Adaozo Nnonye and Sunny Agude Wedding Brochure by TBG London

Grace

especially when it comes to issues as important as marriage. The families of the prospective husband and wife have to know their respective future in-laws and I DO... where they come from, very well, just to make sure they are “marry-able”. After the traditional My husband and I were married in August 1989, on “background checks” were completed, the two the 8th, precisely.Then, Sunny was away in the USA families then consented to the marriage.His family was and I was in Nigeria. So how did it happen? now becoming very fond of my family, and vice It was an entirely African/Igbo traditional thing. And it versa.They then proceeded to linking-up/connecting all happened by way of family connections. Sunny Sunny and I directly. sent word to his family back in Nigeria that he was ready to marry, insisting that he wanted an African woman specifically from his own cultural background for wife.His family came across me at an event in town. His brother was the first to approach me and talk to me about Sunday (my husband). His family later found out that our two families (Sunny’s and mine) were from the same town, and that our mothers were actually from the same village! Wow!! In our culture, family means everything, Adaozo Nnonye and Sunny Agude Wedding Celebration & Renewal Of Vows

A couple of weeks later Sunny arranged a phone conversation with me through his brother. At the time there were no cell phones in Nigeria. I had to go to a phone boothto wait for his call. When he finally called I began to develop butterflies. I was so young. He told me that he had seen my pictures and thought that I was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He now directly asked me to be his wife. I told him that it is too soon and that I did not know him. We decided to continue meeting for phone conversations for a couple of months. After awhile we began to fall in love. At that initial time used to address him as “sir” on the phone. But he explained to me that we were equals. Thathe was my partner and not a “sir”. In fact he showed his respect for me early on. He then asked me again if I would marry him. This time, I excitedly said “YES”! We subsequently began planning for the wedding. Since he lived in the states, he told me to begin preparing for the wedding by attending pre-wedding classes provided by the local Catholic Church. I was to do my part and his family would take care of his.At the same time his family was meeting with my own family, concluding the traditional rites of marriage. The wedding preparations were going on smoothly, as planned, and Sunday was to fly in on a weekend.Expectations were high. Then the unexpected happened. Sunny missed his flight to Nigeria!Can you imaginehow devastated I was? He eventually caught another flight that was set to leave two days after his initial planned arrival. I was more anxious than ever! Finally he arrived. Miraculously, all the anxiety that had accumulated in me suddenly disappearedas soon as I saw him. I was in a pink day dress. My hair pulled up out of my face, blushing. I was going to be a bride soon, and there 4

was my future husband! He had swagger. My first thoughts: He was much younger looking than his pictures had portrayed. He was also well put together, and dressed impressively.Yes, that was my American husband right here, and I was so proud to become his wife. He looked at me, and our eyes met from across the room. I could tell that he was excited to see me too!!! What was supposed to be a two-week long stay, ended up being just a single week, no thanks to the missed flight! Sunny had to do the final meetings with the elders in my family and then I was to go meet his family with him. A day before the wedding that was scheduled for August 5th (Saturday), I went to the salon to have my hair done. I had arranged for all my friends, schoolmates, and supporters to attend my wedding. There was so much anticipation. I left the salon and headed straight to his place to show off my new hairdo.There he was, in a very odd state. He was smoking heavily andlooked uneasy too. I did not know what to say to him. I sat by the corner of the bed, confused and waiting for him to say what was on his mind. “There isn’t going to be a wedding tomorrow”, he said. I assumed he did not want the marriage anymore. But I had no idea what was going on. I was devastated. Not with-standing, I was still eager to know the reason. Then he cleared his throat and said he wanted to tell me before anyone else could tell me. He said that the priest had informed him that the wedding wouldn’t take because he had not yet completed his prewedding catechism classes.Hmmmmm! However, Sunday was determined not to leave Nigeria without marrying me. So we still went to church the following day (day of the planned wedding) with the