Ozioma and Obiora had a beautiful, lavish and extravagant wedding. Their love story will give you butterflies. Check it out.
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00:00Hello, my name is Oziyama Agninson, and I'm Obior Agninson, and this is our Essence Bridal Bliss love story.
00:10So we both went to, we moved to Miami in January 2014
00:16for a medical school, like a pre-medical school program, and we were both taking classes there
00:23before starting medical school, and we were in the same class.
00:27But I had a study partner, and he mentioned there was a cool guy in the class, and you know,
00:33we might want to start studying with him, and
00:35the rest is history.
00:40Yeah, I did not know that this would be my lovely wife when I first met her.
00:44She had all the good traits, but I didn't really know her personality, and it took me a while to really
00:50enjoy that and really get to know her before I knew that this was the right woman for me.
00:56So before I wanted to pop the question, I needed about four years.
01:07So I would say when we first started dating, I did ask Obi to court me.
01:14I wanted to know that he was intentional with me, and that was the difference, I would say, in our
01:22relationship. And you did also
01:25ask my mother, right?
01:28You spoke to my mom? I think so. Yeah, and
01:32she gave her approval for us to start dating, especially during medical school.
01:37I wanted to, you know, concentrate on studying, but the relationship I had with you, it
01:44added more.
01:47You were very intentional. You didn't play about me, right? You were always there if I needed anything.
01:53You were my best friend, so
01:56the dating period was, I would say,
01:59excellent, and I would say that's what led us to getting engaged four years later. So the preparation process
02:08to get ready to propose to my wife was, it was a fun process.
02:13My mother and I, we went to a couple different jewelry stores to look at rings.
02:18I
02:19picked one I believe she would like, based off her character and what she likes.
02:25And then, so I selected a ring, and then it was all about trying to figure out what was the best time.
02:31We were, we had couples match and residency program, and we were going to move into a home that I bought in Georgia.
02:38So I figured it'd probably be a good time to propose to her before we get to the home.
02:43So while I was driving on the way, driving up to Georgia, I stopped by her,
02:48I was stopped by her parents home in Baltimore. We decided to get dinner, and that's where I decided to pop the question.
02:53It was definitely a surprise.
02:55So as far as the proposal, and being nervous, I was not nervous one bit. I was pretty sure she'd say yes.
03:01I'd say yes if I was her.
03:05But I did get on one knee as traditionally expected, I did. You did, and I was definitely surprised.
03:13Which was, I would say that's the fun part, because yeah, I did not expect it at all.
03:30You know, typically a lot of girls are, they're like, I knew it was coming. Honestly, she was confused.
03:36So as soon as I got the ring and he proposed to me, we did not go into, immediately go into wedding preparation.
03:44I believe a couple months later, our families contacted us, and they were like, what is going on?
03:51We need to set a date. We need to have the, what's that thing called, that our traditional, we're Nigerian,
03:57so we do something called an introduction. They're like, we need to have the introduction this year.
04:02So we had our Nigerian introduction, which is very small and intimate, and that was at my house.
04:09And I had a few close friends, you had a few close friends, and that's where we did our introduction.
04:15And that's when our families had us set a date for our Nigerian traditional wedding.
04:20So basically, we had our Nigerian traditional wedding, and we actually set a date in 2020.
04:28For our white regular wedding, but that was canceled due to COVID.
04:33So we pushed it up to 2022, but I got pregnant with our daughter, and that had us push our wedding back again.
04:43To 2024.
04:442024.
04:47And honestly, our lives changed. It was just amazing to see the type of father he became.
04:55And how supportive you are. And I would say, I mean, initially it was stressful,
05:01but we started to get the hang of it after a couple weeks with the help of both of our mothers and our family.
05:07It is great to be a girl dad. So what is it like to be a girl dad? I love it.
05:11You know, I get to be like emotional and things like that. It's a good, it's a good feeling.
05:17Yes. Added some softness to my personality. I really appreciate it for that.
05:22So how was it like planning our big destination wedding?
05:26We actually started planning during our baby move in October 2022.
05:31We used that as like a two-year anniversary trip. I believe we took like a two-week vacation.
05:38Where did we start the vacation? Was it Paris?
05:41I think we started the vacation in Paris, and then we moved on to Venice, Italy.
05:49And we looked at wedding venues in every city that we actually visited.
05:54I think we also visited Milan. And then our last stop was Barcelona, Spain.
06:01And I found this castle on Instagram and I'm like, I have to see it in person.
06:07The owner of the castle, we met up with our soon-to-be wedding planner who we actually used
06:13and we were able to tour the castle and just, even from the gates, riding up, we fell in love.
06:20So we used black vendors, majority black vendors.
