Friday 24 April 2015

He put a ring on ME!! {EXTREMELY LATE POST!}

This is an extremely late post!!!!!! Sorriii *Covers Face* We have been married for about a year now.
our trad weddn
Check out our wedding website-->> http://jemimahnaa.wix.com/tosinandmohammed 
and other features on Natural Nigerian and Verastic
I got engaged on February 15, 10:20pm, no i dint check the time but na wetin dem tell me be dat. It was quite unexpected and i was so surprised i teared up!
This is our proposal and relationship story, i was able to get my fiance (now my husband) to record his side of the proposal{planning, etc.).
But first here's our story for your reading pleasure :D Enjoy!

OUR STORY by Me
I met Moh for the first time in University in the year '06/'07 i guess, i can't quite recall precisely, i remember our meeting vividly though, i was standing at the walkway to Dorcas Hall and he was with a couple of my friends and we got introduced. I did not think much of our meeting asides 'oh he's cute' and then i totally forgot about him. The next time we bumped into each other was during our Youth Service @ a friend's house in '08, we exchanged yahoo messenger IDs, started chatting, nothing serious and that's how our friendship started. We decided to take our friendship to the next level 'relationship' towards the ending of the year '12. We had our Introduction in Nov '13 and he Proposed (mostly for formality though 'cos we already knew we were getting married after the Introduction and to present me my gorgeous Emerald ring!-which is what i've always wanted) on 15th Feb '14 at a small surprise dinner he organized with my friends @Nkoyo Restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised that he put effort into the proposal and did not go with a cliche Valentine's day proposal. Moh is definitely my soulmate, seriously, i'm not being cheeky, i can be a lot of work to deal with honestly but he can handle me and gets me on so many different levels! We have had and will still have our occasional quarrels but i think that just spices up our relationship :) and teaches us more about one another. He found a post from my Formspring i answered on my blog sometime in '10 (which i had totally forgotten about *btw) and the question was 'If you could make one person fall in love with you who would it be?' and i wrote Zakir (a part of his name). I honestly don't know why i did 'cos we weren't close friends at the time, just chatting on yahoo messenger (the BBM of our time. lol). I guess it's a sign that he was mine all along and we just had to wait for God's timing.
DISCLAIMER: There is definitely wayyyy more to our story than this and it involves some snubbing, quarrelling and other not so cute stuff but the Hubby has made me promise not to add these details, as much i'd love to, so bear with me. Bottom line, as rosey as our story reads, don't forget roses gat thorns and they prick and hurt, lol, things aren't always so 'petally' even after marriage.

OUR STORY by Le Boo

Hmmm…..
Just like she said, I met Tosin on my way to her Hostel. Yeah, we got introduced but I was really in a hurry and didn’t really pay attention to her.
I thought that was the last I'd see of her only to see her again at a friend’s house. We had a really nice conversation so we exchanged contact details. I discovered that I always enjoyed chatting with her and before I knew it, we became good friends. It was the start of a glorious friendship I must say.
After a couple of years, one day I stopped to think about how close we had become over the years and I decided to take our friendship to the next level and I’ve had no regrets ever since.
We had our Introduction sometime in November 2013 and in February 2014 I proposed. Most people usually start with the proposal first but I’m a very weird guy and I think that’s part of why she loves me. I do the strangest things.
Everytime I look at Tosin I can see how much I’ve been blessed. She completes me in ways I cannot explain. Mehn… She’s the woman for me. I don’t know where she was hiding all those years but all I can say is that God’s time is the best.

