Citadel Theatre Wedding

{June 18, 2015}

When Atlanta Silverbacks Soccer Player Dominic Oppong and Registered Dental Hygienist Jennifer contacted us to take their engagement and Citadel Theatre wedding photographs, we were beyond thrilled.

Their 5 year old son, Max, his Grand Parents and Aunt and Uncle formed their very intimate wedding of just 8 people. Jennifer is of Dutch Canadian heritage whilst Dominic is of Ghanaian Canadian heritage.

Jennifer said: “I designed my outfit and my mom turned it into a reality. She is not a professional seamstress but made a lot of our clothes growing up. This was definitely the most ambitious project she has taken on, but it turned out better than I could have imagined. She told me upon completion that she is now retired from sewing! My sister designed and made the bouquet, which included antique brooches from my grandmother’s jewelry box as well as a birthstone ring I received from my aunt and uncle for high school graduation.” We loved how they included family traditions in the choice of wedding outfit.

We asked Jennifer & Dominic what their favourite wedding day moment was; their response: “It’s really hard to pick one! We loved our first look. One of our memorable moments was when that group of women stopped to take a photo of me just as Dominic was walking up to stand at his corner. It made him even more nervous to see me because he wondered why all the commotion.”Their son, Max, joined them for a quick photograph before their first look…Jennifer’s outfit consisted of a white jumpsuit and a wedding skirt made of Ankara, a fabric worn by many Africans, and tulle. Dominic thought that Jennifer would choose a western design for her wedding dress so he was very pleasantly surprised at their first look.Grand Parents on their walk from Union Bank Inn to Citadel Theatre.Love the architecture of the Citadel Theatre in this image! Tammy Banting of Meaningful Ceremonies doing what she does best.Jennifer said: “Another memory is Max dropping one of the rings… Just as he did as a ring bearer at my sister’s wedding 2 years ago. It’s an accidental tradition for him!”

They explained more about the sharing of bread during their ceremony: “The Dutch word for honeymoon is “wittebroodsweken,” which means “white bread weeks”. It is the time after the wedding when the couple are especially attentive to each other and enjoying their new life together. My mother remembered that when she went to the Netherlands to meet my father’s family for the first time, my father’s sister and her husband had been married for 4 years, my parents for 2 years. My Auntie Margriet had said “our white bread days are old now, but they still taste sweet.” It was something that always stuck with my mom. The blessing in our ceremony was “May your white bread days last long after this, your wedding day, and continue to taste just as sweet.” My mom thought of including a breaking bread ceremony at 5 am the morning of our wedding, and got up right away to bake the loaf!”

It was a beautiful day, full of cultural details, surprise, laughter, & love.

Many thanks to yed wed for featuring their wedding too; it includes more details about how they met, the proposal & their wedding planning process!

Credits:

FO Photography, Meaningful Ceremonies, MakeupAndMeg for lashes and makeup, Bride’s rings custom design by Johan Rust, Groom’s ring by Deluxe Bands, Union Bank Inn for wedding preparations, Madison’s Grill for hosting brunch & first look, the Citadel Theatre for ceremony venue.