In the spirit of the wedding season, jewelry designer and bridal consultant – Gbenga Ayo-Dada of Artsmith Collections organised a garden shoot, which showcases his predictions for 2016 brides. The shoot aims to “set the tone for fabulous styles for the remaining half of 2016 as well as inspire brides who have a panache for uniqueness, with stylish ideas for their big day.”
Gbenga worked on this shoot alongside some of the best professionals in the Nigerian wedding industry including Omolola Semowo of Molurlahs Makeover, Tobi Ogundele of CEOMania Alasooke, Tomilola d’Almeida of Tee Threads Fashion, Shola Ajisegbede of Sniper Ajix Photography and hairstylist, Bernard Okon.
Enjoy!!
The Maverick Bride: She’s not a fan of the conventional embellished or embroidered asooke ‘iro’and ‘buba’ and for brides like this, Tee Threads Fashion created this exclusive design comprising of an asooke off-shoulder blouse and matching wrap skirt with fringe detail and detachable peplum. This bride wants to look as traditional as possible but also doesn’t want to sacrifice looking like the upwardly-mobile chic that she is. The look was paired with an equally exclusive pink neckpiece in waterfall design.
The beauty of this ensemble is that it can be easily worn to another person’s wedding without looking over-dressed; all you need do is switch the jewelry to a much simpler one and you’re good to go!
Beauty and the Beast: From the days of reading “happily-ever-after” fairytales as little girls, many young women have grown up fantasizing about experiencing their own love story one day; this look is an ode to that old time fantasy turn reality. This look is perfect for a wedding reception outfit change. From the hair to the yellow dress, the look is obviously inspired by the classic “Beauty and the Beast” story.
Grecian Goddess: Here’s another inspired look reminiscent of heroines from epic movies/TV series like “Thor” and most recently, “Game of Thrones” Female fans of such movies will definitely not mind replicating the style of one of their favorite female characters for their wedding reception.
The Comfy-Freak Bride: Some brides usually can’t wait to get out of their asooke ‘iro’ and ‘buba’ or any other unwieldy traditional costume and get into a more comfortable outfit for their second traditional wedding look. Get your groove on in comfort with this mesh asooke dress and a matching gele. It’s a look a good number of ladies will consider for their change of cloth. Be sure to finish up the look with an understated yet classy jewelry set.
The Throwback Look: In the past, some daring brides have been seen rocking the same asooke their mums wore on their traditional wedding ceremony decades ago, but here’s an even more deft way of doing that: put a modern spin on the attire! In these pictures, we see a 43-year old asooke ensemble jazzed up with popping yellow handcut trimming on the sleeve of the ‘buba’ and hem of the wrapper. How fab can fabulous get?
As for the jewelry, brides with long necks and/or jutting collar bones will favor collar necklaces like this turtleneck coral piece to accentuate these features.
We hope these pictures have given brides-to-be enough ideas to help them look their glamorous best on their wedding day.
Vendors
- Accessories: Artsmith Collections | Instagram
- Makeup & Gele: Molurlahs Makeover| Instagram
- AsoOke: Ceomania Alasooke | Instagram
- Outfits: Tee Threads Fashion | Instagram
- Styling/Creative direction: Gbenga Ayo-Dada
- Photography: Sniper Ajix Photography | Instagram
- Hair: Bernard Smiless | Instagram
- Models: Ope | Instagram, Anwuli | Instagram, Ronke | Instagram & Ani | Instagram
