“I knew Segun was the one very early on,” Courtney admits. “Before we even officially started dating, he called me one evening to go bowling. We were home from college for the summer so he had to come to my mom’s house. Most guys would probably beep the horn from the streets or just call you when they pull up. Segun was the exception. He came right up to the door and even though I answered he asked if he could say hello to my mom before he took me out. He was such a gentleman from day one.”
“My dress was designed by Pronovias,” says Courtney. “The most difficult part of choosing a dress was finding a good compromise between what my mom liked and what I liked.”
Courtney and her girls gabbed and grinned as they went through their primp and prep routines on the morning of the ceremony. Cute robes, ladies!
“I knew from the beginning I wanted a fit and flare,” says Courtney. “It was what looked best on me. And, I didn’t want anything too fussy but not too plain either.” Great pick, miss!
“I knew I wanted to wear my hair down, because Segun loves it when I wear it down,” Courtney tells us. “But, since I always wear it down, I wanted to wear it a little different so it didn’t just look like my hair curled every day. I wanted a wedding ‘do. I bought a pearl and crystal comb, and we ended up doing a sort of a half up, half down ‘do and put the comb in the back. I loved it and so did my mom.” Courtney’s long time stylist Melissa, with Tangibles Salon and Boutique, and makeup artist Kristine from The Little Touches were on her big day beauty team.
Courtney carried a bouquet of hydrangeas, calla lilies, roses, orchids and carnations. “These are some of my favorite flowers, and I loved how they all looked together,” she tells us. “Choosing the flowers was the hardest part for me because I am not an expert. I just know what I like when I see it. I knew I wanted lots of color. Not only for the centerpieces and bridesmaids but also for myself. I chose an assortment of purples and pinks to top my purple colored theme.”
“I accepted his proposal because I knew Segun would be an amazing husband and father,” says Courtney. “We were already best friends and got along perfectly. We could spend every day together and never need space.”
“Segun was going for a classic clean look,” the bride tells us. “He picked out all the attire and colors for the groomsmen. The groomsman had on classic black tuxedos with mulberry vests and ties to coordinate with the bridesmaids, while Segun wore classic ivory under his black tuxedo.” The brothers sure look smashing.
“For my jewelry, I chose simple pearl and crystal studs with a matching pearl and crystal bracelet,” says Courtney. “Originally, I had not planned to wear a necklace. Segun surprised me with one for my wedding gift that morning. I knew immediately when I saw it that I wanted to wear it on that day. I chose a simple fingertip veil with scattered pearls also by Pronovias.”
For their first look at each other before the wedding, Courtney waited patiently at the bottom of the escalator for her groom to lay eyes on her in her wedding gown for the very first time. We love everything about this moment!
Courtney’s wedding day glow is contagious. What a happy, happy bride!
“Some of my favorite wedding memories were seeing Segun dancing with his parents on the dance floor, my mom walking me down the aisle, seeing Segun for the first time at the reveal and my maid of honor giving us a toast,” the beaming bride shares.
Courtney’s bridesmaids’ dresses were designed by popular bridal designer Amsale. “I knew I wanted them to be simple and elegant,” says the bride. “I wanted my girls to stand out, not the dress. I chose sleek and simple silk taffeta one shoulder gowns. The silk taffeta was perfect for the August weather. The girls said they were so light on them. I chose mulberry because I loved the rich look of the deep purple. My girls looked fantastic and they all loved their dresses.”
“Courtney is gorgeous, loving and passionate about her interests,” says Segun. “She is smart, intelligent and a go-getter. She’s family oriented and very social. I really enjoy being with her and I’m lucky to have married her.”
“Segun is liked by everyone,” says Courtney. “He has the greatest sense of humor, the best dance skills, and in school he was the person everyone wanted as their study buddy. He is very hard working and dependable.”
“One of the things I love about him is he is your ultimate guy’s guy,” Courtney shares. “He loves to watch and play every sport and just hang with the boys, but when it comes to me, he is very sweet and romantic. He will watch his shows and then turn to The Real Housewives for me because he knows I love it. I really love that about him. That he is still a strong man, but he is not afraid to enjoy things that I love to do also.”
“Right before I got out of the Rolls Royce I was very nervous,” says Courtney. “I’m not used to having a lot of attention on me. As soon as I began to walk down that aisle, and I saw Segun, everyone else disappeared. All of my nerves were gone. After that, it all felt perfect.”
Courtney always knew she wanted a church wedding. “It was very important to me and my faith that we were married in a catholic church,” she says. “Picking the church was easy. It was my family’s parish and the same church where I received all of my sacraments.”
“My mom walked me down the aisle,” Courtney tells us. “My mother raised me on her own since I was a toddler. If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be the person I am today and I definitely would not have had the opportunity to go to college. It only seemed fitting that after all the years she spent raising me, that she was the one who gave me away to my new husband. It was perfect!”
