ghana wedding

Alice and Derek's Ghanaian Canadian Wedding at the Royalton Banquet Hall

Hello Hello Hello! Welcome to another edition of my blog posts!

A most stylish couple and some very unique wedding elements! This is how I would describe the wedding of Alice and Derek. Working with vendors from around the world, their elegant 2-day Ghanaian Traditional Wedding and Modern White Wedding came to life in Toronto Canada. The first day was the traditional Ghanaian ceremony day and it was a beautiful showcase bursting with colorful purple details. The couple was very intentional with showcasing their shared Ghanaian culture (with new-age twists!). What I really loved was how they were big on choosing African vendors (or vendors of African Heritage) for almost all the elements of their wedding. Designz by May set the stage with a gorgeous backdrop featuring beautiful purple and white panels and accompanying floral details.

The bride’s makeup was beautifully done by Avaya Noelle and how lucky was the bride to have her friend and renowned celebrity hairstylist Hair by Estylez do her hair in a most fabulous and unique creation.

A Unique Canopy was provided by Designs by May that provided the couple a featured stage in the room.

Dj Fiasco spinned some cool modern and traditional Ghanaian tunes while balancing the audio for the traditional ceremony

The traditional ceremony was a fashion show of African fabrics. I was totally in awe capturing all the beautiful guests and wedding party

The bride wore a dress fit for Royalty.

The wedding (including church ceremony and reception) took place on the second day.

Alice’s white wedding dress was a show stopper and she looked stunning in it! Hollywood has nothing on her! The dress was made by talented Ghanaian designer Sima Brew. Derek on the other hand wore a white suit designed by Maison Hardman. The pair together were just Ghanaian Royalty!

My second shooter Shubila K captured the men’s getting ready whilst I covered the bride’s getting ready! Shubila is a star in her own right and am grateful for all the help and amazing shots she captured.

Right after the getting ready photos the couple had their first look and it was so beautiful am sure I cried some tears somewhere lol. I loved the area we chose to do the first look.

The church ceremony was filled with family and friends witnessing the couple get officially hitched.

After the ceremony we headed to the stunning Vaughan city hall (one of my favourite architectural locations in the G.T.A) and the Vaughan civic library to take the official portraits of the wedding party.

The grand event was the reception. Once again Designs by May outdid herself! Drop dead gorgeous decor and my fav was the unique canopy on the stage specially designed for the bride and groom. I was in awe when I walked in. Literal decor eye candy for a photographer everywhere!

The bride and groom had a unique entrance. Entering separately from two different doors and joining together as they reached the middle! Super cool!

I absolutely loved how the families all showered the bride and groom with love as they danced and the tradition of spraying the couple with money was a delight to watch.

The towering cake was created by Mecairo’s cake company and honestly it was a star centrepiece on its own. I absolutely loved the fireworks show put on during the cake cutting.

Anyway enough of my writing I will let you enjoy the images as much as I enjoyed taking them.

VENDORS:

Venue: The Royalton Banquet Hall

PHOTO LOCATION: Vaughan City Hall

Reception: The Royalton

THIS WEDDING IS CURRENTLY FEATURED ON THE LATEST ISSUE OF MUNALUCHI BRIDE MAGAZINE! HERE ARE SOME SNIPPETS FROM THE MAGAZINE!

YOU CAN VIEW THE ISSUE ONLINE AND CAN PURCHASE A DIGITAL COPY AS WELL

Ghanaian Fan at traditional wedding ceremony
Designz by May Decor Setup The Royalton Venue in Vaughan Photo by Karimah Gheddai of Ghanaian traditional wedding
Ghanaian traditional wedding ceremony at the Royalton Banquet Hall in Vaughan - Photo by Toronto based wedding photographer Karimah Gheddai

The Wedding Day!

Here are some highlight images from the wedding day which happened a day after the traditional wedding event!

First Look with Ghanaian Couple Alice and Derek at Vaughan City Hall
Designz by May Decor at the Royalton

Josephine and Kwabena's wedding at the La Primavera Event Centre in Vaughan Featured on Today's Bride Magazine!

Hi Everyone! Welcome to 2023! Ahhh I cant believe I am actually saying that, 2023 wow! Time sure is moving quick!

