Wacuka and Jeff at Nairobi National Park. PHOTO/COURTESY
By BILLY MUIRURI Posted Thursday, May 13 2010 at 15:41
You have attended a wedding and you are simply amazed at the display of elegance, style and the sense of uniqueness in the overall package that the bride and the groom offer their guests.
According to Catherine Masitsa, a leading wedding specialist with Samantha Bridals, glamour is not proportional to the money spent on a wedding.
“It depends on one’s perception. But exclusivity either by rarity or expense are key in rating glamour,” she says.
However, for weddings, Masitsa says, there can’t be glamour without money, yet money is not the only ingredient to glamour.
“It’s about how the money was used to create something unique, elaborate and through subtle dramatic moments,” she says.
Every guest, must feel the “whole production” was memorable and a once-in- a- lifetime experience. So what are the basic indicators of glamour?
First is the guest list. A who-is-who in a wedding (as long as there’s a real relationship with the couple) and how they come dressed is part of the glamour.
An array of celebrities does not amount to glamour if they are not related to the wedding couple, says Masistsa.
Caroline Gichuki-Mugo of Topline Events thinks quality and quantity of food and drinks, their variety, the way they are served and arranged on the tables determines glamour, especially if there is a co-relation with the colours.
“If everything is done perfectly and the food does not go round or it is ordinary, it could rob a wedding of its glamour. Serving enough food at a wedding is key for it to be memorable to the guests.
“Add to this an open bar with wines and or champagne and you have guests talking about it long after the event,” says Gichuki.
Gichuki also rates a grand entry by the couple as key. “A grand entry in a chopper, boat or horse driven carriage or top of the range cars may remain etched in minds of expectant guests long after ,” she says.
Masitsa also thinks glamour is found in the bride’s outfit and those of her brides maids.
“It spectacular, for example, for a bride to wear something like a slinky, backless, fully beaded sheath or a suave strapless gown with classy metallic embroidery with a long sweeping train,” says Masitsa.
Sue Muriuki of Weddings Beautiful says a short, simple ceremony with limited guests contributes to glamour.
“It is a special day and the more guests feel treated well or pampered, the more they perceive glamour,” she says.
Wedding planners agree that every couple strives to achieve perfection and glamour but it does not always work. So who determines glamour?
“Your guests, of course,” says Masitsa and adds, “One disjointed aspect of a wedding can really affect glamour. It is the whole experience that remains memorable.”
Saturday Magazine sampled some of the most glamorous weddings that has been the talk of Nairobi’s wedding regulars.
Alison and Jimi Kariuki (December 19, 2008)
A rare platinum ring, five-star hotel menu for guests and a choice of red and white wine per table (and an open bar) just contributed to the colour and style that made the wedding an exceptional one in town.
Kariuki is the sales and marketing director at the Sarova Hotels while Alison is director of an international college of beauty, health and holistic therapy.
A magnificent marquee tent hosted 300 special guests at Nairobi’s Arboretum, the who- is-who in the country’s business world. In a rare gesture, it is the bride and the groom who welcomed guests at the reception after they arrived earlier in a dark blue Prado.
Later, Alison was overheard saying, “We invited them. They were our guests. Therefore, we had to welcome them.”
The partying didn’t end with the reception. 80 guests were flown to Mombasa for a two-night stay at the prestigious White Sands Hotel and had a chance to feast on delectable seafood on the beach.
The couple was tight-lipped on more details but a guest who attended all the celebrations admitted, “It was a sight to behold, it was a one of a kind wedding.”
The couple then flew to Bermuda for their honeymoon.
Pinky Ghelani and Raj Sehmi (January 12-13, 2007)
Theirs was a display of Asian culture at its best, with colours changing in tandem with intended cultural themes. Dry ice center-pieces and hellium balloons made the ambience sparkle, and in all this, alcohol flowed freely.
The Makindu Sikh Temple in Makindu hosted the traditional wedding while the registered wedding was conducted at the Lion Sight First Ballroom, in Nairobi a day later. A total of 1,200 were hosted throughout the weeklong festivities.
The traditional wedding was the typical royal crimson and gold seen in many Bollywood weddings. Gold and champagne colours were retained for their elegance. Raj, a businessman, had a diamond-in-platinum ring for the former radio presenter.
Jeff Kiboro and Wacuka Mwaura (August 29,2009)
Those who attended the wedding at Nairobi National Park talk of an exclusive venue deep inside the park. Class and showbiz antics oozed fast and furious from the order exhibited by the bridal party and stylishly-dressed guests.
The bridal party zoomed into the park in state-of- the-art Range Rover Vogues, while 2,000 guests were shuttled into the park for a game drive from the church and the reception deep into the park, where a marquee tent glittered in colour mixes.
The décor— Burgundy lillies imported from Singapore, white roses and taupe was striking and elegantly arranged in the magnificent tent.
Lighting was bright and hundreds of long candles mixed well with the colour themes, and the rings made of white gold with princess cut diamonds only made one statement— “real money” had been set aside for the occasion.
