Ceremony
The goals for our Wedding Ceremony was for our two hearts to unite as one in Holy Matrimony under the Blessing of God, and to create an environment of Love, Joy, Sincerity, and Worship. To create just the right ambiance, we utilized our home church, and combined the ideas of the Bride, a local florist, and Latrice’s Aunt Rosiland, the ultimate event decorator, for ideas on how to transform the Sanctuary into a touch of Heaven on Earth.

The vision came to pass in a beautiful way! Every chair was draped in silk tie-back covers, the aisles were decorated with pretty green, pink and white flowers, and eyes were drawn to tall columns and decorative wedding trees at the front and back of the room. The atmosphere was further enhanced by specially selected music at each segment of the ceremony:

- Our parents walked down the aisle to the song "The Gathering" by Shekinah Glory

- Our groomsmen and bridesmaids walked down the aisle to the song "Adoration" by Amante Lacey & The Life Worship Band

- Finally, Latrice entered as the Stunning Bride, walking down the aisle to the song "Closer" by William McDowell.

We couldn’t have asked for more in the execution of what we had planned. And one would think that the biggest highlight of a wedding would be the Bride and Groom tying the knot in an exchange of vows led by a Minister. Yet, at our wedding, one unexpected moment added just the Romantic touch of sincerity we needed to make the day memorable for all. As the adorable little flower girl, Camielle, stood with tears at the beginning of the aisle, struggling to make her way down, Vince's little nephew, Johnathan, carried out the duty of a Perfect Gentleman by leaving his spot on the stage, walking back down the aisle to take her hand and walk with her to save the day! The audience applauded and cheered as they witnessed an illustration of True Love in action and what a showcase and display of Romance to make the day one to remember for years to come.

Reception
The time between the wedding ceremony and the celebratory reception is short, yet precious. During this time, of our day, we greeted immediate family members and had a brief photo session inside the church for our traditional wedding portraits. By the time we were done, the limo driver stood outside in front of our white stretch Range Rover limo, tapping his foot and looking at his watch. He seemed to be in such a rush that we almost left without two of the groomsmen! The Collingswood Grand Ballroom was the place of our reception site. It was conveniently located less than 5 miles away from the church. Yet, somehow, the driver got lost, and our 8 minute drive turned into around 28. Luckily, our wedding party was full of jokes and laughter. We barely noticed the time going by, and once we finally arrived, all was smiles and cheerful again. Even the grumpy driver got into a few pictures with us.

At the entrance of the Collingswood Grand Ballroom, there is a connected Mansion for special entry of the Bridal Party only. We were greeted there by the catering staff who introduced themselves to us, and they patiently waited as we (mostly the guys) took lots of fun pictures in front of the limo. Inside, there was a steady flow of tasty hors d’oeuvres and sparkling cider. We were able to relax and munch until it was time for us all to be introduced. While we were in the Mansion, our guests were in the upper level of the ballroom, snacking on appetizers and watching our love documentary. They were able to look down onto the lower level where our four tier cake sat on a decoratively lit table, and each of the guest tables were labeled with signs and menus that we made by hand. Rather than the traditional table numbers, we decided to use words of affirmation to declare a special blessing over each table. For example, some of the table names included Love, Happiness, Prosperity, Wisdom, and Virtue. The hand-crafted dinner Menus that we made for each guest, listed all of the available dishes of the night, each adorned with a sparkling amber jewel.

Finally, show time arrived and after all the guests took their seats, the bridal party was introduced to the song Ascension by Maxwell. Each of the bridesmaids/groomsmen made their way down the Grand Stairway taking full advantage of their seconds of fame. The newly famous Flower Girl and Ring Bearer received a BIG applause as they joined hands and made their entrance together. It was finally our turn to be introduced as Mr. & Mrs. Vincent Abanyie, and the excitement had us dancing, smiling, and beaming with joy behind the curtains. As we joined hands and made our way down the stairway, there was a feeling of royalty and humbleness at the same time. We were so happy to make it to that point. We could have shouted from the mountains, “We Did It!”

The reception started off with the couple’s first dance to the song “Close to You” by BeBe & CeCe Winans. The wedding party was invited to join them on the dance floor, and then all couples at the party were invited to join the Bride and Groom on the dance floor to start the party off right.

While the guests took their seats and tables began to get called for dinner service, the special dances of the night proceeded. First, the Bride had a collection of dance partners among her Four Uncles as they twirled her around the dance floor one by one to the song “Isn’t She Lovely”, by Stevie Wonder. Next, Vince used a special tribute song, “Mama”, by Boyz II Men, as he danced with his mom in appreciation for her love and support as he prepared for this moment.

After all the formalities were complete, it was PARTY TIME!!! The dance floor was open for all to boogie and get down. There was plenty of line dancing, Motown songs, and of course a Michael Jackson segment to make sure everybody was “off the wall”.

Slowly, as the night went on, guest said their well wishes and departed, but we barely even noticed. With the exception of being pulled aside for a photo opt or two throughout the night, we stayed on the dance floor all night and in each others arms. At some point, we finally realized that we were the only one’s left in the ballroom. The caterers had packed up all of our things and were waiting for us at the door. It was a night to remember, a dream come true, and we really hope that all in attendance had just as much of a good time.

Wedding Invitations, Programs and Menu
The two of us are creative people. Not only are we creative in design and craftsmanship, but also in finding ways to save money. So, the idea to create and hand-make all of our wedding stationary stemmed from both of these reasons.

We worked together to design and create our own wedding invitations, ceremony programs and dinner menu cards. We spent many days making trips to Michael’s Arts & Crafts store, and many nights cutting pasting and tying ribbons along an assembly line, sometimes with the help of our siblings and cousins. The process took many weeks, although we did not work on them every day. We actually enjoyed the time working on our very first set of projects together, and we used it as a time to talk, choose wedding music, and paint a vision for what the future would be like.

Our wedding invitation consisted of a small, shimmering brown framed picture taken from the night of our engagement proposal, and a green ribbon on the outside. Inside, the green ribbon served as the closure for a side pocket holding reply cards and reception information. The adjacent side was the formal invitation wording, framed also in shimmering brown paper.

Our programs followed a similar theme with the brown shimmery paper, layered with white stationary on top. There was a tiny green ribbon at the very top of the long rectangular sheet, and a scripture across the very top to display what we were standing on that day as we joined in Holy Matrimony.

The dinner menus stemmed out of an idea for addressing two issues. One, our reception dinner was buffet style and we wanted to make sure the lines moved quickly. The menus provided the opportunity to give advance notice of what our guests would find at the buffet. Secondly, dinner beverages would be served at the bar only, which was hidden behind the bridal table. We were able to include a small note on the menus which directed our guests to the various soft drinks offered throughout the night.

Overall, the arts and crafts process was fun for the two of us. We’ve learned that we work well together and we even play around with the idea of continuing to make themed wedding materials for other couples as a side profession of our own.