Ena & Graham’s African + English Fusion Wedding at Grangefields

Ena & Graham’s summer celebration was filled with joy, colour, warmth and love. Looking at these photos by the talented Faye Wilde Photography I instantly feel like a guest, and folks this is one heck of a party. The colour palette, the union of cultures, the fashion, the details, oh… and the venue. There’s just too much to mention.

Ena says…

When first we visited Grangefields we knew it was the place for us. The modern update of a derelict barn in the middle of the Derbyshire countryside, what’s not to love! We immediately could imagine our friends and family there having the best time. Having a church wedding was also important to us so having a church a few minutes up the road made it an even easier decision.

We had an outfit change to reflect both our cultures. I’m proud to be Ghanaian but also proud of growing up in the UK. When it came to choosing my wedding dress I wanted to make sure when I looked back at photos in 50 years time that I still loved it, classic elegance was what I was hoping for. My evening dress was made in Ghana by my cousin and Graham had a shirt made to match.

We wanted rust, peach and terracotta tones. These colours also worked well with the traditional Ghanaian kente cloth sported by my Mum & Dad and the touches of kente throughout the venue including homemade kente cloth fans made in Ghana and favour bags sewed by Graham’s Mum. For the most part the venue spoke for itself but Debbie our florist and Emily from Sass Weddings added those special touches to create the perfect set up.

Debbie owns Passion Flowers, located in my parents village of Littleover, and our flowers were absolutely beautiful and exceeded our expectations. I said I wanted a mix of non-traditional flowers and she managed to incorporate all the different colour tones we wanted.

The cake was made by my favourite person, my Mum. She was extremely nervous about it but it turned out amazingly. The catering was done in house by Grangefields, their canapés were delicious and we really enjoyed that for the main meals, they brought all the food out on platters for people to share between themselves.

Faye was one of the best parts of our day. She listened to everything we’d asked and eased any fears and anxieties we had, she was always on hand to give us advice, not just related to the photos but the wedding in general. On the day Faye continued to help us keep on track but also didn’t take up too much time in our day, making sure we spent time together and had fun, which was really important to us. We were a bit nervous about the couple portraits but Faye made us feel completely at ease throughout. The photos turned our better than we ever could have expected. But most importantly the photos portrayed us as a couple and the fun we have together.

Best part of the day

Apart from Faye… We had Ghanaian drummers perform during the wedding reception, but they went above and beyond for us. Our entrance dancing in with them to greet our friends and family who were also singing and dancing is a moment neither of us will forget.

From one couple to another…

The stress will be worth it.

It may sound obvious but make sure you spend time together – it’s so easy to get separated and you want to make sure you talk to everyone, but remember it’s a day celebrating the two of you together.