THE PROPOSAL

MY Side
Like i said earlier in my side of the story, we had our Introduction in Nov '13. 
Spot d 3 key planners close to me
The proposal happened @Nkoyo Restaurant on 15th Feb '14 around 10:20pm at a small surprise dinner le boo organized with my friends  (Yoee, Naeemah and Dr. F being the major planners).
 I was pleasantly surprised that he put effort into the proposal and did not go with a cliche Valentine's day proposal. We had a regular day, i saw him earlier in the day and told him i was going for Dr. F's dinner party later to celebrate her graduation from culinary school. Lemme backtrack a bit, on Thursday evening, 13th Feb,
@Uptown wen Dr. F called to invite me to 'the dinner party'
Dr. F had called me up to invite me to her dinner party, at the time i was having dinner with le boo and his bro @Uptown. I thought it was a bit odd that she was not making the meals to show off her newly acquired skill and opted for us eating out instead but i dismissed the thought, just happy to get some free nice eats. lol. Le boo spoke to her to congratulate her as well and then asked if his bro n friend could come along and she said yes, again i felt it was very odd for him to make that request because it's totally unlike him.
On the day of the proposal itself which was a Saturday, i was at Yoee's house chilling 'cos we had a girls' night out the night before so some of our other friends were still at her place. They were all on my case to do something about my hair (it was in its natural and wild state) before going for the dinner. I told them i honestly couldn't be bothered since it wasn't my party and worst case scenario i'd tie a scarf, but they just kept going on about the hair, that's when i started to suspect something was up. Next weird thing was Yoee insisted on me picking a particular outfit to wear for the dinner, it happened to be a lovely dress i'd used for a friend's bridal train. I like the dress but i felt it was over the top to wear to someone's dinner party and i did not want to be overdressed or outshine the host, when i told her she dismissed the thought and told me everyone was dressing fancy so i should have no fear of standing out. Moh stopped by my house as well and we jisted a bit and he also checked out my outfit and approved it before i went back to Yoee's
Anyways, we went back to her place and chilled and i dozed off at some point, I woke up to see 2 missed calls from le boo and called back, he gave me attitude and said he'd been calling and why did i not pick and then said he was no longer interested in going to the dinner. I had already explained i was asleep when he called so his reaction did not make sense to me, i said fine, he did not have to come and i was going regardless. I later found out my friends forced him to pick a fight with me to throw me off suspecting the proposal 'cos they know i'm sharp like that.lol. Yoee and I dressed up for the dinner and she helped straighten my hair and put it in a bun (very tasking job i tell ya!) and we waited for the call from the host that she was at the venue so we could head down there. While waiting Yoee kept receiving calls and kept saying it was from Pauline (another friend) that she wanted to know our movement so she could join us there, Truth was the call was from le boo trying to find out the state of things.
Finally we got the call from the host and headed down to the venue, we got there really late, around 10pm and while we were making the U-turn to enter the venue, i spotted le boo's car (i know the plate no.) parked in a somewhat hidden corner. Thoughts started running through my head, i knew the ring had arrived earlier on but kept saying to myself 'he wouldn't propose at somebody else's dinner party and steal their shine, although Dr. F and Naeemah have been on his case to put a ring on me since we had our intro so dey wouldn't mind', i had absolutely no clue that the dinner party had been organized for me just for the purpose of the proposal. *blushh. I had also spoken to his bro after my phone fight with le boo to confirm that they were really not coming for the dinner and he told me they weren't and they were heading to his house already.
wen i was totally clueless a proposal was coming
Imagine my surprise when i had settled down and was jisting with my friends, when le boo, his bro and one of close friends Dj walked in and joined the table. The photographer at the dinner was also our friend Tolu Cole and i kept saying it's a small world that he knew my other friends unknown to me that such was not the case, i said hi to him and he acted professional so i gave him some space since he was 'on duty'. I knew in my heart of hearts that he was going to propose but put aside the thought after all it was not my dinner party. He asked me to step aside and settle our phone fight from earlier, i obliged him and it just felt odd, standing aside from the dinner table. I told him we could settle the fight when we were alone and that i was feeling awkward, everytime i tried to move back to the table, he'd stop me from even glancing there.
our step aside to settle the fake fight
He called my full name and told me how much he loved me and by now my heart is overpumping 'cos i could just sense it that the proposal was coming plus now the photographer was taking pictures of us and that did not make sense too me. Next thing the lights go dim in only our section and from the corner of my eye i spy the waiter going to the table with something fancy. I knew it was my ring, he then led me towards the table that we could go back and have our seats. The lights come up and i see a black box on a bed of red petals in a white plate, my heart stopped as he took out the ring and went on one knee, my head was fuzzy, i could hear my friends shouting and clapping and then i remembered i was wearing a huge green and gold ring on the finger le boo was gonna put his ring.,lmao!!
spot my massive green ring that tried to steal the shine
I discretely struggled and freed my finger of the ring so he could place my REAL ring there. I can't even remember what he asked me while kneeling or if i said yes, all i remember i pulling him up to hug and kiss him while tears filled my eyes.
{My friend's later made fun of me that they thought i was a hard babe and there would be no tears in sight during the proposal, they are lucky they did not bet on that. :)}.
I wiped the tears as they brought out a cake with pyro fireworks sparkling. We cut the cake and i went round to hug, beat (in a friendly manner) and thank my friends as they filled me in on the whole planning process and their roles in it. It was quite fun and even though i kinda suspected it would happen, it still hit me hard, i wouldn't have had it any other way + we had food and cake to take away!! lol #diehardfoodie.
 