“We wanted to have a traditional catholic service so Segun suggested I walk down the aisle to the traditional ‘Bridal March,'” says Courtney. “After re-listening to it, I could immediately imagine coming down the aisle toward him while that song played.”
“We did not write our vows,” Courtney shares. “Since we were married in the catholic church, we were limited on how we could actually do our vows. We chose to repeat our vows after the priest since we knew we wanted to say more than ‘I do.'”
“It felt surreal looking into Segun’s eyes at the altar,” says Courtney. “I couldn’t believe it. We were finally here. It was the happiest I have ever been.”
Courtney and Segun seal the deal at the altar with a romantic kiss just like one right out of a Hollywood movie.
“Six years in the making, this was finally it,” says Segun. “Looking into Courtney’s eyes that day, I felt like this was one of the best decisions I ever made.”
“We kept our wedding pretty traditional,” says the happy bride. “We had two readings from the old and new testaments, and the priest gave a great homily. At the end of the ceremony, we did a traditional send off in a vintage Rolls Royce while our guests blew bubbles.”
Courtney and Segun and their well-dressed bridal party jumped for joy for the cameras.
Somebody get a frame and get this photo in it now. It’s portrait perfection.
“Courtney is a wonderful woman, I enjoy every minute I spend with her,” says Segun. “We are perfect for each other. We have been together for over six years and I knew it was time to make it official.”
“I did most of the wedding planning, but I always got Segun’s input before I made any decisions,” says Courtney who was anything but a bridezilla. “We didn’t always agree. There were some things I compromised on and some things where he compromised. I also had an amazing day of coordinator, Isis Williams, who I would go to for advice and recommendations.”
“Friendship is a blessing and love is a gift,” says Segun. “After finding true love with my college sweetheart I am never letting go.”
“He makes me laugh even when I don’t want to,” Courtney tells us. “He makes me happy without even saying a word, and there is a sense of security that I have with him that I have with no other person. We share all the same values and I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life without him.”
“Once we booked the church, we needed a venue that was in a reasonable travel distance from the church,” says Courtney. “I researched over 30 places online and probably went to visit about five of them. When we went to the Ballroom at the Ben, we knew it was perfect. I loved the traditional ballroom with a lot of old character and Segun loved the openness and how grand it was. The fact that it was right in the center of downtown Philadelphia was icing on the cake. We are a young couple and we knew there would be a lot of young people at our wedding. Having a downtown city reception really set the tone of what we were looking for.”
Courtney and Segun danced their way into their reception party to the upbeat sounds of Beyoncé’s romantic hit “Love On Top.”
“I absolutely loved my wedding cake,” says Courtney. “I decided to add a bling band around each tier to match the centerpieces and some of the other décor at the reception. I also had my florist scatter some of the same flowers that were in my bouquet throughout the layers of the cake and use the flowers as the topper. It was simple elegance with a little bit of my wedding flair. We chose two different flavors. The first and third tiers were raspberry pond cake and the second and top tiers were chocolate chip.”
“Our tables were covered with champagne swirl tablecloths with votive candles and dinnerware,” Courtney describes. “We wanted an elegant but fun atmosphere. One of the guests described it as a ‘Great Gatsby party.'”
“For our first dance we decided to go old school with “Here and Now” by Luther Vandross,” Courtney shares. Excellent choice, you two!
Newlyweds Courtney and Segun were all smiles as they cut into their glamorous cake.
“The overall theme for my wedding day was purple passion with a bit of bling,” says Courtney. “We had purple up lighting all around the ballroom, the centerpieces and flowers on the cake were different shades of purple too.” Notice their gorgeous custom gobo light with their monogram. Just gorgeous!
Guests took a break from the dance floor to pose for the cameras in the couple’s custom photo booth provided by Beat by Beat Entertainment.
The happy couple didn’t skip a beat when it came to making sure all of the customary reception traditions took place. Clearly, they had a ball!
Philly based couple Courtney and Segun chose an ice sculpture designed to be a replica of the city’s LOVE Statue.
“I didn’t think I would find true love how and when I did,” admits Courtney. “I always hoped to find a good guy in college, but knew it doesn’t happen for everyone.”
“I love that we are also best friends and can share in show many interests,” says Segun. “She can enjoy cheering on the Sixers with me at the Wells Fargo Center or tailgating before the Eagles play on Sunday. I can enjoy all the drama of watching the newest Lifetime movie or Real Housewives and listening to her favorite song on the radio.”
Did you enjoy Courtney and Segun’s romantic Philly wedding style as much as we did? Tell us your favorite details and leave the happy couple a little comment love below. To see more photos from their fab wedding, visit The Bride’s Café now. Want to see your wedding featured in Bridal Bliss? Email us now.