AISHA BRAND Bridal Story
Les rêves de mariage avec
My dreams came true with my wedding, and I'm passionate about designing for other brides their dream wedding dress. Starting this October, the brand AISHA will offer bridal. It all started with our love story. We envisioned a magical église and château wedding in France for our wedding, and this was realized. Our wedding was every bit as magical as our wedding dream. This is my dream for all the brides that I will dress for their very special day.
My dreams came true with my wedding, and I'm passionate about designing for other brides their dream wedding dress.
OUR LOVE STORY
Our love story began with a dance. We attended an event in fall 2013 held by a mutual friend at the Cipriani on Wall Street in New York. Early in the evening, we were introduced by this friend, but it wasn't until I spotted him Ghislain on the dance floor that I truly took notice. According to him, his interest was peaked when we were introduced. Once I spotted him on the dance floor, I was compelled to complement his dance skills, which I did in a playful way by simply going over to him and telling him he was showing off. That’s it, that was my compliment. We exchanged smiles. I said nothing else, and then I walked away. It wasn't until another event held by this friend that we spoke and shared our contact info. Some time lapsed, maybe weeks. The busy life of a New Yorker, and because he reached out on social media, I was seldom on social media and didn't see his message. Once I did see the message, I replied and explained this, and we planned our 1st date. That Friday, we went out for the 1st time, and the sparks and connections were flying. We have been drawn to each other since that day.
Our love story began with a dance.
Our initial connections grew out of our many shared likes, interests, and experiences that we learned about each other on our very 1st date. I think we were amazed by this. We both lived in London, Ghislain was trading in London and playing semi-professional football, and I was interning at Alexander McQueen. Also, I come from a family that loves football. Ghislain is French and Beninese. My dad is from St. Lucia, which was initially colonized by the French. I often went to the south of France for the weekend when I studied in Italy because I absolutely loved it there. He often went to Italy for the weekend to visit friends when he lived in Europe, and we both speak Italian. We both love to dance, and Ghislain is a crazy dancer, much like my father, who would win dance competitions back in his day. My father is a retired martial artist who competed, and Ghislain also does martial arts. Ghislain plays golf like my father, a golf player who competes and wins in competitions like The Golf AM Tour. Although Ghislain came to New York for finance like a true French man, he also enjoys fashion as much as me. We both love all things creative and exploring world cultures through travel. These are some of the things that initially connected us as a couple and we enjoyed throughout our relationship.
We both enjoy all things creative and exploring world cultures through travel.
In 2017, we went to Paris to celebrate our anniversary and a big surprise birthday bash for his brother. During that trip on a Seine boat ride, we announced our engagement to family and friends and shared our plans to return to France for the wedding. The following year in 2018, we took another trip to Paris to plan our wedding. Three months later it was our wedding. We had our dream église and château wedding in France.
We had our dream église and château wedding in France.
Since our wedding, we welcomed our 1st child in June of 2019, our second child January 2021 and our third July 2022, all boys. We relocated to the great state of Massachusetts where we reside in the south shore suburbs of Boston, and a year ago moved to West Africa. We will continue to travel often to NY and France for business, family, and pleasure.
OUR WEDDING STORY
Saturday, October 13th, 2018, we were married in Normandy, France, just outside Paris in a 16th-century église and 11th-century enchanting château with beautiful landmark preserve gardens. The église offers a wide variety of styles as it was remodeled over the centuries and features a radiating Gothic choir of the 13th-century, a flamboyant Gothic nave renaissance facade built in the 16th-century. It is comparable to the cathedral of Senlis. Thus, it is common to find it called a "Cathedral." The château was formerly occupied; by Henry I of England, Philippe I, Louis VI, Louis VII, Henry II, Philippe Auguste, and a known residence of Madame de Pompadour.
OUR LOVE STORY
Our love story began with a dance. We attended an event in fall 2013 held by a mutual friend at the Cipriani on Wall Street in New York. Early in the evening, we were introduced by this friend, but it wasn't until I spotted him Ghislain on the dance floor that I truly took notice. According to him, his interest was peaked when we were introduced. Once I spotted him on the dance floor, I was compelled to complement his dance skills, which I did in a playful way by simply going over to him and telling him he was showing off. That’s it, that was my compliment. We exchanged smiles. I said nothing else, and then I walked away. It wasn't until another event held by this friend that we spoke and shared our contact info. Some time lapsed, maybe weeks. The busy life of a New Yorker, and because he reached out on social media, I was seldom on social media and didn't see his message. Once I did see the message, I replied and explained this, and we planned our 1st date. That Friday, we went out for the 1st time, and the sparks and connections were flying. We have been drawn to each other since that day.
Our love story began with a dance.
Our initial connections grew out of our many shared likes, interests, and experiences that we learned about each other on our very 1st date. I think we were amazed by this. We both lived in London, Ghislain was trading in London and playing semi-professional football, and I was interning at Alexander McQueen. Also, I come from a family that loves football. Ghislain is French and Beninese. My dad is from St. Lucia, which was initially colonized by the French. I often went to the south of France for the weekend when I studied in Italy because I absolutely loved it there. He often went to Italy for the weekend to visit friends when he lived in Europe, and we both speak Italian. We both love to dance, and Ghislain is a crazy dancer, much like my father, who would win dance competitions back in his day. My father is a retired martial artist who competed, and Ghislain also does martial arts. Ghislain plays golf like my father, a golf player who competes and wins in competitions like The Golf AM Tour. Although Ghislain came to New York for finance like a true French man, he also enjoys fashion as much as me. We both love all things creative and exploring world cultures through travel. These are some of the things that initially connected us as a couple and we enjoyed throughout our relationship.
