Reflections…Down the aisle

Walking down the aisle is weird. It’s weird in that you’re trying to remember a million and one things…

smile

left together, right together

omg there’s so and so, I haven’t seen them in ages

smile

don’t cry

right together, left together

smile

look at all these people

smile

this aisle is long

don’t cry

oh there’s Mr E – he looks so handsome

smile

Over 500 people were in attendance for our wedding and the church was packed out to the point that people were standing at the back. When I walked in I recognised a couple of people and had to stop myself from bursting into tears. It’s totally overwhelming. All these people had turned up for us!

Cameras flashing, people you haven’t seen in a long time smiling back at you!

I originally wanted to walk down to this because it is my favourite worship song, but in the end I walked down to the traditional wedding march.

Finally got to see my husband to be – who by the way looked dashing!

Up next…the service.

Images {Alakija & Co}

Life is precious

Today we were reminded just how precious life is when we received the news that our Pastor from our old church in the Midlands passed away this morning. He suffered a stroke on Sunday and didn’t recover. The sad thing is that he wasn’t even an old man and his death comes totally out of the blue.

Everyday we wake up and go about our daily lives, not realising that it is God who gives us the gift of life.

Every breath we take is because He has allowed it. It is not something to be taken for granted.

It’s in times like this we are reminded that while we might not understand why things happen the way they do, God remains sovereign. He knows what he is doing.

Thank you Lord, for the gift of life.

RIP Pastor Glenn.

Reflections…Feelings

The week leading up to wedding was just pure crazy, I had finished work the Friday before, having travelled down to London for a job interview. I literally packed my life up as best as I could and travelled up to Manchester, with the hope that I would be able to finish all the last minute things in time.

During that week I stayed with Lexie, my wedding coordinator and she was a gem. We had such blast and she was a great support throughout all the drama that had ensued. She stay calmed in the face of the storm and was a great friend to me and my husband.

It’s hard to describe the feelings and emotions that go through your mind and body on your wedding day. For many months I had been waiting for this day and in many ways fought for this day…now it was here.

As soon as I got to the hotel, I parked myself in the corner, switched on the music and let my favourite worship songs fill the room.

Physically I was exhausted.

Emotionally I was drained.

But my heart was happy.

It was finally happening!

Images {Alakija & Co}

Pre-approved

Image {source} 

Have you ever had time when you received a letter from your credit card company advising that you have been pre-approved for an increase on your credit card. You have been such a valuable customer and you deserve the extra increase. However if you don’t want it, please call this number and advise. {Does anybody actually call up and do that?}

How does that make you feel?

Or take another scenario where you apply for a credit card and a few days later you receive a letter advising that your application has not been successful. How does that make you feel?

The world places worth on what you look like, the car you drive, the school you went to or the job you do. You can become worthless or worthy in the blink of an eye.  Thank goodness God is not like that. 

Yesterday my husband and I visited a new church on our journey to find a new spiritual home and the Pastor was talking about God’s love. He reminded us that the bible calls for us to love one another {1 John 3:11} as we love ourselves. But what does that actually mean?

For us to love effectively we need to look to God and see how he loves us. God loves us without any conditions or preconceptions. He looks at our future, rather than our past. He looks at our heart, rather than the image we portray to the world and He loves the sinner AND the saint.

In God’s eyes you have already been pre-approved for the Kingdom of Heaven and just like the prodigal son, the Father is waiting for you with open arms to welcome you back.

All you need to do is come into His embrace and come back to fellowship with the Father. He is waiting for you.

Have a blessed week!

Let down

Don't you just hate it when people let you down. I'm not even talking about friends or family but service providers.

We're supposed to be going to IKEA today to pick up some furniture for the house and we hired this 'man and van' company to come pick us up and then pick up the wardrobes.

He should have been here at 1pm. It's now 1:27pm. He is nowhere to be seen, he's not picking up his phone or returning our texts.

So frustrating.

So glad we haven't paid him any money.

Have you been let down by a service provider recently?

Grass is greener?

 

It’s very easy in marriage to feel like the grass is greener.

It’s very easy to compare.

However nobody sees what goes on behind closed doors.

So be happy and content with what you have.

Cherish every moment.

Appreciate your partner for who they are and water your own garden green. 

{Image - D Sharon Pruitt}

Reflections: Boys + Girls

We had a pretty large bridal party. However, it was just too hard trying to decide who should and shouldn’t be included so we took a view and set a limit.

Working with such a large group of people, based in different countries was not always easy and communication was key. We can’t thank our best man and maid of honour for the fantastic organisational skills they possessed in pulling everything together!

The boys hired navy suits from Slaters and since I’m not a fan of flowers, you will notice no boutonnieres, as I thought they were a complete waste on money and didn’t add to anything.

When looking at bridesmaid dresses in the initial search stages, I soon discovered how overpriced they were, so I decided to source my own fabric and get a local seamstress to make them instead. My sister and I went back and forth with the design and in the end agreed on a strapless, fishtail dress.

