Amaka and Sam's Nigerian Wedding in Dubai
Beautiful Nigerian couple Amaka Mgbam and Sam Adewale had a dream destination wedding in Dubai in November 2020. Amaka is a Supply Chain Analyst and Sam is a Senior Cybersecurity Engineer. The couple lives in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
The couple was introduced to each other by a mutual friend at their college dorm in January 2015. "I thought Sam was cute, but just wanted to be friends. Sam started helping me in accounting since he was passing the class. We started hanging out more and our friendship eventually turned into a relationship. We started dating about 3 months later", Amaka shares.
And Amaka also shared their marriage proposal story:
"When Sam wants to surprise me, he goes all out. We got engaged in Santorini, Greece while on a summer vacation for "Sam's birthday" as I knew it. Sam's sister and her husband also came along and knew of the engagement plans, and kept the secret. Our vacation included a visit to Venice, Rome, Santorini, and Paris for a few days each. Sam felt his best opportunity to surprise me was in Greece and began calling hotels to help organize and plan the details in January 2019. On the day of the engagement, Sam told me that he had reserved a table at a restaurant for us to dress up and go on a formal date. I am never one to say no to an opportunity to do my makeup and dress nice, so I gladly accepted, no questions asked. This is Sam’s proposal plan was almost ruined."
Amaka continues: "The restaurant was supposed to send someone to come pick us up, but for some reason, Sam was unable to reach them. After 30 minutes of trying, Sam decided they had no choice but to walk because sunset was approaching and that was a big part of the plan for Sam. It was a 10-minute walk, I had heels on, and Santorini has lots of steps. However, we made the walk, got there in time, and I still had no idea what was about to happen. Once we got there, we walked to the private terrace overlooking the ocean and caldera. Sam noticed the hidden photographer was already capturing the moment. Sam’s sister and her husband told me they had already left Santorini the day before, so I wasn't expecting to see them walk out behind me. It was at that point the music started playing, I started crying and Sam went down on one knee. I said yes as best as I could with so many happy tears and emotions. The night ended beautifully as we watched the sunset and gazed at the Santorini lights. We then went on to celebrate our engagement and wrapped up our vacation in Paris before returning home."
The Wedding
The couple had their wedding on 25 November 2020 at the Palace Downtown in Dubai. When asked to sum up their wedding in one sentence the couple answered: "Honestly, one sentence would not be enough. We could write a book about how magical our wedding day was."
"We love Dubai. It is like our second home. Dubai was also our first international trip together as a couple in 2017, so we knew we wanted our family to experience it with us."
The couple had a Dress to Impress wedding theme, they wanted all their wedding guests to look their best, and had a beautiful pastel-colored wedding theme.
"Celebrating our love with our closest family and friends made our wedding so special. Covid-19 really tried to put an end to our big day, but God is faithful. We were so happy to have our family and friends with us. Plus, our venue was the icing on the cake. To have the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Fountain show as the backdrop of our wedding was jaw-dropping. It was truly spectacular. We still get goosebumps thinking about how beautiful it all was."
The bride shared some of her wedding planning experience with us:
"We think it goes without saying that weddings are stressful! But if we both had to give a newly engaged couple advice, it would be to spend money on a wedding planner, and a good one at that. Your life will be so much easier. As a bride and groom let your planner take on the stress for you. They are there to make wedding planning easier for you so you can enjoy your engagement. Also, another thing we learned was that size doesn't really matter. I know to some of us Africans that are blasphemous because we usually do have large families. Every couple’s situation is different we’re sure, but we would encourage everyone to explore having a smaller wedding to maximize the chances of their guest having the best experience."
The couple shares their favorite wedding moment:
"My favorite moment was our first dance as husband and wife. We were gazing into each other’s eyes. It was like time froze for a second" Amaka says.
"My favorite moment was the feeling of emotions I got seeing Amaka walk down the aisle" Sam shared.
The bride shares her wedding dress and bridal look details:
"When I first got engaged, I tried on dresses about 3 weeks later. I thought the dresses I was trying on were great, but then a few months later I went to the Say Yes To the Dress store; Bridals by Lori. The dress I chose was about the 7th dress I tried on. It was stunning and exclusive to the bridal store I was at. It had a long train and sparkled everywhere I turned. It was worth every penny."
As for the engagement and wedding ring details:
Sam said: "I got Amaka’s engagement ring from IceBox in Atlanta. It has 3 baguette diamonds in it surrounded by more diamonds on the band."
"I got Sam’s wedding ring from D. Geller & Son. I wanted my baby to be iced out just like me, so I got him a band with diamonds that matched the baguette diamonds in my ring" Amaka added.
The groom shares his groom look details:
"I got my tuxedo from the designer Miguel Wilson. The instant I tried on the tux I knew it was for me. My tux was white with red on the inside. The lapels were black."
The couple had 40 guests at their wedding. "Originally it had been around 60 people that were invited but then Covid-19 hit, so we had to shorten our guest's list. Nonetheless, our day was still magical."
The bride and groom shared their first look moment:
"Our first look was so emotional. We had not seen each other since the night before. So, after we both got ready, we went up to the rooftop at Address SkyView. Once Sam saw me, he started crying. Which made me start tearing up. It was like we were the only two there. We finally got to the day of getting to marry each other. We are truly each other’s best friends and love each other deeply."
Some details regarding their wedding ceremony:
"Our Ceremony was so beautiful. It was officiated by the amazing Kerrie Low of The Birds & The Bees. We incorporated some bible passages read by Amaka’s dad. We also wrote our own vows which we read every now and again because they mean so much to us."
"My dad walked me down the aisle to our cellist playing Can’t Help Falling in Love. It was so special."
The wedding decor was stunning and the wedding planners Olga and Agniia of Save The Date did a great job. Their table linens were in blush pink, keeping in tune with the pastel color scheme. They also had white Dior chairs, tall candles, and flowers at each table.
Palace Downtown made the wedding cake. It was a 3-tier cake with the flavors of red velvet and vanilla. It had sugar flowers on it that were the colors from the wedding.
Their first dance song was H.E.R. and Daniel Caesar – Best Part.
Wedding Photographer Videography/Cinematography: LK Design & Photography
Wedding Venue: Palace Downtown Dubai
Marriage Officiant: Kerrie Low of The Birds & The Bees
Wedding Planner: Olga and Agniia of Save The Date
Wedding DJ: DJ Babu
MC: MC Policy
Bridal Makeup: Winifred, Flair by Winnie
Bridal Shoes: Badgley Mischka
Bridal Veil and Headpiece: Nicute Bride
Bridal Jewelry: Sweet&V
Groom Neckwear and Shirt: Miguel Wilson
Groom Shoes: Adam Derrick
