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wedding annoucement A WEDDING TALE OF TWO CULTURES Eric Stallings and Tope Leyimu — who met and reside in Charleston, South Carolina — married in a two-day wedding celebration in Jacksonville, Florida, on Nov. 16, 2019, comprised of American and Nigerian traditions. The night before the wedding, the couple participated in a traditional Nigerian engagement ceremony which is the groom’s declaration of his intention to marry his bride. Eric entered with some of his best friends appealing to the bride’s family for her hand in marriage and to ask for their blessing. Afterward, the bride made her entrance dancing in with her closest friends to greet the groom’s side of the family, as well as her own, asking for their blessings. The bride’s aunt handmade all of the garments worn by the couple and their friends with colors and fabrics selected by the bride and her mother. The evening was a festive celebration of faith, love and the joining of two families. The next day, the couple were formally married at the enchanting Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida. The couple opted to have a first look in the gardens adjacent to ceremony site before the wedding to have pictures made in natural light. The ceremony was filled with sentimental moments, including a reading of a hymnal sung at the bride’s parents’ wedding 35 years before, and emotional vows written to one another. 20 | TOWN BRIDE SPRING 2020 Instead of a conventional bridal party at the altar, the couple each had one of their best childhood friends stand with them. The bride asked her favorite ladies to wear long, gem-toned fall hues that complemented each other beautifully. The ceremony was in a lush garden under a sprawling tree by the water. The couple found a beautiful rug to stand on, which now resides in the back porch of their new home. The floral choices for the centerpieces were a nod to the regal traditional Nigerian gold and maroon attire worn at the ceremony the night before and the garments the bride’s family wore at the wedding. Food included a diverse array of options that paid homage to Charleston, SC, where they live and first met, with a Southern station that included shrimp and grits and chicken and waffle skewers. Additionally, the guests enjoyed a stir fry station, an Italian station and a beef carving station. Raspberry and brie phylo pockets, jerk chicken on plantain crisps and coconut shrimp were passed around throughout the course of the evening while guests enjoyed an indoor and outdoor bar. Outside, a band played soulful music while the guests reveled in the beauty of the museum. The couple was able to steal a dance with each other on the lawn while listening to one of their favorite songs under the string lights. It was a perfect unofficial first dance. The cake was a tropical orange grand marnier cake, a favorite of the bride since childhood, often visiting a local bakery to order and share a slice of this cake with family and friends. The couple maintains, along with many of their wedding guests, it is the best they ever had. The couple danced the night away to favorite current and traditional music honoring the bride’s Nigerian roots, including some of her parents’ favorite Nigerian songs as they danced in to be re-introduced wearing traditional Nigerian attire. The guests joined in on the “money party,” where friends and family threw and placed cash all over the couple as everyone danced and cheered together into the night celebrating love, culture and family.