06:24And that was important to me just because, you know, we're black, we understand each other.
06:30We just, you know, I believe that they're able to, you know, see the vision, use the correct lighting and everything like that.
06:38So how was it planning with them? It was, I mean, very easy.
06:43We picked a date and we were able to know who our vendors were early on.
06:49I believe at least a year in advance for a majority of people.
06:53So I wanted this dress from a wedding vendor or actually a wedding designer.
06:59I don't want to reveal the name, but I mean, they're big on Instagram.
07:03So initially I flew out to New York, met with the designer.
07:07They were supposed to make this dress.
07:09They sketched everything.
07:11I actually was supposed to have two dresses from them.
07:14And come August of 2024, the communication was horrible.
07:21Me, I'm a type A person.
07:23So I haven't communicated with them from like April or May.
07:26I was even going to fly out.
07:28But honestly, my schedule did not permit and they insisted that they would have the dress ready on time.
07:33So the dress was actually supposed to be sent to me in June.
07:36Come June, no communication.
07:38July, August.
07:40So I have my stylist who is Chris Aya and he recommended a black owned Nigerian stylist.
07:47Wedding dress designer who does amazing work.
07:52So he was able to sketch my dream dress and we were able to contact her.
07:59And I honestly don't think she realized that my wedding was in two months.
08:04I think when she realized it, I mean, she delivered.
08:08She did an amazing job and she was actually able to have my dress delivered to Barcelona,
08:13even with the time constraints and everything.
08:15The communication was A1.
08:18It was important for me to incorporate crystals, 3D beading.
08:23I just wanted to look different.
08:25I wanted like your typical white dress, but I wanted it to be extra.
08:29And the reason is because my bridesmaids were wearing white.
08:33So I just wanted to stand out.
08:35I just wanted to like, in the nighttime, I wanted to glisten.
08:39I just wanted to show off.
08:41So I just wanted to stand out.
08:43I just wanted to like, in the nighttime, I wanted to glisten.
08:47And she did deliver that.
08:49Chris was able to help sketch the dress and she delivered just that.
08:54She worked with me every morning.
08:56She would contact me.
08:57I would be texting her.
08:59She would send updates throughout the day.
09:01And it was, it was just amazing.
09:04I'm actually happy the other designer made the mistake because this dress was everything and more.
09:12So I'm a neutral girl.
09:17And I know you typically don't hear that bridesmaids wear white to a wedding.
09:22It's a taboo.
09:23But me, I'm extra.
09:25I wanted my girls to stand out.
09:27I wanted them not to look like guests.
09:30And we did have our guests wear all black.
09:32So I was, I was toying between our guests wearing all white versus the bridesmaids wearing all black.
09:38Or the guests wear all black and the bridesmaids wear all white.
09:42And I think we went with the latter.
09:45And I'm so happy I made that decision.
09:47They still stood out amongst the guests.
09:50They look beautiful.
09:51Their dresses were.
09:53And I'm so happy about how everything just turned out.
09:58The look.
10:00So where did I get my tuxes and my groomsmen's outfit?
10:04I went to a brand called Uma McGlore.
10:07They are a very high fashion luxury designer brand essentially for formal wear.
10:14So they do suits and tuxes.
10:16And I think they did an excellent job.
10:18They help you from inception to finish.
10:22You know, they help you pick material, colors, options, styles.
10:26They really walk the process.
10:28And I'm very appreciative for, you know, the good folks over there.
10:31They really, really, really bring to life my vision essentially.
10:38Yeah, so for me the ceremony was very dreamlike.
10:45It was a lot of white, a lot of flowers, a lot of familiar faces.
10:49You know, it was very comforting and very homey.
10:54And then when I got a chance to see my beautiful wife, you know, it was bliss.
10:59I get to see her walking down a mirrored aisle towards me.
11:05I'm across the water essentially with her father accompanying her.
11:10And that was a magical moment for me.
11:13It was amazing.
11:14It was beautiful.
11:15It was touching.
11:16It brought tears to my eye.
11:18I remember hearing like the crowd.
11:21I knew something was going on when it came down to Zara walking down the aisle,
11:25which I was able later to see thanks to our videographer.
11:29But I remember tearing up before I walked down the aisle.
11:33And once I walked down the aisle across the water,
11:37and I just was looking at Obi the whole time,
11:40it was just amazing because it was like, look where we've come.
11:44Like, you know, look how far we've come.
11:46We got married the same year that we celebrated 10 years of knowing each other.
11:50And it was just amazing.
11:53It was beautiful.
11:54And, you know, it was more than I could ever ask for.
11:57So Obi's vows was, you know, it was very touching to me.
