Zebra on The Beach
Why zebra on the beach? Well firstly, it is widely known that no animal has a more distinctive coat than the zebra. And you know how the zebra has all beautiful stripes of black and white? That’s how the bride and groom are. A beautiful unique mixture of black and white – gorgeous Alakie and the handsome extremely calm David.
The couple had a destination wedding on the beach with the church ceremony taking place at Emerald Flamingo Beach Resor & Spa located in Shanzu.
It was all breathtaking, the grounds for exchanging the wedding vows that finally made David and Alakie man and wife, were on a cliff with a spectacular view of the Indian Ocean.
Wait a minute. Before I continue, a sound tip when setting up the PA System on the beach or any other windy place, ensure the microphones have muffs to minimize the effect of the wind being absorbed by the microphone and being amplified.
The ceremony was to start at 3pm and it did exactly that. Kudos! Late afternoon weddings are the perfect timings for a beach wedding when the sun is not overhead. Of course it is always great to have cold water readily available (of which the couple provided) just in case the heat is lingering and please do not forget to bring along your sunglasses!
The wedding was an intimate ceremony with 120 guests. They settled in to the ceremony area with us playing some mellow Christian music to create the church ambiance. The emcee of the day was the bride’s brother, Kelvin, who is a lawyer and not a professional emcee but he lived to the billing and did a very good job all day.
The bridal party was ushered into the venue by Isikuti dancers testament to the bride’s Luhya heritage. The groomsmen were upstanding at the front of the venue waiting for the bridesmaids to walk in.
The bridal party walked into a pianist playing instrumentals to Adele’s Make You Feel My Love. The pianist had connected his piano to our PA System to amplify it.
The bride’s sister, Crystal Asige, who was one of the bridesmaids grabbed the microphone when she got to the altar and did an amazing rendition of Make You Feel My love with the pianist still on the keys as her sister, Alakie walked down the aisle.
Crytsal Asige singing at her sister’s wedding from Discmen Entertainment on Vimeo.
Crystal is a professional artist with some amazing music that you can sample below:
Pastor Robert of Crossroads Fellowship Church, who kept the matrimonial service short and interesting, conducted the ceremony.
The couple signed their certificate to Montmartre Remix of Bob Marley’s Is this Love. This remix is soulful and the lyrics are perfect for such a life long commitment.
The emcee gave a few house rules and then the couple exited to a mix of two songs: Primal Scream Moving On Up and Liquideep’s Still. Primal Scream is a Scottish band and we would guess they must be a favourite of the groom who is from UK.
All the guests walked down the cliff to the beach to take photos with the couple and after the short photo session, the bridal party proceeded for their photo shoot at the Moorings Floating Restaurant in Mtwapa. The guests walked back up the cliff for cocktails and canapés. The bride had requested for Café Del Mar music for this interlude. Sample this kind of music on the link below:
The guests then drove to La Marina Hotel in Mtwapa for a dinner reception. And the day’s band – ChemiChemi – was already set up ready to receive the guests with some mellow tunes as they sat at the Marina with a view of the ocean and boats anchored.
The emcee, Kelvin got people to do a jig as the bridal party was almost arriving at the venue to psyche up the crowd.
The bridal party made a surprise but very beautiful entrance to the reception area by coming to the venue via a Swahili dhow and landing on the jetty leading to La Marina. It was a scenic moment as the guests watched in awe as they gasped and waved to them from the land and cheered them on.
On landing, the Isikuti dancers were ready to take the bridal party and guests in and around the venue dancing.
The groom, Mr. David Ginn and his family were elated to experience the joy and energy of an African wedding, something a bit different from what they are used to in England.
It was truly a mix of cultures with guests from different corners of the world – the USA, UK, Spain, Nigeria, Belgium, Malawi, Asia and Uganda.
By now; you should understand the theme Zebra On The Beach? Of course the fusion of black and white was dominant. David and Alakie highlighted the theme right from their wedding cards invites. On this particular day their décor was in black and white as well.
Their third theme colour was lilac, which Discmen highlighted using LED par cans up lighting the trees creating a good ambiance. We had done the lighting set up the previous day.
The guests settled down and had a sumptuous buffet meal – it was mouthwatering! The band continued playing with interludes of the speeches. The lead singer of the band is Crystal, the bride’s sister and we must say she worked being a bridesmaid and singer at the reception for over three hours.
The DJ took over from 10pm and the party went on until past 4am. It was a mix of African and International hits. One of the night’s highlights to the UK guests was when the DJ played some indigenous UK house hits:
Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Ginn. On behalf of Discmen we wish you never-ending love and the happiest life together!
Testimonial from client
“Thanks so much for all your efforts at the wedding – DJ, PA and up lighting! We had a fantastic day and you did a great job! ”
Alakie & David
Other service providers:
Ceremony Venue – Emerald Flamingo Beach Resort & Spa
Reception Venue – La Marina, Mtwapa
Photo Session Venue – Moorings Floating Restuarant
Décor – Bride & Groom, Forget Me Not Florists and Coast Occasions
Photography – Cheka Photography