All posts by Samantha's Bridal Team

Real Weddings

Daddy Owen finally says i do

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Finally as the Swahili saying goes ’hayawi hayawi huwa’, the King Of Kapungala aka Daddy Owen finally tied the knot last weekend to his long term fiancee Farida Wambui. It was an all white affair for the groom and grooms men, where his brother Rufftone was his best man and Eric Omondi part of his grooms men for the day. For the ladies they dawned in pink dresses with orange and white flowers bouquet. The invite only ceremony was held at the Kenya Assembly of God Church in Buruburu .

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Though a few of celebrities turned up for the church ceremony, the ceremony was beautiful the church decor was simple and elegant. Daddy Owen could not hide his joy after putting a ring on it and then came the most awaited time when the preacher said ‘now you may kiss the bride’ and the crowd went like aaaw though the couple were a bit shy but they sailed through the moment.

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The wedding was followed by a beautiful reception party at Radson Blu hotel, present were top leaders in government Kabete Mp Ferdinand Waititu and Dennis Itumbi who delivered the best wishes on behalf of the President. Also in attendance were celebrities like Jaguar, Nameless, Wahu, Esther Wahome, Jalang’o the list is endless. Entertaining the audience was Dj Sadiq, Mercy Masika with her hit song mwema, Esther Wahome and Sauti Sol .

Offcourse what did you expect from the western region fellows other that great music and dance, the gests in attendance were shocked to see ‘Baba yao’ shaking his shoulders like it was the end of the world.

The reception party was topped with great food catered by the same hotel. To the newly weds we wish them a happy marriage full of Gods’ blessings.

Style

The design and flavour matters

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During the Samantha’s Bridal Wedding Fair there was an annually cake challenge. During the fair people voted for the cakes on display and there was one cake that stood out of all on display, that cake carried the day as it won the competition making Cake Elegance earn the title baker of the year.

Photo by Digital Eye
Photo by Digital Eye

Business Daily featured the story of one Sonia Farookh the owner of Cake Elegance and she said that over the years the style of baking cakes, the décor surrounding the wedding cake has really changed. The usual fruit cakes are no longer the order of the day; instead more of chocolate, vanilla and carrot or even mixed flavors are being used more.

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Photo by Digital Eye

Sonia trained abroad and says that she gets her inspiration for cakes from ordinary things. Over the years she has learnt the art of packaging a cake with good shock absorbers to avoid damage on transit. The price of a cake varies depending on the weight, flavor and design; it ranges from kshs 2500 to kshs80000. For a wedding cake she bakes one cake at a time to concentrate on it, to bring out the right taste and décor to meet her clients needs.

The recent cake she baked for KISS100 Radio Presenter Kalekye Mumo and the design was stunning, mounted on a chandelier. Cake is no longer the traditional cake we used to know.

Wedding Ideas

Daddy Owen set to wed his fiancee tomorrow

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The king of Kapungala Daddy Owen finally is set to wed his long term fiancée Faridah Wambui at an invite-only ceremony held in Nairobi. The Celebrated gospel singer will walk down the aisle tomorrow.

The two love birds have been dating for close to four years now and they revealed publicly about their relationship at his elder brother’s wedding Rufftone in 2014. The singer has been planning his wedding for close to one year, trimming his guest list.

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The vanity hit maker last year posted his wedding plans on Instagram and this was his post; ‘Trying to finalise the guest list for my wedding… jus wondering how do wazungu do it? They can hack wedo ya watu 20? My family alone tunagonga 100! Ama i borrow a leaf from my celebrity couple friends’

daddy owen

And true to his words the ceremony will be an invited guest only ceremony where top celebrities and who is who in the media industry are invited there after a dining party will be held.

From here at Samantha’s Bridal we wish them all the best as they walk down the aisle and a happy ever after.

Budget, Wedding Ideas, Wedding Tips

Tips on Sourcing money for your Wedding

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Even the most modest wedding will cost some money, and many couples are left wondering how they are going to pay for their wedding. Raising money for your wedding can seem like a daunting task. With high wedding prices and rough economic times, it will be hard for many couples to afford their ideal wedding.

The Samantha’s Bridal believes you can have your wedding without breaking the bank. Some of these ideas will require work and a willingness to maybe go outside of your comfort zone. Decide what you want. Plan your budget. Work your plan. Have your dream wedding.

