Traditional Ceremony meets Modern Wedding

Anna and Ibrahim wanted a traditional ceremony with blues and golds that represented their Ghanaian and Nigerian backgrounds and then a modern wedding with a neutral colour palette. They were able to achieve everything they had been dreaming of and it’s a day they will never forget!

COUPLE: Anna & Ibrahim

WEDDING DATE: May 27 2023

GUEST #: 100

CEREMONY & RECEPTION LOCATION: Millbrook Cathedral “I decided to go with Millbrook because I liked the “old church” feel to the building. They were also lenient in allowing us to bring in our own catering as we wanted to serve our traditional food (Ghanaian and Nigerian). Working with them was great! They were very easygoing and made sure we had everything we needed.” – A

PHOTOGRAPHER: Timeless Media “I found my photographer through instagram. I saw their work from an event they did and I really liked how they captured the audience expressions. I also saw their wedding photography work on their page and admired how clean their photos were, with not much editing. It was a great experience to work with them! They went above and beyond to capture our traditional ceremony and modern wedding and even stayed overtime to make sure they captured every part of the wedding. They were really good at directing the photos as well, and their turnaround time was impeccable!” – A

modern wedding, traditional ceremony, timeless media

COLOUR PALETTE: “We had two different ceremonies on the same day: Our traditional ceremony for our Ghanaian/Nigerian roots and our “White” modern wedding ceremony.
For the traditional ceremony, our colours were Blue, gold, and white as those are considered royal colours in our culture. Our outfits were blue and gold while our wedding party wore white.
For the “White” modern wedding ceremony, our colour palette was a monochrome brown theme consisting of Brown, Tan, Rust & Cream. The bridesmaids wore rust brown and the groomsmen wore tan/cream. This coordinated well with the rustic look of the church.” – A&I

TELL US YOUR STORY: “Our love story started in November 2018 when I started traveling with my church’s university ministry every week to Montreal, to serve as a musician. Whenever I went, I noticed this tall man, Lanre, who usually sat near the back. I noticed him because during praise and worship, he would sing very loud and his voice would carry through the room. We would occasionally interact, which was just a short “Hi, how are you?” until I stopped going to Montreal in late 2019. Around that time, Lanre’s close friend moved to Ottawa and I offered to take her out and show her around the city. Lanre smoothly slid into my DMs and struck up a conversation, and from that day we talked every day moving forward.

Talking over social media turned into daily FaceTimes and Christmas of 2019, Lanre made plans to come to Ottawa to see some of his friends. When Lanre came to Ottawa, we went skating, went to the movies, and enjoyed each other’s company. Lanre had recently finished his Master’s and moved to Toronto and I was still completing my Ph.D. in Ottawa. We continued our long-distance relationship and tried to visit each other every few months. When I finished my Ph.D., I was offered a job in Toronto. God had answered our prayers and it seemed like our paths were aligning. On June 5th, 2022, the day before my Ph.D. graduation, Lanre gathered my friends and family together and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him!” – A

CAKE: Bake It Scrumptious

DECOR/FLORAL: C’est Chic Decor

BRIDE’S ATTIRE: Lavande Bridal

HAIR & MAKE-UP: Teyanna Grant

CATERING: Ekua’s Kitchen

VIDEOGRAPHER: Domoah Film & Photography

BRIDES TRADITIONAL ATTIRE DESIGNER: Piel Couture

TRADITIONAL FABRIC: Kente Afrik

BIGGEST CHALLENGE: “The biggest challenge was finding a venue that was within our budget and allowed outside catering. I finally found my venue by doing an exhaustive search of venues on google, Instagram, and TikTok, creating a spreadsheet, and narrowing down the ones that I liked the most and was within our budget.” – A

FAVOURITE MEMORY: “Our traditional ceremony” – A

ADVICE FROM ONE COUPLE TO ANOTHER: “Enjoy the day! Don’t get too stressed out about the planning and logistics, but the day of the wedding, put everything aside and enjoy the day with your soon-to-be spouse.” – A&I