This August, Nigerian actress Temi Otedola tied the knot with Nigerian singer Mr Eazi in not one, not two, but three intentionally styled high profile destination weddings. In collaboration with stylist Carrie Goldberg, the team told stories and represented each location—Monaco, Dubai, and Iceland–through dress with unexpected designers, outfit changes, traditional West African materials, and embroidered love stories.
Otedola's looks felt seemingly endless: In Monaco, a Wiederhoeft corset with a pencil skirt, custom jacket, and custom veil for her civil ceremony, a custom Christopher John Rogers look for a day out, and she re-wore the Wiederhoeft corset with a bowed skirt and bloomers for a campy date night look. In Dubai, a custom, hand-sewn Zac Posen look for the ceremony, a custom hand-embroidered Miss Sohee look for the reception, a Delta Igbo look by Lisa Falawio in honor of her family and roots, and a final Oscar De La Renta look. In Iceland, she opted for a nude mossy-brown Valentino look from Alessandro Michele's second collection for the rehearsal dinner, a Fendi haute couture gown with Audrey Hepburn-inspired sleeves and several nods to the house's history interweaved, a sculpture-like House of Gilles look, a custom crystal mesh Ludovic De Saint Sernin mini dress with crystalized Larroudé boots, and an Alaïa two piece mesh set (the only non-custom look).
Designers from different backgrounds with different specialities and expertises, legends both old and new, were tapped to curate three distinct, yet connected ceremonies, as well as events in between—impossible to achieve without an egoless team, open and creative minds, and a close, communicative collaboration between stylist and bride.
Jose Villa
What was the inspiration behind your Monaco looks?
Temi Otedola: "We wanted wanted to bring the fashion into the landscape of where each wedding was. Every single look had its own piece in the larger storytelling. In Monaco, we wanted to do something that was a little bit more romantic and kind of played into that into that element of the south of France. Carrie kind of put forward these two designers that were unexpected. We had two amazing New York-based designers, Christopher John Rogers and Wiederhoeft. It was it was really fun playing with conventional bridal looks but we gave everything a twist."
Jose Villa
Jose Villa
What was the inspiration behind your Dubai looks?
Temi Otedola: "For Dubai, this was where we were able to play so much. Nigerian brides wear several looks. It might sound crazy saying I had four bridal looks, but that's just your average Nigerian wedding. Because we were able to have so many looks, I of course wanted to incorporate my favorite Nigerian designers, Lisa Folawiyo and Trolowei. We were also able to ask, 'what if Zac Posen did a Nigerian bridal look? and Miss Sohee?' I wanted to see their take on a classic Yoruba bride. We were able to have this amazing relationship with both brands and kind of see them explore and and it was just so fun kind of seeing a designer that's never done something, but that has such experience in their field, try something completely new."
Miss Sohee
Jose Villa
Jose Villa
What was the inspiration behind your Iceland looks?
Temi Otedola: "It's hard to say that I have a favorite look, but my Fendi church look is absolutely my favorite. Fendi was put forward by Carrie."
Carrie Goldberg: "We ended up with a marble organza that Karl Lagerfeld engineered during his time at Fendi based on the travertine floors in Rome. Once I saw the brutalist church that was all stone, there was something there that clicked where I just sort of felt like stone on stone made sense. We then followed that with a high neck, long sleeved lace dress because that's the classic vision that you have when you think of your classic white church wedding."
Temi Otedola: "We did a Ludovic de Saint Sernin afterparty look with matching boots. Every look made sense where it was and was intentional."
Jose Villa
Jose Villa
Jose Villa
House of Gilles
How was each location reflected through the looks?
Carrie Goldberg: "There was always a sense of place. We thought about how one would expect it to be done, respected that, and then did it differently. Monaco was a little sexier, Dubai was a more traditional wedding and we embraced the embroidery that the Middle East is known for, but did it in a different way and different color palette with a designer that's neither Nigerian or Middle Eastern. We took the Nigerian wedding dress, which is very much a study of sculpture, and turned to Zac Posen who does that so well and watched him do it in his own way. It resulted in a Nigerian ceremony gown that had not a bead on it but was still flawless."
What was the collaboration like between the two of you?
Temi Otedola: "First, Carrie just needed to have the context of where I was getting married and what I usually wear. Apart from that, it was just the two of us collaborating at all points. She would pull things that I would've never thought of. For the two years that we've been working on this, it was honestly the most collaborative relationship I've ever had with a stylist. I would be yapping and saying something but she was able to translate that into what I was actually trying to say. Even in terms of her working with Eazi's stylist and making sure that we were always coordinated, and with what the bridesmaids were wearing. It felt like everything came together. It felt like one family working towards a single vision."
Carrie Goldberg: "It's fun to have a no ego team. It's nice to work with a couple that's two creatives. It's a little bit different than working with your standard bride. Temi works in concepts, she works in mood boards, she works in decks all the time for work so it's helpful. I was able to reach out to her at a random moment in the day and be like, 'What about this thing that just dawned on me? It might be a terrible idea or it might be amazing.' We were just throwing ideas back and forth. It was a great sense of teamwork that, honestly, after over two years in it, I will actually miss in my day-to-day."
Jose Villa
Jose VillaDid you begin the process knowing what designers you wanted to work with?
Temi Otedola: "The only person I led with was Lisa Folawiyo because she's a dear friend and my favorite Nigerian designer. Apart from that, Carrie led with the designers. One of the key reasons that I went to Carrie is because she's so intentional and she's not going to pick something because of the name. She picks based on who's going to understand the look and who's going to execute the look the best. I ended up with a lot of designers that I don't have past history with."
Carrie Goldberg: "It definitely didn't have to do with the name or the label. I made a list and asked who can do the best tailoring, sculpture, corsetry, and embroidery."
Can you talk about what being a wedding stylist means to you? How involved are you in the process up until the big day?
Carrie Goldberg: "I think of wedding styling the same way as any other styling. I consider myself a fashion stylist who is lucky enough to work on weddings. There's a sentiment there that one doesn't always get when they're doing red carpets. I'm as involved as my clients want me to be. In Temi's case, I was very involved because the idea of connecting these three events felt important to her and Eazi. When it comes to planning, I know where my strengths are and stick to them. Where fashion parlays into production, I do get in involved, like with selecting bouquets and collaborating with hair and makeup."
Jose Villa
Jose Villa
Jose Villa
Was there a sentimental element to any of your looks? Did you add anything to make a look feel more personal?
Temi Otedola: "We had Briony Raymond jewelry for Dubai, but before that I was wearing a lot of sentimental jewelry that my mom had passed on to me which was really lovely. Other than that, the Miss Sohee cape was special because I was able to sit with her and share me and Eazi's love story and she was able to embroider that."