The menu, according to those who attended, easily passed as “a food festival” with African and foreign dishes plus wine – flowing throughout.
Guests included Zambian First Lady Thandiwe Banda and Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s wife Ida.The groom says, “We wanted our guests to enjoy the amazing scenery of our wildlife. It was great for us.”
Jeff is a businessman while Wachuka is an interior designer.
Leah Labi and Thomas Stillger (January 23, 2010)
With only 50 guests, This is regarded one of the most exclusive weddings in the last five years. Held at Windsor Golf Hotel’s garden pond, the ceremony was romantically conducted in a tent floating on a pond.
The groom, a German, met the bride, a Kenyan, down at the steps and took her up the platform for the ceremony. The parasols and centre-pieces on the tables stood out.
The wedding had an Indian theme with both the bride and groom dressed in full Indian attire. The theme was incorporated in the décor and the cake, and with most guests dressed in Asian outfits, it was true display of glamour.
A three- course meal and a chicken and nyama choma barbeque station near the pond made it a strict family affair.
It was an ingenius work of art by Kate Décor as the maroon and gold colours was in tandem with the overall mood and theme of the wedding.
After a night at the honeymoon suite of the hotel, the couple then flew to Mombasa for their honeymoon.
Vicky Maiyo and Allen Irangi (December, 12, 2008)
At the exclusive Karen Country Lodge on this public holiday, two horse-drawn carriages draped in beautiful flowers carried the bridal party.
The bride and her maids had parasols for the carriage ride, where they also had palm-sized woven hand fans with personalised tags.
The setting also had personalised champagne flutes, cake knife and server set and the high table was incredulously inviting with its adorned white silk rose petals.
Chocolate brown and olive green were the couple’s main colour scheme while white flowers including roses, arum lilies and anthuriums were also used to adorn the cars and horse-drawn carriages.
550 guests were served a three course meal, the main attraction being the whole roasted goat turning on a spit. Allen, an entrepreneur, was stylishly on top of things as he toasted the vintage champagne with Vicky, a pharmacist.
Diana Maina and Charles Ngonjo (December 11, 2009)
Manicured lawns and plush greenery with a unique floral walkway where rose petals were pinned to the floor of the church in a pattern was décor at its most creative.
The vows were exchanged in a floral arbor. A collection of cocktail drinks went round the elaborate centre- pieces and behind the seats, were two-tone tie backs.
It was white meeting white, with shades of pink on white highlighted against a white backdrop, white ceilings accented by floral swags which run down the poles of the white tents.
A wedding planner who attended says the gown’s market price alone could have been about 4,000 dollars (More than Sh300,000)1,200 guests were hosted and one could be forgiven for thinking the event was a Range Rover Sports motor show.
They were all black except for the bridal one which stood out in its red colour. Industry players say it was a Mercedes Benzes and Range Rover fair.
The catering was superb and left everyone marvelling at the food.
It was quite a romantic moment for all when guests toasted the expensive imported wines. Diana and Charles are both business people.
Anita and Albert Kimwatan (December 2, 2006)
It is rated as one of the most memorable weddings in the Rift Valley, with an assembly of what wedding planners called “the Kalenjin community royal class”.
The bridal party in five brand new Mercedes Benzes slowly snaked it’s way from St. Johns XIV church (Mother of Apostle Seminary) in Eldoret to the reception at the beautifully-manicured Kenmosa grounds.
Sandwiched by four jungle green Mercs, the bride rode in a white E230 Merc. Add to this the creative side of Rachley’s Flowers where they blended the burnt orange colour scheme to leave a spectacular display of harmony in the style.
Strawberry Café ensured the more than 2,000 guests were spoilt for choice and when the groom inserted the 18 carat gold ring on the bride’s third finger, it was the climax of one of rural Kenya’s most memorable weddings.
After this, man and wife were airborne for their honeymoon in Montenegro and Venice. Anita is a secondary school teacher and Albert, a business magnate in Eldoret.
Elizabeth Kibaki and Eugene Obiero (August 29, 2009)
A real “catering expo” by the Sarova Stanley and a guest list that included President Kibaki (the bride’s grand father), this wedding at Consolata Shrine in Westlands and later a reception at the Arboretum Private Garden was every inch a top cream affair.
It was a five station food arena with a dessert corner and a traditional Indian kitchen cooking most attractive, personalised service per table (three waiters each) and beautiful cutlery and crockery, that only upped the appetite for the 700 guests, several of them from as far as South Africa and Europe.
An open bar and an assortment of wine on every table completed the sumptuous setting.
At the foot of the main table, a water fountain went miles to excellently bring out an ancient Roman theme with pink and brown colour schemes inside the Dome tent which had a white setting and colourful table layouts.
MC Juma Odemba and Tutu band gave first class entertainment. In the evening, a neo soul band serenaded them in a romantically-lit marquee atmosphere done by Home Boyz. Everybody having had their fill, the couple was en-route to Bangkok for their honeymoon.
Eugene is an oil marketer and Elizabeth a management Consultant.
bmuiruri@nation.co.ke
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