The whole dress worked out around £60 and Obi the girl who made them was fantastic. She was super patient and even with one of my bridesmaids arriving from overseas on the Thursday before the wedding, she had her dress ready, fitted and completed in 24 hours! She even made alterations to my traditional attire from Nigeria as well.

Tip: It’s often cheaper to buy your own fabric and get dresses made to measure. Ask around for reputable seamstresses.

 

We had a rehearsal the day before and that was the first time everyone got to meet everyone else.

At the church…they walked down the aisle and the girls curtsied, while the men bowed, before taking their places.

 

Unbeknown to us, Jide went round and took individual snaps of all our bridal party! SB is missing as she was leading worship and the best man is also not there. I guess duty called!

The girls… My sister sourced matching headbands for them all!

 

The Boys…Don’t they look dappa!

Two weeks before the wedding, my sister got all the bridesmaid together for a lunch, where roles and responsibilities were assigned. This was really important because it ensured that everyone had a clear idea of what they were doing on the day and there was no confusion.

Tip: Assign roles to people, so that things don’t get missed and jobs are spread evenly.

   

All together now…

All images {Alakija & Co}

The Marriage Mirror

One of the best wedding gifts God gave you was a full-length mirror called your spouse. Had there been a card attached, it would have said, “Here’s to helping you discover what you’re really like!” – Gary and Betsy Ricucci

I love this quote, not because it is funny but because it is so true.

I recently bought the book Sacred Marriage by Gary Chapman as I’d heard great things about it and with a strap line that says ‘what if God designed marriage to make us holy, more than happy?’ – you know that it should make interesting reading! I am about halfway through the book and it is really challenging me and re-focusing my mind.

Personally I am finding marriage to be one those three way mirrors you get in the clothes shops, where you can see you front, your side and your back – all at once. Some days you look in to it and like what you see, other days you can swear that it is a fat mirror and it is totally lying to you!

A lot of the times in marriage, there is this constant desire to change the other person, to say well ‘it’s not me, it’s YOU’ or why are you not ‘X’ way or have ‘Y’ trait. You see a reflection of yourself you do not like, but it is the other person’s fault.

I have lived with myself long enough so I’m quite familiar with my ways and what I am like, but when Mr E tells me something about myself that I don’t like or want to hear, the child inside me likes to pout, deny and say ‘whatever – that is not true!’

Deep inside, however I know that God is using my dear husband as a mirror to help identify the areas of my life that are not very Christ like and need refining and I love him for it {even if I may not appear so at the time}!

“What marriage has done for me is hold up a mirror to my sin. It forces me to face myself honestly and consider my character flaws, selfishness, and anti-Christian attitude, encouraging me to be sanctified and cleansed and to grow in godliness.” Gary Chapman – Sacred Marriage

Gary talks about using ‘the revelation of your sin as a means to grow in the foundational Christian virtue of humility, leading you to confession and renouncement’. So as weak areas of my character and attitude are identified, it gives me an opportunity to work through them and get better, thus making my marriage better.

Do you view marriage as a mirror?

{Image source}

In My Kitchen: Chin Chin

So last night we decided to open a couple of our wedding presents and whip up a Nigerian delicacy.

Mr E and I were craving chin chin and having made numerous trips to our local African store spending lots of cash there this past two weeks, I decided to scour the internet to find a recipe I could make for us both.

I love my chin chin and especially like it hard and crunchy. The recipe I found was very easy to follow.

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• vegetable oil
• confectioners' sugar

Normally when I find a recipe in US format I have to convert to Metric but our Joseph Joseph Nest 8 did it for me. It had lots of measuring cups 1/2 cup right down to 1/4 and it made it so easy for me to measure everything out. {One of my favourite wedding gifts!}

The whole thing took about 2 hours to make, include prep and frying and they definitely turned out crunchy but not as hard as I would have personally liked.

• Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder in medium bowl.
• Stir in egg and milk until mixture is crumbly.
• With hands, work in butter until well blended.
• Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

• In heavy skillet over medium heat, heat 1 inch of oil to 365 degrees F. {I used a deep fryer for this step}
• On lightly floured board with floured rolling pin, roll out half of dough to 1/16 inch thickness.

With pastry cutter or sharp knife, cut dough into strips, then squares

 

Repeat with remaining dough until gone.

Fry a few pieces at a time in hot oil until golden; drain on paper towels; cool.

Voila!

 

My husband’s verdict? First class!

Reflections...Vows

We originally decided to write our own vows which were going to be sat alongside the traditional ones.

For whatever reason it became something on the 'to do' list which never got done and a week before the wedding, we decided to leave it.

We both regret this slightly as we would have loved to have personalised this aspect of the day.

What we did manage to do though was send a little message to ourselves without the other seeing, which our Videographer took and we will see on the finish video {which we are STILL waiting for!}. Looking forward to seeing what Mr E said to me! :)

I came across this today, in my daily read and it brought me close to tears.

It made me wish we wrote our vows.

Did you write your own vows?

 
{All Images – Alakija & Co}