Open a Wedding Bank Account
The first thing to do when saving money for your wedding is to set up a separate bank account for wedding related funds. This might seem like a lot of work, but it’s totally worth it. Find a bank that offers a free savings account. It’s a lot easier to save money if you have a dedicated place to put it. You will be less likely to spend the money because it is in the bank, and you can easily track your deposits and account balance to determine what your overall wedding budget will be.

Saving up is the most common way to raise money for your wedding, but it requires discipline and time. If you have a year or so to save, you can put away a portion of your income every month into your wedding account. This will allow you to slowly build up a nice chunk of change to use for your wedding expenses.

Moonlighting
Moonlighting is basically finding an additional source of income aside from your regular job. If you have some extra time and some marketable skills, this may be a great way to raise money for your wedding.

Get Sponsors/Set up wedding committee
What is a Sponsored Wedding? A sponsored wedding is when you have different sponsors for the different parts of your wedding. These sponsors can be friends, family, or even wedding vendors that you plan to work with. With friends and family, you will basically be asking them to contribute to your wedding costs. A sponsored wedding involves asking these people for help. This may be uncomfortable or even slightly embarrassing, but many friends and family members are more than happy to chip in. At your ceremony, be sure to publicly thank these individuals who were willing to help. Just know that the Kenyan setup only helps those who also take part and burden for others and hence to form a committee to fund your wedding you also need to have supported others before.

Vendors may give you discount or offer their services for free if it can benefit them in some way, such as helping them generate more business through advertising.

Sell Your Stuff
Most people have lots of stuff, and that stuff might just be taking up space in your house. Turn that stuff into cash by selling them. Old furniture, clothes, toys, etc. are all items that people will buy. You can also consider selling items on OLX.

Wedding Loans
Wedding loans are becoming more and more popular because more young couples have to foot the bill for their own weddings. Nobody wants to start a marriage in debt; you definitely don’t want go further into debt to get money for your wedding. By getting a loan you will end up paying way more for your wedding and you will still be paying for it long after it’s over. If possible, borrow money from a family member instead of getting a wedding loan. At least then you hopefully won’t have to pay interest and fees. Don’t take a loan if you can avoid it.

Budget, Wedding Ideas, Wedding Tips

Budget for your upcoming wedding

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Once the engagement glow has faded, it’s now time to sit down and plan for the big day, you’ll find it very hard to get anything accomplished without a good wedding budget. A budget will give you an outline of what you should spend on each item, so as to ensure you don’t spend more than you intend to.

Who’s funding the wedding?

Although in Kenya traditionally the grooms’ parents pay for the whole thing, this has now changed, couples can now both help each other in funding the wedding. If you can pay for the whole thing yourselves, that makes things easier. If you want your families to help you out, or pay for it all, you should have a frank discussion with them about it. You should be prepared to answer questions, such as “How much do you think the whole thing will cost” and some other questions that you might not know the answer to.
There are several options:

  • Parents can say that they are contributing a specific amount, and then the couple decides on a wedding budget and makes up any difference themselves.
  • Parents can say that they want to pay for specific items such as the bride’s gown, or the catering. The couple then has to figure out how to pay for everything else.
  • The couple can set a budget and then ask to split it evenly. This is particularly a good solution for divided families.
  • Friends and relatives can set up a wedding committee but remember the African set up you have to be supportive to other people for you also to be supported.

Figure Out a Basic Wedding Budget

Start off by using a wedding budget planning worksheet to figure out the basics (below is a sample of the budget worksheet get the actual worksheet in the Samantha’s Bridal Magazine which is available at our offices).

Budget Worksheet
Budget Worksheet

If you already know some of the costs, such as the hall rental, put the actual figures, and adjust the other figures to make up for it. You can also ask other brides who have had weddings in your area what they spent on vendors to figure out if these numbers are realistic, or need to be adjusted.

Budget Worksheet
Budget Worksheet

Make room for what really matters

Prioritize what’s important to you, choosing 2 to 3 most important items. Writing down questions and filling them may help in this process. You may decide that you want to have a great photographer, but you’re happy to hunt for a bargain on the gown. If you’re having a small wedding, your catering bill won’t be big in the percentage of the budget. You can adjust your budget figures to reflect your priorities.

