The destination wedding in Dubai

Matilda and Tolulope - 27.07.2017

Neither Matilda Ebun Coker-Niyi nor Dr. Tolulope Olamide Niyi were interested in meeting each other. In fact, neither wanted to meet anyone at all.

Things to accomplish, places to be, Matilda was much too focused on her career in London. Tolulope meanwhile, was just recovering from a relationship gone sour and was not keen to meet women for a while.

‘But as fate would have it, I would meet Ebun,’ Tolulope, 37, tells Friday.

It was a ‘casual introduction’ forced during a visit to a common friend’s home in Nigeria in 2016.

‘I paid little attention and just for politeness sake decided to be introduced and grudgingly indulged in conversation,’ he admits. The conversation was, however, interesting but didn’t lead anywhere.

‘I heard she was off in two days and I thought to myself, well thank goodness for that,’ Tolulope recalls. ‘I took it as a sign from heaven telling me that cars, sneakers and cupcakes were the goals.’

He did however part ways with a cheeky line: ‘Next time you’re in town maybe I’ll get your number.’

‘It would make for a beautiful story if I said at that moment I knew we would be together forever,’ Ebun, 37, says. ‘But at that moment my actual thought was more along the lines of: ‘Oh please! Who says that? Whatever!’’

But little did they know that the fleeting encounter would turn into a fairytale.

Fast forward, and the two bumped into each other again in Nigeria at a mutual friend’s wedding.

‘Forgive the cliché but our eyes met and he smiled delightfully,’ Ebun recalls. ‘It was at that moment we hugged and I was filled with excitement. It was an unexpected but wonderful feeling... like meeting this perfect stranger who I instantly felt like I’d known forever.’

The rest of the evening was picture perfect. The two talked and talked, and later danced under the Lagos night sky to Rihanna’s We found love.

‘But it certainly didn’t feel like a hopeless place,’ Ebun jokes. ‘Since that day, there hasn’t been a day that I haven’t thought about or spoken to Tolu.’

Tolulope adds: ‘After that encounter, let’s just say it went from 0 to 100 real quick. I felt she was the one and always pictured a future with her in it, even though I tried very much to make it platonic. I told her about my life, the ups, the downs and she responded with ‘I’m not going anywhere’. She held firm and has ever since. I didn’t, at that instant, realise that I was stumbling ever so quickly into love.’

About a year or so on, Tolulope went down on one knee as Ebun was coming out of the airport. ‘He then whispered to me that we needed a good story to tell our kids,’ she says.

The couple decided to treat their family and friends to a destination wedding in Dubai where they’d fallen in love with during their first trip together.

‘The reason we chose Dubai was because we had our first holiday together in Dubai and we both have some lovely memories there, and also because it is [geographically]a midpoint for both sides of family and friends who live across London, Nigeria and Canada,’ Ebun says.

‘The theme of our wedding was the celebration of love,’ she adds. ‘Although this may be commonly the theme at all weddings, unofficially or officially, ours was planned with love and expressing it in mind. We wanted not just to celebrate the love between a couple but love between our families and between friends, and also the love for a city, a culture and a people.’

The uniqueness of the wedding was bringing that theme to life as ‘Love in Arabia’, which translated into every detail - from table placeholders, that had cards with love written in several languages, as well as passages about love from the Bible.

‘Our guests were all people we love, who came from all over the globe and despite the expenses, made it a point to show up and support us all through - an act of love and selflessness.’ Ebun says. ‘It literally moved us to tears.’

The wedding celebrations were spread over the week with activities for all who came to bond with the couple, relax and enjoy the city as well. ‘We surprised them with a yacht trip on the Dubai waters, where our traditional marriage rites were observed,’ Ebun adds.

‘We not only introduced our guests to our traditions but infused a bit of Arabian tradition on our wedding day as well, including belly dance performances. We had a traditional Yoruba-themed engagement also in Dubai.’

The Yoruba culture of Nigeria is full of folklore, food, colour and music. It combines traditions with modern themes, and is an occasion to showcase best outfits, handbags, jewellery and dancing styles.

‘We managed to cover most of the traditional basics like the gifting of the engagement ring, African fabrics, dowry and farm produce, which dates back to the olden times in our culture, underscoring the fact that we were mainly farmers.”

The couple also created a website detailing all the things guests could do in Dubai. Suggestions included the emirate’s famous desert safari experience, a visit to the Burj Khalifa, Aquaventure at Atlantis The Palm, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and the city’s famous Gold Souk.

‘We not only wanted them to come to see us exchange our vows but to take away a bit of the city we ourselves had fallen in love with,’ she says.

The couple described the experience of working with wedding vendors in Dubai as ‘exceptional’.

‘It was a breeze,’ Ebun says. ‘We had weekly chats and emails to plan our special day, and our coordinators Menka and Preeti were exceptional in all facets and made it very stress-free.’

Meanwhile, Tolulope jokes that their mutual friends, who succeeded at matchmaking the couple, are still awaiting their cheque.

Theme: Love in Arabia

» Wedding Planner: EbzTolz Events

» Wedding day coordinator and decorator: Love Details Events

» Church: Christ Church, Jebel Ali, Dubai

» Reception: One & Only Royal Mirage

» Photographers: Usyphotography, EGPhotographer, Pooja photography

» Wedding Cake: Arwa Federal Signature Cakes

» Wedding sweets: Koko Sweets & Treats

» Bride’s hair: Touched by Koko

» Bride’s makeup: House of Cherry

» Wedding dress: Maggie Sottero from Mathildarose.co.uk

» Jewellery: Swarovski

» Shoes: Sophie Webster