Fontaine/Odeny Wedding 10.18.08

A few weekends ago, Amber and I had the pleasure of coordinating a wedding for Keshma Fontaine and Nickson Odeny. They were such a fun and diverse couple- a great time was had by all! For this wedding, Amber and I came in with only a month of planning left, but we did some great things! My favorite thing about this wedding was that we took our first stab at arranging flowers. They looked gorgeous and saved our bride hundreds of dollars!

The bride's beautiful ivory bouquet with an ivory wrap. We then pinned the wrap with pearl pins and used an ornate pearl trim to accent the bouquet's wrap. Keshma had asked for a bit of green in her bouquet so it would stand out against her dress. She picked these berries and we couldn't have been happier with them! They looked great and we even used them in the boutonnieres.

A close-up of our handy work.



The absolutely radiant bride! We went with a smaller bouquet for her not only because she likes things very plain, but also because her dress had such wonderful and delicate beading, we didn't want to cover it up with a mess of flowers!

The ceremony was at Broad Street Methodist Church in Cleveland, which we learned is the oldest church in Cleveland. It was gorgeous and suited Keshma and Nickson's style perfectly. The reception was held at the Elk's Lodge, which was a nice and accommodating venue in the heart of Cleveland. Best of all, they didn't kick the party-goers out until 2 a.m.!

Here is the groom, Nickson. They were such a sweet couple together! From the moment you saw them together, you could really see the love that they had for each other.

Here, you can see how the green berries accented his boutonniere with his white tuxedo.

Here is a picture of the chapel and the entire wedding party. Keshma wanted the church kept very simple, so all we did was put the candelabra and the Unity Candle at the front of the church.

Keshma's six bridesmaids wore two-piece black dresses with matching ivory sashes. Each girl carried a bouquet of deep red roses with a black satin wrap. The red in the flowers and again in the flower girl's rose petals popped with the black and ivory color palette.

Nickson's groomsmen wore red rose boutonnieres, also with the green berries.

Keshma almost didn't have a wedding cake because it didn't seem important to her and the big white cake isn't really a tradition in Dominica (where she is from). Fortunately, she changed her mind and ordered this cake from Village Bake Shop. The white cake with white icing was not only beautiful but also delicious. There wasn't a single slice left- and can you imagine a wedding without some sort of dessert?

Nickson and Keshma were so looking forward to dancing and having a great time at their wedding! Since the bride hails from Dominica and the groom is from Kenya, the couple wanted to pay tribute to their native lands. We put their respective flags side-by-side as the focal point of the dance floor. It really meant a lot to them to have their cultures represented. They also put a personal touch on their day by playing Caribbean music, serving Jerk Chicken, and dancing to songs such as "African Queen" and "She's Royal."

The cross-cultural event didn't stop at the bride and groom. In their bridal party, they had people from Kenya, Norway, Japan, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There were definite dilemmas in pronouncing everyone's name correctly, but I am a big believer in getting things right, so I studied and I didn't offend anyone!

The favors for the couple's guests were ivory boxes filled with Hershey's kisses, then gift wrapped. For centerpieces, Keshma decided to really focus on candlelight and a warm and comfortable mood. Half of the tables had smaller glass bowls with black glass rocks and a white votive candle. The other half had tall glass cylinders filled with water, with black glass rocks at the bottom and a red floating candle. There were also glass votives scattered along the tables, creating a simple, romantic feel.

Down to the last detail, Keshma and Nickson's wedding was a true reflection of them, and a whole lot of fun! What a special day for SUCH a special couple!