Save your wedding budget

Start by looking through the budget and crossing off anything that you don’t need. For example if you’re having both the ceremony and reception at one location, you might not need to include transportation. Use your contacts. Don’t be afraid to ask recently married friends who they used and what they paid. Ask friends in the wedding industry to help you out, and give you a discount if possible. If the numbers still aren’t working out, ask yourself what’s really important to you.

Once you’ve set a budget, stick to it. It’s easier said than done, but an important thing to do.

Flowers and Decoration, Wedding Ideas, Wedding Tips

Flower set Up for your wedding

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The wedding table set up has the power to judge a brides personality, quaky bride don’t go for elegance rather they go for a fun and playful feel.

  • Peaches and pinks are very classic and feminine, relaxed with no fuss. This set up fits a bride who loves flowers but in minimal doses. For a trendy look, use silver for base layer and drop in hints of coral between the different shades of pink. See the photo below:

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  • This set up is perfect for a bride who wants to fuse style with elegance, while maintaining an earthy and laid back feel on her wedding table setup. The table of white roses as the base layer before topping it over with natural wedding colors.

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  • For a bride looking at using minimal flowers on her set up, use a lot of glass in different shapes and sizes to achieve an elegant look. Placing candelabras as part of the decoration injects an abundant dose of elegance in the air.
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Photo: Digital Eye
  • While glitter on the wedding décor is not practical, blinged and glittering candles will add a fairy tale look on the set up. This will most fit the modern vintage themed bride. A touch of lighting on the décor sets the mood of the occasion, especially when installed in different hues.
Photo: Digital Eye
Photo: Digital Eye
  • This set up uses a lot of exotic flowers wound into massive, almost flamboyant bouquets which create texture and variety on your table.

As the specialists put it, when you are getting married, ensure your table reflects your personality.

Catering, From the Experts, Wedding Ideas

Party Is On

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Wine has been served in weddings since time in memorial but how do you know when to serve what?

Here are some aspects to consider when selecting the wine for your wedding reception. Matching wine with food is almost impossible so in this case opt for a light, well balanced and easy to drink wine both as red and white. For a more formal and plated meal, ask the advice of your caterer or your wine supplier and simply try the wines with some of the food yourself!

You’re Guests

What kind of wine do they like? How about your friends and family? Do they prefer red, white, rose, sparkling, or a dessert wine? Would your guests enjoy one or two really nice glasses of wine to sip as they socialize? Or is wine not that important to your guests?

Generally in Kenya, we have a sweeter taste for wines; so wines with a fruity and not too dry taste are normally a safe choice.

Time of day

Are you having a lunch or evening reception? People prefer to drink less at an afternoon wedding than an evening affair and they also prefer lighter wine. A good alternative for a lunch reception could be a nicely chilled rose wine. Some of the wines to look out for are South African wines. For an evening reception a choice of white wine and red wine is nearly a must.

Menu

If you intend to pair wine with food, you may want to ask yourself, are you having a buffet menu or a sit down and more formal lunch? A buffet offers several choices of food hence matching wine with the food is almost impossible. In this case opt for a light, well balanced and easy to drink wine both as red and white. For a more formal and plated meal, ask the advice of your caterer or your wine supplier and simply try the wines with some of the food yourself.

What’s your budget?

Most of us do not have an unlimited budget to spend on wine, and looking at cost is inevitable. So several options are available to you:

Ask for a wine package: generally for lunch, quantities of wine required can be calculated by 2 glasses of wine per person, sp approx ¼ ltr per person. If you have 100 guests you will need 25 bottles of wine. For a plated dinner, one should count at least 1 bottle of white wine 75cl for 4 people and 1 bottle of red wine 75cl for 3 people. These proportions can be reduced or increased depending on your type of guests as well as the drink selection you will offer.

For a drinks reception, count a maximum of 1 glass of wine per person especially if other drinks like beer, juices and soft drinks are also be available, if you ask for a maximum number of bottles, then you might want to consider a cash bar.

If the caterer or the hotel allows it, look into bringing your own wine bought from your reliable supplier, though be ready to pay for corkage (a charge paid per bottle up to kshs1000).

Discuss with your supplier to have your wines on sale and return basis, this means that if not all the wine is drunk, you will be able to return the unopened bottles to your supplier only make sure that the labels are not damaged.