Le boo had always told me not to expect anything ghen gehn when he's presenting me my ring despite my LOUD hints (showing him vids on youtube amidst others) that i wanted something ghen ghen. lol. I love and appreciate that he put in such an effort to present me my ring in such a romantic manner that i'll forever cherish and that he involved my friends and got a photographer to capture the moment. It was a complete package.
*By the way, he had let me pick out the ring wayyyyy before it arrived 'cos he knew i wanted something unique and wanted me to have something i would love. I perused the web and settled on an Emerald ring (as a lover of all things green) with an Emerald cut and some diamonds around it.

HIS Side
Listen to the audio recording and Enjoy. (It was a tug of war getting him to record this in detail). The recording was made on Sunday night, 23rd Feb '14.

I hope you enjoyed this post. It was a lovely experience and i'm happy to share it here though long overdue.
Toodles!XooX

Wednesday 8 April 2015

First of all- INTRODUCTION!! Nigerian Wedding Series I

WEDDING PREP 101
'First of all, Introduction! na me wey sing.....Nahh i no sabi sing nada, Lool. Had to laff @the title of this post and the intro. This is what Olamide (the Nigerian musician) has done to us thanks to his addictive lyrics. Oya back to the post, guess what my readers---Ur Gal is Married!!!!!!!!! I know right, so me this crazy, sugar high comical girl found someone to marry me! I swear na God o!looll. Honestly it still hasn't dawned on us yet that we are married.E fit be u!!loool, ignore me please, u know i'm cray by now. Soo le boo and i got married on May 16 & 17, 2014 (Traditional & White wedding) Check here and here and here for pics and more. This post will be the first of a Wedding Prep Series which will highlight the necessary next steps to take after proposal or confirmation that he is 'Da 1' and u'r both ready to take the next step- from meeting the parents to the Introduction Ceremony, Church Counselling,Budgeting, Planning the wedding and finally having the wedding. Hopefully it'll help any new brides out there that are planning their wedding themselves and happen to stumble on my blog. 
I planned my wedding myself (You can mail me if you need the services of a wedding planner) and it was not as stressful as i'd thought it would be because we started planning on time and i had a lot of resources at my disposal which i'll share with you in a bit. I literally did not take leave off work till the Thursday-a  day before my traditional wedding ceremony- when i had to go to my parent's house. Lemme mention now that we did not follow the popular order of events (in Nigeria at least) which is usually the Proposal before the Introduction Ceremony, ours was the other way around. So let's get to the different topics:

1. Meeting the Folks (His & Mine)

Ma Peoples!!!!This topic right here is super duper important!! It can make or break your relationship and u definitely wanna be on the good side of your inlaws-to-be. In my opinion it is safest to meet each other's folks individually in a less formal setting before any of the formal ceremony. Trust me, it sets the tone for every other event that happens after the meeting. In my case, his folks live in Kaduna while mine stay in Abuja. He met my mum first and of course she quizzed the hell out of him (spiritually, his livelihood, future plans, why he is with me, etc.), i had given him the heads up though about how she can be in order to prepare him for the meeting (its advisable to do this to help your bf/fiance have a smooth meeting with the family), he met my dad much later when things had gotten way more serious and it was a very chilled meeting 'cos my dad just jisted with him, though i'm sure he met my mum behind-the-scenes to get her view and all the info bout my boo. I met his folks a bit later, we travelled to their family house in Kaduna and this time i was the one getting quizzed by his mum, thankfully he had prepped me as well. We both have quite chill folks so it was nice and once the first meeting kicked off on the right foot, the other meetings kinda fell in place.

Tip: Fill in ur significant other about the characters of your parents and what they should expect so that they are not caught off guard and floored, in the interest of ur relationship.
2. Don't go overboard trying to please potential in-laws, do ur best to be urself because this is the only act u will be able to keep up long term-after the wedding.

