-laws. Kneeling in front of them for more prayers. My “husband” coming to join us, kneeling for more prayers. G officially giving me my engagement ring, cutting out cake and the “Kiss(es)”.

Money for my first pot of soup – I cooked it already. It was fabulous thank you very much.

My dowry – LOL

Ceremony is done – we are married!

oh and our cake :)

Change of clothes, time to party!

And of course you know my camera had to be in the mix somewhere – My brother took photos with it -

Dancing with my friends :)

And then we  went home, got dressed up again and hit the town -

One wedding down. One to go. I’m ready.

I’ll be away from the next two weeks celebrating my traditional wedding  and I’m very excited!

I’ve been sooooo busy that I haven’t had the time to update this blog but I’ll be back before you know it and of course I’ll have some photos to share. In the meantime here’s a photo to hold you over while I’m gone – A gorgeous bouquet from Kylie and Jim’s wedding which I’ll be blogging as soon I return :)

Thanks for stopping by!

The Fab Bride blog is a resource I recently created  to inspire brides-to-be with ideas for their own weddings and help them get to know some amazingly talented vendors in my immediate area. I have no biases so this blog is open to all vendors – including other photographers :) –  who might be interested in participating and featuring their work so brides can see what they are about.

Being a bride-to-be myself has definitely opened my eyes to a lot of things and without a wedding planner I would be so lost with planning my wedding, as a result I thought I’d make it a little easier for other brides and soon to be brides by creating this resource.

I’m really excited about where this blog could possibly go in the future so please stop by and check it out!

Wedding season is in full gear for me at the moment but I’ll be back with new blog posts very soon.
Thanks for stopping by!

• I’m so glad the weather is getting warmer (just in case I haven’t made that obvious already)
• I’m excited to be shooting my first spring wedding this weekend – yay!
• My traditional wedding in Lagos is in exactly 7 weeks and 6 days from today and I’m starting to get a tiny bit excited. Yes. Just a tiny bit (7 weeks and 6 days is soooo far away)
• I’ll be moving from New Jersey to downtown Philadelphia soon. I lived downtown there a few years ago and loved it – I can’t wait!
• Wedding planning is not half as bad as I thought it would be ESPECIALLY with an amazing planner like Kathy!
• G and I will be going food tasting and cake tasting over the next couple of weeks (Is it bad that I’m more excited about the food tasting than the cake tasting? Almost seems like it should be the other way around lol)
• We started sending out our save the dates which kind of makes things a little more real!
• Planning my wedding has made me realize I have some of the best friends in the entire world and they can attest to the fact that I’m the calmest, nicest, friendliest bride-to-be in the entire world. I really am. Really.

And just in case you are wondering what else I’m up to when I’m not updating my photo blog, stop by my look book to find out. Warning: You’ll be exposed to my latest fashion obsessions – Don’t blame me for anything you do!

Enjoy!

To celebrate getting older, Regina wrote the 45 lessons life had taught her and recently added 5 more to make it 50. My birthday is in a couple weeks so it’s definitely a good time for me to reflect on my life lessons, what I’d like my future to look like (God willing) and what new lessons I’d like to learn. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

Regina Brett’s 45 Life Lessons and 5 to Grow On

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

And here’s a photo of what I’ve been up to lately – I’ll put up a full post soon on the session I did with this adorable little guy!

Philadelphia Family Photographer |  New Jersey Family Photographer

2010 is going to be a very exciting year for me – God willing! Aside from my own wedding, a couple of my close friends just got engaged (Fissy and ChaCha), I’ll be a guest at quite a few weddings (I only attended 2 weddings as a guest in 2009) and I’m taking my businesses in new directions. I’m also excited to see my friends following their dreams by starting out their own businesses and becoming their own bosses – So proud of you ladies!

As always I’m grateful for all the blessings in my life and for my amazing friends and for everyone’s support :) I’ll be blogging my last wedding from 2009 (Christina  + Rich) very soon – Yay! In the meantime here’s a preview of beautiful bride Christina. Full post coming soon.

Below are a few of my favorite images from the day (Thanks to all the fabulous organizers of the event!) -

You can join the photog shootout group on facebook here.
And check out the Photog Shootout blog for all kinds of useful photography and business tips.

I’ll be posting another wedding soon so stay tuned :)

Philadelphia Area Wedding Photographer

My brother’s friend was nice enough to take a few pictures of me. Here’s me looking at them like “Did you figure out my camera yet?”

And here’s me laughing at them go all paparazzi on me.

We also took a drive up to the Hollywood Hills where I took this photo. The view was gorgeous -

And finally here’s a photo my brother took of me close to his home in Pasedena (I miss you already Femi!)-

In other news, so far, wedding planning is coming along great (Thank God for a great wedding planner) and I’m trying to enjoy the whole process without getting overwhelmed (…all this work for one day). I’ve moved the general gist of wedding planning to my lookbook so feel free to stop by there to see what’s going on from time to time (but I’ll still be making updates here).  Top on my priority list is buying a dress. I’m the bride that starts looking for wedding shoes before finding her wedding dress… you’d think it would be the other way around right? go figure. Although I’ve hated trying on dresses I have to admit it’s been a lot of fun. I made sure I tried on everything from the most ridiculous to the most fashion forward just to see what I’d look like. I wore the Cinderella ball gown and the sexy backless sheath dress. I wore the dress with the weird high neckline and the one with the most unflattering cut that made me look like I was in a tube sock. Although I have not 100% figured out what dress  I’ll be buying I do know what I will not be wearing :)

Anyway I’ll be back with more wedding posts shortly.

Thanks for stopping by.