Today I am featuring Josephine and Kwabena’s Wedding! This stunning event and cross border love story is currently featured on the latest issue of Today’s Bride Magazine (Canada’s leading Bridal Magazine!), which is now out in newsstands and stores all over the country! Thank you so much to this amazing publication for honouring us with a feature!

Karimah Gheddai Photography Feature

Josephine and Kwabena are teenage sweethearts (which is very rare to find these days) and I can’t say enough great things about these two. Just by being a part of their wedding, I could see how much love they have for each other and the people around them. I mean their wedding party consisted of eighteen people (if you include the bride and groom)! Each one of those wedding party members was willing to go above and beyond for the bride and groom that day. I mean they stood outside in the freezing cold for two hours with the utmost patience as we took their wedding portraits.

As well, the wedding guest list was over 400 people and it was a sight to see all of the guests welcome the bride and groom for their reception entrance!

I have shot at La Primavera Banquet Hall in Vaughan twice now, and I love this venue! They have a beautiful garden in the back that is absolutely gorgeous in the spring and summer, however as it was not yet spring at the time of the wedding, everything was not as green. Our initial plan was to take images at humber arboretum but after doing a quick site visit a few days before the wedding it was a total no go due to the lack of greenery and the general mushy conditions throughout the site (I highly recommend photographers do site visits to avoid having to work in unfavourable conditions). In a scramble, we needed to find a photo location nearby that was spectacular for photos. Well the location I found (after like 4 hours of searching) was sooo great and quite private which was nice for a really large bridal party and the extended family members that arrived at the portrait shoot. I was very happy with it!

I would like to give a special shoutout to my second shooter on this day; Shubila Khonga. I am truly grateful for all her assistance. We had to work with a large wedding party and she was a great help to me in keeping things moving along. I have worked with Shubila on a number of weddings and she is always motivated in her work. Please do check out her instagram and website and show some support!

One other person I would like to shout out is Loretta K. She was instrumental to the success of this wedding and the genuine love she has for the couple was so easy to see. Also I was so appreciative of the respect she afforded myself and my team, even making sure to save me some Jollof Rice at the traditional event!

Vendors:

Venue: La Primavera Event Space

Planner: Loretta Karikari, Matilda Karikari, and Josephine Adansi ; Coordinator- Vivian Amoah, Loretta Karikari and Matilda Karikari

Getting Ready Robe: Alice’s Secret @alicessecretng

M.U.A: Avaya Noelle @avaya.noelle

Josephine’s Gorgeous Dress: Amandalinas @amandalinasofficial

Cake: Cakes by Mavis @cakesbymavis

Hairstylist: Arthur Hair @arthurhairbridal

Bride's shoes: Badgley Mischka @badgleymischka

Groom's Suit: Suit Supply @suitsupply

Bridesmaids outfits: R’s Modern Fashion @r_modernfashion

Groomsmen outfits: Men’s Warehouse

Traditional outfits: Chevelle O. @chevelle__o

Decor: Luxe Soiree @luxesoiree

Florals: The Silk Gardener @thesilkgardener

M.C: Emcee Ebone @Emceeebone

DJ: DJ Shorty @djshorty6

Menu Cards: Jaleesa Reddick & Josephine Adansi

Portraits: Vaughan City Hall and Civic Centre

Bride’s MUA for Traditional Ghanaian Events: @beatbyashanti

Bride’s Hair for Traditional: @allurebyhk

Bridesmaids' Makeup: @eminentallure, @avaya.noelle, @a.onthebeat

 
 

If you would like to book me for your 2023 Wedding or Event then get in touch HERE!