After meeting the folks informally, you can visit each other's parents occasionally to familiarize with them and vice-versa as well as getting to know each other's siblings, their lifestyle, etc. They are going to become ur new family, so the sooner you get to know more about them the better. I should state at this point though that you should do ur best to not go overboard in trying to please your potential in-laws, why?? because it may work against you after marriage, yup!! especially if you can't keep it up. Trust me on this. Lemme give u 2 examples:

Exp 1: I am not the type to frequently call older people, aunties, uncles, my parents, etc. its just awkward for me, i can't explain it, even chats and sms. So after getting introduced to the boo's fam, i got their phone no.s, etc. His siblings, i could easily chat with or call up because they were around my age range and younger, the issue was the folks, i tried my best to call and check on them especially his mum, but i did not overdo it because i knew i wouldn't be able to keep it up. She's a naturally chatty person and i can be as well but with older folks, its just quite draining and forced for me after a while. At our Introduction ceremony, she brought it up and complained to my mum that i don't call her as frequently as she'd love me to, my mum hugged her and told her not to take it personal because that's how i am and i don't even call them-my parents-often either. She was at ease after my mum told her that.loll. but i do call, sms her wen i can and on important dates, new months, etc.

Exp 2: A friend of mine in the bid to please her potential in-laws used to call her boo's mum practically every day but after the wedding, she couldn't keep it up and the calls reduced, it didn't matter to her now mother-in-law that they lived not too far from them and visited often. Her mother-in-law told her she had changed since the wedding because she was with her son now and she doesn't care about her or call her anymore. GASP! reallyyy! bear in mind that my friend visits her and calls once in a while even in her busy schedule. Truth is you also can't totally blame her mother-in-law for thinking that way, before you married her son, you had a certain behaviour towards her and after the wedding, it changed, she obviously feels its because you have gotten what you wanted-her son- and you don't need her anymore.

I hope with these 2 examples you get what i mean by not goin overboard trying to please potential in-laws, truth is when they get used to a particular character with you during the 'dating/courtship' period, its hard to wean them off it after the wedding without clashes.

2. Introduction Ceremony

Yahhhh, so after visiting both our parents occasionally, we decided to take things a bit further by introducing the mothers via phone 'cos they were in different locations and making sure they started blending and getting used to one another. You know women na, me i think this part is necessary, and if they are in the same location, it won't be a bad idea for them to meet up in a neutral place, maybe a quiet restaurant,etc. anywhere u know they'll feel comfy sha. The way we picked an Intro date was kinda weird, the boo n i were just jisting one day and i told him my mum had been bugging me asking when we would do a formal introduction of both families, he said ok, we should pick a date, i discussed with my mum and she suggested Saturday Nov 2nd, 2013 and we discussed with his mum who confirmed the date was ok with them to travel down to Abuja for the meeting and so the date was set and things were set in motion. I told them i wanted a small indoor introduction ceremony, no loud noise, canopies, etc. I feel that's so unnecessary, especially if you are not from a big or popular. The major point of an introduction ceremony is for both families to meet one on one, get to know each other, where they are from, meet the two children intending to get married, advice them, and let the parents know both children are serious about taking the necessary steps towards marriage. Meaning, your parents won't find it funny if you bring another man to introduce to them after this ceremony, especially if everything goes smoothly during the ceremony.
You are basically official courting once the introduction ceremony is over and is a success.

In my case, after the date was set, our mums informed the necessary family members to be present at the ceremony then on my end, we started making preparations as the host.

On my mum's part, she had to organize a caterer for the ceremony, she got the list of items the guy's family is supposed to bring when coming from her family, we drew up a programme & printed copies on white paper (nothing serious) and got one of her friends to commit to coordinating the event (MC), arranged for a videographer and photographer to capture the ceremony, bought the gifts to be presented to the guy's family (usually not too many items), arranged for an 'Alaga'- this is the person in charge of introducing the family members, some people have 2 separate 'Alaga' at the ceremony, one for each family; we decided to use just one for both families.
The Alaga is a key part of the ceremony (You can leave the Mother's to pick the Alaga) 'cos she will do more speaking than even the MC sef, she has to be accustomed to tribes of both families, know some popular tribal songs, adages, jokes, speak and understand the tribal languages/dialect of the families, etc. to get the guests entertained and happy. Click here to check Aisle Perfect's post on Introduction.

Tip: Help her outline all the things she has to do so that she doesn't  hyperventilate and lash out unnecessarily.
2. Try to get an estimate for the no. of guests, it'll help plan properly (Consult with your boo's mom to know the people to plan for on their end)

On my part, I got an outfit sewn with gele (headtie) and ipele and jewellry, invited 2 of my friends and reviewed the Intro list with my mum (I cut out some unnecessary things-YES- that list is not written in stone and can be amended, the quantity requested for some of the items was just ridiculous and my mum agreed so we did some adjustments of our own and we now have our own streamlined family list we can use again for my sis when she's getting ready for marriage), cleaned & re-arranged our sitting room to contain the guests we were expecting.

