In a lively, two-part real wedding, today's couple Emma and Emmanuel honoured their love and cultures with a traditional Nigerian and classic Irish wedding. The pair first tied the knot in a traditional Nigerian engagement ceremony at The Hillgrove Hotel in Monaghan, followed by a traditional Irish wedding ceremony in Co.Tyrone and glamorous black tie reception at Castle Leslie two days later. These two distinct festivities gave this couple a weekend full of memories they will cherish forever. Bradley Henderson was on hand to capture this pre-pandemic wedding, and we're so glad he did as it's a feast for the eyes!

Emma hails from Co. Tyrone and Emmanuel (Manny), Hertfordshire in the UK. They currently live in Manchester. The pair first met while Emma was a medical student in the max-fax department where Emmanuel was working as a dentist. Overrun with students Emmanuel was asked to let one of the students sit in his clinic, to which he replied, “I'll take the blonde one.”

Unfortunately Emma started to dose off as teeth weren’t really her thing and quickly left when the clinic was finished. After seeing each other a few times at mutual friends’ gatherings, and a few awkward conversations in the hospital corridors, six months later, Manny plucked up the courage to ask Emma out, and the rest is history!

Emmanuel popped the question during a weekend trip to Berlin. 'Manny proposed in a photo-booth at Checkpoint Charlie, and caught it all on camera!,' Emma remembers fondly.

First up was the Nigerian ceremony which culminates in the bride introducing the groom to her family, and the bride and her parents agreeing to join with the groom’s family, creating a new household.

The bride and groom didn't know what the ceremony entailed as they had never been to one. Thankfully Manny’s family were more than willing to help and guide the couple, and Emma’s family were keen to get involved and enjoy the party!  'The Nigerian Ceremony was so much fun, it was vibrant happy and so enjoyable from start to finish. If these pictures inspire anyone, my advice would be to have a Nigerian engagement ceremony because it was awesome! (From a converted skeptic!)', says Emma.

All the beautiful Nigerian wedding outfits were sourced in Nigeria and Kuwait City. Both families were dressed in fabrics chosen by their respective sides. The groom’s family wore rose gold and the bride’s family wore gold. This tradition is known as Aso-Ebi, which translates to “Family Clothes” in the language of Yoruba.

Emma tells us more, 'The couple will decide which colours and fabrics they would like their guests to wear on their wedding day and the respective families will go all out to create outfits that meet the requirements. This makes it easy to distinguish who belongs to the each of the couple’s families at a glance, and long-time friends who are not on the bridal party often choose to join in with the Aso-Ebias well.'

'The groom wears a buba, which is a matching pant and top, and he is covered in an agbada, which is similar to an oversize robe with open sleeves. His look is topped off with a fila, a hat specific to Yoruba attire. This hat is placed on his head by his bride to be, her way to put her trademark on him. The groom’s entourage wore traditional Nigerian silk suits.'

'The Bride is adorned in beads (The orange beads are specific for Benin, the area where Manny’s family are from), a headpiece, a veil and other pieces of jewellery. '

One of the traditions the couple incorporated include the lift test, which is similar to the western tradition of carrying a bride over a threshold, a groom is expected to be able to carry his new bride to show that he has the strength to take care of her during their marriage. Looks like Manny passed the test!

Incorporating elements from Irish and Nigerian culture was hugely important to this pair. 'We wanted our wedding day to represent us, our faith, our relationship and our core values at the forefront,' Emma says.

A long-standing Nigerian wedding tradition is to spray money on the bride,' says Emma, 'this can be done at any time, although when the newlyweds step onto the dance floor is a popular moment. Money is usually thrown by older guests. The bridesmaids are tasked with collecting all of the thrown money. Music and dance feature heavily in Nigerian weddings and many of the popular wedding songs, including Azonto, Chop My Money, Kukere and Skelewu, have their own dances a la the Macarena or the Nutbush,' Emma tells us.

When asked to pick highlights from their days, Emma tells us their favourite moments, 'The most special part was the mass and having Fr Mark celebrate the mass with us, greeting (and stunning) the crowds in Hausa, Ebo, Irish and English and blending together our two cultures seamlessly. Fr Mark has been working in Nigeria for 50 years and is a member of the family. 

She adds, Having our grandmothers at our wedding was a privilege and for that reason we felt they needed to be on the top table.'

Emma's white wedding dress for her Irish wedding is by Karen Willis Holmes which she paired with a cathedral length veil and covetable Jimmy Choo's!

As they had a two-part, Irish-Nigerian wedding celebration Emma and Emmanuel had to choose not one, but two venues for their big day! Emma tells us what helped them narrow down their choices, 'We had heard a lot of great reviews of both venues from family and friends alike, and that gave us a good idea of where we wanted to celebrate.'

'Most of our guests were travelling from afar, and we wanted somewhere easily accessible and an enjoyable and luxurious venue to spend a few days in the lead up to and during the wedding. The scenery and setting of Castle Leslie represents the beauty of Ireland and for this reason we thought it would be a great venue for our guests to enjoy their visit.'

When describing their day,  'Relaxed, enjoyable, and the most fun filled, loving and joyous occasion', says Emma. Perfect', recalls Emmanuel.

'We wanted a relaxed day that everyone enjoyed, had a smile on their faces, ate good food, danced and left with great memories.'

The gorgeous glittering bridesmaids dresses are Adriana Papell which Emma sourced at Bloomingdales. Their hairpieces were a budget-friendly Primark find.

The couple, along with the help of their friends and family, put a lot of love and work into decorating and organising the wedding. Illustrations for their wedding invitations were done by the couples bridesmaid Bridgeen, the cakes and wedding booklets were done as gifts from family friends and the Bride’s aunt Teresa helped arrange the flowers the night before the wedding. What a team!

'We are extremely blessed to have wonderful friends and family who helped out in so many ways big and small, most notably our parents. We would need a full page spread to acknowledge how many small and large acts of kindness our loved ones gave for our wedding.'

After the wedding the couple enjoyed a well deserved two-part honeymoon! A month after the celebrations they jetted off to Nova Scotia in Canada where they enjoyed an incredible mix of lobster & seafood, outdoor activities and vineyards. Then, in October and November they set off to Singapore, Bangkok, and Tokyo for the Rugby World Cup final (tickets were a great wedding present from bestman Dane!).

The couple's advice for brides and grooms-to-be is to... 'Focus on the most important thing, the end goal, being married to your best friend and partner in crime, and everything else is second to that. Put in all the effort but when it comes to the month of your wedding, relax, you’ve done the hard work, and just enjoy it. Most importantly get a great photographer and videographer, who leave you to enjoy your day and you still have incredible pictures and videos that will always bring a smile to your face.'

At this point we have to give a huge shout-out to Bradley Henderson Photography for sharing the incredible images from Emma and Emmanuel's Irish-Nigerian wedding celebration, and, of course, to the couple themselves for sharing all the details!