By Phillipe Cauviere

Director-WWW Bar and Shop Ltd

 

Giveaways & Competitions, Wedding Fair

The Cake Challenge

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All roads last weekend were headed to the Samantha’s Bridal wedding fair which was held at the Sarit Centre. Within the Fair was another event the Cake Challenge theme ‘Have Your Cake and Eat It’ everybody liked and loved. Mouth watering cakes were on display for everyone to see, admire and vote, there were also cake samples that were being given out for free for tasting and voting for the Cake with your best design, flavor and size.

Thanks to Unga Limited which provided the necessary support and materials that made the Cake challenge successful. They expressed their love and the winners were given prizes and giveaways from Unga limited.

The overall winning cake was designed by Cake Elegance, see the photos below:

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Winner Cake Challenge,: Cake Elegance

 

1st Runners up was the Valentines cake house.

!st runners up Valentines Cake
!st runners up Valentines Cake

2nd Runners up was cake City, see the photo below:

2nd runners up Cake City
2nd runners up Cake City

The event changed the minds of brides and grooms to be and they got a chance to know on how their weddings cakes will look like thanks to the people who baked and participated in the challenge. Old monotonous way of cake baking was changed and new ways of design adopted.

Check the photos below of all the cakes that took part in the competition:

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Wedding Tips

A Letter to the Bride to be-

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Congratulations, you are getting married! In all the excitement and stress of planning your wedding over the next few months, one of the most important things you will purchase is your wedding gown. The first thing you should do before actually heading to the bridal shop is get an idea about which style of wedding gown you prefer.

During the Samantha’s bridal wedding Fair I got to learn a few tips on what to do before making that big step of purchasing your wedding gown, here are the tips:

Do research. Before you even begin to look around for a wedding gown first do a research on gowns. You should always have a bit of knowledge about dresses before you even set foot into a bridal shop. There are also many bridal magazines that will provide you with a ton of information e.g. The Samantha’s Bridal Magazine

Decide on a shape. Wedding dresses are made in different design shapes. Before considering anything else, you should know which type of gown will flatter your figure the best. Look at photos of each type by browsing through website photos of real women wearing gowns.

  • Ball gowns have very full skirts and generally will look beautiful on any body type unless the bride is very short and small. For a short lady the gown may look very big for her. Ball gowns generally either have petticoat inside to support the shape of the gown. This extra fabric can be heavy and bulky and will require extra care to wear.
Photo By Digital Eye
Photo By Digital Eye
  • A-lines usually have a fitted bodice with a skirt that flares gently from the waist to form an “A” shape. They generally work for everyone as well, and are a great choice for someone who would like to hide lower body flaws, but does not want a ball gown. A-lines are not as full as ball gowns.
  • Sheath has a slim shape that follows close to the line of the body. Its best on women with slim, balanced figures. This type of gown shouldn’t be worn by brides who dislike their figures, it doesn’t hide any flaws. Don’t try to pull it off because you found a gown you love in this style. You don’t want to risk being uncomfortable or self-conscious on your wedding day, or regretting your choice every time you look at your wedding photos.
  • Empire waist gowns have a skirt that falls from just below the bust. They are a wonderful choice for a casual, non-formal wedding, or weddings in a tropical climate. They’re usually made of light, flowing fabric. They’re also excellent for pregnant brides, because they provide extra room in the waist, making them a comfortable choice. They also won’t draw as much attention to the belly as a dress with a lower waistline would.
Photo by Digital Eye
Photo by Digital Eye

Consider the type of occasion. A variety of factors can affect what makes a particular dress appropriate for an occasion.

  • Formal ceremonies usually call for floor length gowns and long trains, while informal ceremonies for example garden weddings or destination weddings are a suitable place to wear a shorter gown without a train, in some cases, strapless gowns are considered inappropriate for formal ceremonies.
  • If you’re getting married in cold season, you may not want to be in a very light, thin fabric unless you plan to be indoors the entire time. If you’re having a beach wedding in, you may consider wearing a very light gown.
  • Most traditional wedding ceremonies will call for a white gown, but wedding dresses don’t have to be pure white anymore! Many women choose dress colors that best complement their skin tones, ranging from diamond white to actual colors i.e pink, blue, red. Pick the color you feel most beautiful and comfortable in.