Tip: You may want to get someone to do your makeup (i did mine myself) and tie your gele (my aunt handled this) with Ipele (a piece of aso-oke usually draped over the shoulder)
2. You'll need at least 1 friend to keep you company before you are told to join the ceremony and to dance out with you.

On the boo's part, he also got an outfit sewn (white-we chose this 'cos its a neutral and would go with whatever color of outfit i pick without us wearing the exact same colors and being all 'matchy') and a cap matching my gele (orange) and we went shopping for the items on the list together (the  and one of his aunt's helped wrap them up and keep till the day of the Intro when they were presented to the family. He informed his friends 'cos they needed to be there to 'dobale' (prostrate) with him.

Tip: He should practice his prostrating skills if lacking, else he'll be teased.
2. He needs some friends around to join in prostrating and keep him company

On my dad's part, he provided the cash for all the preparation from my side of course!lol. He also arranged for a DJ, Microphone n small speaker, 2 small canopies and chairs that were set up in our compound for guests to eat after the event, Generator (can't trust Nepa)

On le boo's family's part, they brought the items on the list, informed necessary family members of the event and were present.
The introduction ceremony is mainly the bride-to-be's family's responsibility because they are the hosts. They have to make sure their guests are comfortable and well catered to.

Tip: Give le boo's family the list early enough so they can make the necessary arrangement

The ceremony lasted about 2hours, it started around 11am and ended around 1pm. Check out this link for the full programme of events. The girl stays indoors till she's told to come out dancing, the she joins the guy who's gonna be already seated at the area kept for you both.  After the ceremony you'll have to go round and greet guests and thank them, basically be cordial, smiling and attend to any needs they may have.
Our prospective wedding date was selected decided on this day, after the ceremony between us and our parents. The prospective date selected was May 16/17, 2014. I say 'prospective' because it could have changed mostly due to church approval, national holiday or events, weather conditions, etc..

Tip: Check out your Church calendar, National calendar and Monthly Weather condition before selecting the prospective wedding date to reduce the possibility of the date changing.
General Notes: I had my introduction ceremony before Le boo's proposal with a ring and all the papparazzi. lol (i kinda like that it happened like this, i'll explain why in my proposal post)
2. You can check out this link to key documents you will need for the ceremony, most families have a template but if not this can help in knowing what is usually required so you don't get overwhelmed.
3. The introduction gift is usually made up of Cartons of wine, juice, soft drinks, biscuits,sweets, etc.
4. My husband and I are Yoruba and Christian, so everything described in this post is related to the Yoruba custom.  The Introduction Ceremony will vary across other tribes and religion. Consult your married family members to know what to expect and plan accordingly.
5. Some people don't move further after the Introduction Ceremony due to a varied no. of issues (Family Incompatibility, etc.)
6. The prospective wedding date is usually decided on between the parents and the intending couple after this ceremony
7.Wedding planning proper usually commences after this ceremony
8. The 2 of you have to dress and look good as this is the 1st official meeting with the parents and families.

3. Pre-Marriage Counselling

Next thing after the Introduction Ceremony is successfully completed and all relevant parties are on the same page about the intending couples is to formally inform the church of your intentions and prospective wedding date. This will set the necessary things in motion, if you are under a 'parish' and they don't handle wedding ceremonies or have an in-house counselling team or you want the ceremony done in a different parish/church, they will forward your details to the necessary people. They quizzed us a bit about our intentions to get married and gave us the counselling forms (this is a lengthy detailed form requiring your personal information, sexual status & history, summary of your spiritual journey-conversion, post in church, etc; work status, financial capability and stability, past relationships, conviction about the partner you have chosen to marry and more) to fill. Our parents also submitted letters of consent to church, the content basically confirms they are aware and in full support of our intentions to get married. We were then scheduled for a counselling session, due to our tight work schedules, we picked a weekend schedule-Sat afternoons, Sunday (After Service).

