Vintage Peacock Themed Wedding in Dallas: LaSteshia + Nwachukwu

LaSteshia and Nwachukwu met early in November of 2012. Nwachukwu was visiting Dallas, TX from London, England on a work assignment. One night he wanted to go exploring Dallas’ nightlife with a friend so he stopped at Hotel Zaza. LaSteshia happened to be there that night too celebrating her friend’s birthday. Her and her friends were sitting at a table, when Nwachukwu approached them. Still new to Dallas, he wanted to know if it would be ok for him and his friend to join their table. Without much thought, she said yes! LaSteshia and Nwachukwu were so into each other they forgot about their friends!

Bride: LaSteshia Runyon –  Nurse Practitioner
Groom: Nwachukwu Ekeocha – Clinical Research Analyst
Wedding Date: 02/14/2015
Wedding Location: Edison – Dallas, TX

Coterie member Jason of The Belle Wedding Experience describes LaSteshia and Nwachukwu’s wedding, 

This vintage inspired wedding combined the traditional American wedding with a touch of Nigerian heritage. The elegant bride, who wore a strapless, fitted ivory dress with a birdcage headpiece walked down the aisle to meet her tuxedo dressed groom. Downtown Dallas provided the perfect backdrop. Formal photographs were taken on the rooftop of the venue, Edison’s Dallas, to showcase the beauty of the Dallas skyline. The new husband and wife briefly left the reception after their first dance to change into traditional Nigerian wedding attire. The groom’s mother then led the two in a native tribal dance. The couple exited the venue to a night sky filled with sparklers being waved by family and friends. All was well as the pair began their first official journey leaving the venue in a vintage vehicle.”

How did he propose?
On September 21, 2013, we started our Saturday as normal; breakfast, cleaning around the house, errands, and later movies. We decided to have dinner at P.F. Changs prior to the movie. The whole day Nwachukwu seemed to be acting weird and annoying me. After the movie we came home and as we were getting ready for bed, he continued to aggravate me to the point I had pretty much had enough. When I turned around to say something to him, he held the ring in my face and said, “Will you?” All I could do was smile and say yes. He later told me that he was “winding me up” because he was so nervous. We didn’t want to wait to wed, so on October 4, 2013 we had a beautiful intimate wedding ceremony on the lake. Jason, J. Black Productions was there to capture this very special moment. We soon started making arrangements for our Celebration of Love ceremony.

How was culture incorporated into the wedding?
Nwachukwu is of Nigerian heritage and we wanted the culture incorporated in our celebration. His mother and father came from Lagos, Nigeria with the beautiful custom made garments that we wore during the reception. We were re-introduced to our family and friends with a surprise change of attire and a dance with the whole wedding party throughout the reception space. Once we made it to the dance floor, our guest began to dance with us and shower us with money.

What’s your favorite memory from the wedding?
The whole celebration was my best memory, it is really hard for me to pick just one. I will say the moment I started walking down the aisle and saw my handsome husband standing there waiting on me was one of the most heart felt moments. Our first dance also stands out. We had a slideshow of pictures playing in the background while we danced to Chrisette Michelle’s Couple of Forever’s.

Any advice for our brides-to-be?
Always remember how and what made you fall in love with that person. Sometimes with the rush and setup of the wedding you can forget why your doing it all. So date your mate day by day and pray hard for the good days and the not so good days. Love it what brought you to this point… so don’t forget to Love….!

Vendors
Event Coordinator – Candace Williams of Edisons
Photography- Jason Blackwell of The Belle Wedding Experience
Florist – Shaunette Smith of Sydnee Event Productions
Pastry Baker – Lauren Rodger of Baker Sweet Thangs by Lo
Make Up Artist – Jamie White of MUA Jamie Dionne
Videography – Chris Harmon of  Harmland Visions
Hair Stylist – NaTausha Harris of Stylist Salon 921
Limousine – Ron of Imperial Limousine
Officiant – Rev. Cindy Clark-Head of Weddings by Rev Cindy
Bridal Salon – Kristyn Huckeba of Terry Costa
Tailored Suits – Rye 51
Bridal Veil – Tina of Velvet Owl