12:01I, you know, was listening intensely.
12:04And I really appreciate the vows that you made to me and the promises.
12:09And, yeah, it was beautiful.
12:13It brought tears to my eyes as well.
12:15And, you know, it's just a moment that I'm going to cherish for the rest of my life.
12:19So we used Priscilla Lorenz, who was our wedding planner,
12:23and also she helped us bring our vision to life.
12:27It's just funny when you send, like, your vision board to people who are supposed to, you know, bring it to life.
12:36And it's just wild when you actually see what you envision in real life and even more.
12:42I just remember telling her when we did another site visit that I wanted flowers everywhere.
12:48And I didn't know she was literally going to put flowers everywhere.
12:51So walking to the reception, just seeing the flowers all over the ceiling, all over the table to the floor, just flowers everywhere.
13:00It was just beautiful.
13:01And they were all real.
13:03And it was just amazing.
13:05Like, it smelled like a greenhouse.
13:07Like, you could smell how fresh the flowers were.
13:09And I was just so happy.
13:11It was just very angelic.
13:12It was just really a fairy tale.
13:14And honestly, I mean, I had the butter of my dreams.
13:18So, yeah.
13:20Food was delicious.
13:22I think we had a company called Jubany, or a restaurant called Jubany, do the catering.
13:27Michelin.
13:28Michelin star restaurant, which is delicious, delicious food.
13:31And it was nice to get the director, all the guests, you know, watch everybody have fun and see them enjoying themselves.
13:39So that was a really good part for me, was watching everybody else enjoy it.
13:44Yeah.
13:45Especially her.
13:46Yeah.
13:47We did karaoke.
13:48So the emcee, he went around and we did karaoke while we all sat, ate dinner.
13:53It was just very intimate.
13:55We only had like 120 guests.
13:57But from where we sat, I feel like we could see everyone.
14:00So, I mean, I love that intimacy we have at the wedding.
14:04So what was the cake like?
14:06Do you want to describe it?
14:08We needed a sword to cut the cake.
14:10So, it's funny because I told the wedding planner I wanted a big, huge cake.
14:18And I didn't know they would take it literally.
14:20But it was, the cake was tall.
14:23It was white.
14:24Maybe like six rows of cake.
14:26I don't know how you describe it.
14:27But it was tall, white, with flowers.
14:29To me, it was just simple and elegant.
14:31And it was nice.
14:33So did we save our cake in the freezer?
14:35No, we did not.
14:38We did not travel back home with our cake.
14:40And, yeah, we'll just get a new cake this year.
14:44I know it's a tradition, but we'll start our own tradition.
14:47So did we meet our budget?
14:51You know that expression, like a hair above your budget?
14:54We were like a dreadlock above our initial budget.
15:01It wasn't bad, though.
15:02It wasn't bad.
15:03I think it was worth every penny.
15:04That's really what matters.
15:05Yeah.
15:07Yeah.
15:13So let's tell you guys about our ring.
15:15Or my ring, actually.
15:16So do you want to start?
15:18No, I'm good.
15:19So, you know, Obi initially first bought my first ring in 2018.
15:24But after I gave birth to Zara, he presented me with a push gift.
15:29So my ring was upgraded.
15:31And, you know, you didn't even consult me for either ring,
15:34which is impressive that you know my style.
15:37And I love it.
15:38And I'm very appreciative of my upgraded ring.
15:42So what advice would I share with other couples getting married?
15:45I would say invite those who, you know, mean the best for you,
15:50who, you know, you actually speak to.
15:53I would invite actual friends, family, and not acquaintances.
15:57And also an advice someone gave to me is after you walk down the aisle,
16:02you know, and the ceremony is complete, be by your husband's side,
16:07be by your spouse's side the entire day so you guys can have the same memory.
16:12Yeah, so my advice would be know what you want.
16:15And if you don't know, ask your wife.
16:18Yeah.
16:20So what's next for Obi and Ozi?
16:22Continue to love each other.
16:25Continue to grow our family.
16:28We love Zara.
16:29Zara and, you know, one of these years she'll have a sibling.
16:34We work together, so continue to work together, make this money,
16:37and start these businesses.
16:39What do you think?
16:40Yeah, I think we're just gonna just grow, just grow together.
16:45In every sense of the word.
16:46Family.
16:47Business.
16:48Faith.
16:49Faith.
16:50And love, really.
16:52Brother.
16:53Yes.
16:59I love you.
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17:09I love you.
17:10I love you.
17:11I love you.
17:12I love you.
17:13I love you.
17:14I love you.
17:15I love you.
17:16I love you.
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17:19I love you.
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17:21I love you.
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17:25I love you.
17:26I love you.
17:27I love you.