Hmmmm our counselling session was quite an experience (post coming soon), imagine having to explain your whole life to a panel of practically strangers and why you are convicted you have chosen the right partner to settle with and trying to convince them it's for real and they should join you in the sight of God and Man; it requires a lot of patience honestly. After our 1st session of 'drilling' which was quite uncomfortable and annoying, i was all riled up and ready to just have a court wedding and a reception afterwards and wrap things up after all its also in the sight of God and Man and legally binding. They were very judgemental and in attack mode. Le boo was calm and convinced me to attend another session which was way warmer than the first and they explained the aim of counselling sessions and why it appeared so gruelling and tedious and tried to make us comfortable enough to speak freely with them. With the prevalent cases of divorce and separations, they want to be free of blame of not having counselled the intending couples properly or 'opened' their eyes better to see one another before deciding to still get married (Some intending couples realise they are incompatible and go their separate ways after some counselling sessions). I do not agree with all the teachings but the founding principles are definitely key to the success of any marriage. I definitely recommend active participation in counselling classes and keeping an open mind to the teachings, asking questions and discussing, it really does help in the long run. No matter how long you've been with your partner or how well you think you may know them, even if you guys live together, or have discussed all the possible faces of life at length, you will still learn more about each other from these classes. There's just something about having a 3rd party seeing things from outside the 'couple box' that brings a different kinda clarity, different scenarios are brought up and from your response on proposed reactions to such, they can counsel the intending couple properly and explain the though patterns, how to compromise, better approaches to dealing with situations, etc. and it may also reveal the root of some issues which cause quarrels. I definitely benefited from our counselling sessions, they had a manual which was given to us to study after our wedding ceremony. The session touches many different issues from personality types, communication, sex, having kids, money management, planning a wedding ceremony, living in harmony, handling in-laws and more.
I did a lot of personal research, reading, watching, studying of couples i know, mostly out of curiosity but also to see how it works.

Tip:  Do a lot of personal reading of relationship and marital books/listen to audio messages & books/watch videos if available; Read relationship marital blogs from both old and new couples to get the different perspectives and perceptions by both (not all info gathered through these sources may be spot on but you will definitely learn a thing or 2 from them).
2. Materials on Love, Communication, Personality type, Differences between the 2 genders, Sex & Romance, Health and other relationship-related issues will be very useful. There is a wealth of wisdom in the world which we can access and although life situations and scenarios may differ per individual, hearing from people who have walked the path successfully can help one make informed decisions or give understanding and enlightenment as a whole.
3. You MUST Share and Discuss deeply with your intended partner on your learnings and findings, it makes the relationship more fluid and develops a better understanding as to how you both think and view life and more. There is no point having all that knowledge and keeping it to yourself, It takes 2 committed individuals to have a successful relationship.
4. Keep learning even after marriage, they say marriage is the only school one gets the certificate before getting into and the only school one never graduates from a.k.a. Its supposed to last a lifetime.

General Notes: My Church is the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), so the church procedure described in this post is related to this denomination, although it is fairly similar for all Pentecostal churches.
2. The counselling session and wedding ceremony is usually held in the bride-to-be's church or her parent's church. Sometimes counselling is held in both of the couple's churches, this depends on the individuals and how attached to their churches they are. 
3. Some churches hold group counselling sessions, so the earlier you inform them the better so you can be scheduled into a group.
4. The common duration for the marriage counselling is 3-6 months depending on the church, ours was 6 months

Here's a list of some Books I have read:

  • The Bible- Find passages in the bible related to love, relationship, marriage and the allowed code of conduct and increase your knowledge base 1st hand not only from listening to a preacher.
  • The Total Marriage by Jeffrey & Patterjean Brown - I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it is definitely my top fave book
  • To Have & to Hold by Van Pelt
  • Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus by John Gray
  • Why you act the way you do by Tim LaHaye
  • Rules of Love by Richard Templar
  • Rules of Parenting by Richard Templar
  • 33 steps to Honourable Marriage by Richard & Alice Adesokan
  • Harmony in Marriage by Richard & Alice Adesokan
  • 6 Secrets to a Long Lasting Marriage by Dr. Gary C& Barbara Rosberg
  • The Lady, Her Lover and Her Lord by T. D. Jakes
  • Act like a Lady, Think like a Man by Steve Harvey with Denene Millner
  • If you want Breakfast in Bed, Sleep in the Kitchen! by Dave Meurer
  • The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
  • Every Woman by Derek Llewellyn-Jones (reading a male version of this if available is also useful)
  • His Needs, Her Needs by Willard Harley
Check out this cool souvenir and Key Wedding Docs,
My Pinterest Wedding Board as well as my previous blogposts on weddings, planning & marriage- Wedding Palava, Shopping OnlineLife as a new wifey , Baby Pressure, Wedding Guest Expenses and lots more. I hope this info is helpful and useful to you in your preparations, i had to figure most of these things out myself and decided to write the series to help out other future brides-to-be; if you have any questions feel free to ask in the comment section.
Toodles!XooX