Trunkwell Mansion House, Reading

[Side Note: Picture heavy post]

In my previous post, (click here if you missed it), I shared a high school friend’s traditional Nigerian wedding with you all. This post is about her white wedding held at Trunkwell Mansion House in Reading as the title of this post suggests. Having been to well over 20 weddings (and that’s a conservative estimate) plus toying with the idea of becoming a wedding planner after I graduated from University, I’m a bit of a self-confessed wedding connoisseur.

I’m a big fan of weddings in more rural settings because of the scenery and more notably, the space, so the Tunkwell Mansion served as a beautiful location for the celebration of their union. Their ceremony was held outside and fortunately the sun shone that day so irrespective of the late start, it was delightful. I struggled with knowing what to wear (for reasons mentioned in Wake-Up Call) but I settled on a deep turquoise dress that I customised a few years ago by having off the shoulder sleeves added to it in a soft netted fabric for contrast and comfort.

It was lovely being reunited with some ladies from high school (our school wasn’t totally ethnically diverse so despite us all being in different years, we all knew one another). Everyone looked gorgeous and three of the bridesmaids were from our high school, which was nice to see. I’d never seen the bride look happier and it really warmed my heart. Here’s to a lifetime of happiness for them both!

The marquee interior. The mood lighting was very effective.

I loved how varied all of our outfits were. I always find wedding attire really intriguing and I think my friends did a wonderful job!

Believe it or not the three of us above used to sing together in a group and write then record songs! We were called AIM (after our initials). This picture is special to me as we don’t often spend much time together nowadays; it almost felt like a little reunion.

The groomsmen and bridesmaids really made an entrance and set the stage….or rather set the monogrammed dance floor alight in preparation for the bride and grooms entrance.

And then came the battle: the groom and his men vs. the bride and her maids! I think the ladies won [in my humble opinion].

I love this action shot! You can see that they took this battle seriously! The video footage I got was really fun!

The bride in her Vera Wang dress.

My friend looking dapper in his suit – he was a groomsman.

Three of the bridesmaids from my high school. The pretty lady in the middle is also engaged!

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Gansallo!

Grip

Take my hand.

Hold on a
little tighter
my love
come sit in
irrefutable
like with me.

Smile with me.

Let us cast
out shadows
of hate
side by side
convincingly
forever.

Cement our surname.

If I should
fail you
I promise
To win your
hand again.

Just don’t let go.
©Assumpta Ozua 2015