Beautiful Ghanaian Canadian American wedding at the Vaughan Civic Centre - Taken by Toronto African Wedding Photographer Karimah Gheddai
Toronto Ghana Wedding African couple Orchid Bouquet and Marc Jacobs Daisy mischka badgley wedding shoesPerfume bottle - Mischka Badgley Shoes Toronto wedding African
Beautiful Ghanaian Canadian Bride in gorgeous getting ready robe captured by Toronto Eritrean African photographer Karimah Gheddai Photography.
Wedding details featuring a veil and gorgeous shoes - wedding photography by Toronto based wedding photographer Karimah Gheddai
Black Bride in Beautiful Custom getting ready robe - Ghanaian wedding
First Look at Element Hotel in Vaughan. Wedding photography by Toronto African Photographer Karimah Gheddai Photography. Ghanaian Wedding
Vaughan civic centre wedding day photo location for beautiful Ghanaian couple Josephine and Kwabena - Taken by Toronto based African photographer Karimah Gheddai
Wedding Portraits at the Vaughan Civic centre
Bride at Vaughan Civic centre for Wedding Photos
Karimah Gheddai Photography La Primavera Event Centre Toronto Mississauga African Ghana Wedding Photographer
Towering white cake at La Primavera Event Space in Vaughan
Wedding at La Primavera Banquet Hall in Vaughan. Groomsmen take a photo on the stage with the couple. Photo by African photographer Karimah Gheddai
Beautiful Ghanaian Wedding at La Primavera Banquet Hall captured by Karimah Gheddai Photography. Photo is of the bride and groom with the bridesmaids and bride on the stage
Ghanaian Wedding in Toronto
Guests joyously welcome bride and groom to the hall at La Primavera Event Space
Emotional Moment - Bride Sheds a tear as her maid of honor gives a speech

Thank you kindly for stopping by my blog and going through another one of my posts! I am always so happy and grateful to get to share my work and this wedding really was a joy to capture!

Thank you to again to Today’s Bride for showcasing this wedding on their latest issue! To know my work is now all over the country is just such an amazing thought!

Until next time have a great one!

-Karimah

If you would like to book me for your 2023 Wedding or Event then get in touch HERE!

Grace and Edward's Wedding at The Aga Khan Museum and Embassy Grand Banquet Hall

Hello everyone and welcome to my first wedding blog post of 2020! Can you believe I am posting it at the end of March! Gosh I need to get slightly better (okay a lot better) at this blogging thing. Currently the world is going through a scary and unprecedented time in history with the COVID-19 situation, which has effectively forced a lot of people to stay put at home. Well apart from our frontline heroes! Shoutout to them for their amazing work! I hope everyone is practicing social distancing and staying safe so we can alleviate the burden on our healthcare system and communities. I personally have been working from home these past two weeks and it has been crazy but I have been getting quite a lot done and now even got a bit of time to squeeze in this blogpost which I hope you will all enjoy because the photos are gorgeous!

This Ghanaian Canadian Wedding happened last year and am only now getting a chance to post it on here. It is an honour to be able to share images from the wedding of Edward and Grace who are one of the most elegant couples I have had the pleasure of photographing in my time as a wedding photographer.

This wedding was simply stylish and I am so happy to have been able to get the opportunity to capture it! I have to say Grace and Edward are probably one of the nicest couples I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I mean they even went out of their way to gift me with the most beautiful tulips after the wedding to say thanks, and I literally had tears in my eyes. Here is hoping every client I have moving forward can be as amazing as them.

The wedding day started off with getting ready shots at a hotel North of Toronto. For the creative session with the couple, we drove to the Aga Khan Museum and to our surprise the grounds were full of stunning white cherry blossom trees. How lucky were we! It was really something out of a fairytale!

The ceremony took place at the Embassy Grand Banquet Hall. The whole room was in awe when Grace started singing a beautiful song for her husband. Not a dry eye was left in that room after that.

The reception space was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. with the decor having being done by the most talented team from Dream Creations. Once the party started there was no stopping the dancing! Being a huge fan of Afro pop myself, I was so happy to hear all the amazing songs! Oh and did I mention there was a live band! Gosh this wedding was perfect! Okay I will stop writing now and move on to the photos. Enjoy!

VENDORS:

Wedding Planner: Events by Joyceln

Day of Coordinator: Champagne Events

Bride’s Make-up Artist: Martha K

Groom’s Suit: Eaden Myles

Videographer: Chris of INFT Films

Wedding Decor: Dream Creations

Second Shooter for Ceremony and Reception: Michael Gozum of LovexLens

If you would like to book me for your 2020 Wedding or Event then get in touch HERE!

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That brings me to the end of this blogpost! I hope you enjoyed looking through these stunning images as much as I enjoyed taking them. I hope that the next time I put up a blog post, our beautiful world will be returned back to a normal state. Until then stay safe!

If you would like to book me for your 2020/ 2021 Wedding or Event then get in touch HERE!

-Karimah