We both enjoy all things creative and exploring world cultures through travel.
In 2017, we went to Paris to celebrate our anniversary and a big surprise birthday bash for his brother. During that trip on a Seine boat ride, we announced our engagement to family and friends and shared our plans to return to France for the wedding. The following year in 2018, we took another trip to Paris to plan our wedding. Three months later it was our wedding. We had our dream église and château wedding in France.
We had our dream église and château wedding in France.
Since our wedding, we welcomed our 1st child in June of 2019, our second child January 2021 and our third July 2022, all boys. We relocated to the great state of Massachusetts where we reside in the south shore suburbs of Boston, and a year ago moved to West Africa. We will continue to travel often to NY and France for business, family, and pleasure.
OUR WEDDING STORY
Saturday, October 13th, 2018, we were married in Normandy, France, just outside Paris in a 16th-century église and 11th-century enchanting château with beautiful landmark preserve gardens. The église offers a wide variety of styles as it was remodeled over the centuries and features a radiating Gothic choir of the 13th-century, a flamboyant Gothic nave renaissance facade built in the 16th-century. It is comparable to the cathedral of Senlis. Thus, it is common to find it called a "Cathedral." The château was formerly occupied; by Henry I of England, Philippe I, Louis VI, Louis VII, Henry II, Philippe Auguste, and a known residence of Madame de Pompadour.
OUR LOVE STORY
Our love story began with a dance. We attended an event in fall 2013 held by a mutual friend at the Cipriani on Wall Street in New York. Early in the evening, we were introduced by this friend, but it wasn't until I spotted him Ghislain on the dance floor that I truly took notice. According to him, his interest was peaked when we were introduced. Once I spotted him on the dance floor, I was compelled to complement his dance skills, which I did in a playful way by simply going over to him and telling him he was showing off. That’s it, that was my compliment. We exchanged smiles. I said nothing else, and then I walked away. It wasn't until another event held by this friend that we spoke and shared our contact info. Some time lapsed, maybe weeks. The busy life of a New Yorker, and because he reached out on social media, I was seldom on social media and didn't see his message. Once I did see the message, I replied and explained this, and we planned our 1st date. That Friday, we went out for the 1st time, and the sparks and connections were flying. We have been drawn to each other since that day.
Our love story began with a dance.
Our initial connections grew out of our many shared likes, interests, and experiences that we learned about each other on our very 1st date. I think we were amazed by this. We both lived in London, Ghislain was trading in London and playing semi-professional football, and I was interning at Alexander McQueen. Also, I come from a family that loves football. Ghislain is French and Beninese. My dad is from St. Lucia, which was initially colonized by the French. I often went to the south of France for the weekend when I studied in Italy because I absolutely loved it there. He often went to Italy for the weekend to visit friends when he lived in Europe, and we both speak Italian. We both love to dance, and Ghislain is a crazy dancer, much like my father, who would win dance competitions back in his day. My father is a retired martial artist who competed, and Ghislain also does martial arts. Ghislain plays golf like my father, a golf player who competes and wins in competitions like The Golf AM Tour. Although Ghislain came to New York for finance like a true French man, he also enjoys fashion as much as me. We both love all things creative and exploring world cultures through travel. These are some of the things that initially connected us as a couple and we enjoyed throughout our relationship.
We both enjoy all things creative and exploring world cultures through travel.
In 2017, we went to Paris to celebrate our anniversary and a big surprise birthday bash for his brother. During that trip on a Seine boat ride, we announced our engagement to family and friends and shared our plans to return to France for the wedding. The following year in 2018, we took another trip to Paris to plan our wedding. Three months later it was our wedding. We had our dream église and château wedding in France.
We had our dream église and château wedding in France.
Since our wedding, we welcomed our 1st child in June of 2019, our second child January 2021 and our third July 2022, all boys. We relocated to the great state of Massachusetts where we reside in the south shore suburbs of Boston, and a year ago moved to West Africa. We will continue to travel often to NY and France for business, family, and pleasure.
OUR WEDDING STORY
Saturday, October 13th, 2018, we were married in Normandy, France, just outside Paris in a 16th-century église and 11th-century enchanting château with beautiful landmark preserve gardens. The église offers a wide variety of styles as it was remodeled over the centuries and features a radiating Gothic choir of the 13th-century, a flamboyant Gothic nave renaissance facade built in the 16th-century. It is comparable to the cathedral of Senlis. Thus, it is common to find it called a "Cathedral." The château was formerly occupied; by Henry I of England, Philippe I, Louis VI, Louis VII, Henry II, Philippe Auguste, and a known residence of Madame de Pompadour.
Saturday, October 13th, 2018, we were married in Normandy, France, just outside Paris in a 16th-century église and an 11th-century enchanting château with beautiful landmark preserve gardens.
Our wedding weekend started with our arrival alongside close family and friends to the wedding château on the Friday before the wedding. In Paris, October is usually cold and rainy, but we were graced with gorgeous warm, sunny weather in the '70s. The weather was perfect for enjoying the festivities indoors and outdoors that we had planned.
Our wedding day activities began with a church ceremony with pews lines with bushels of a baby's breath intertwined with tulle, white oversized entry and end of pew bouquets, and a white runner leading to the altar. For the ceremony music, the piano was played by Ghislain's very talented brother in law, who performs professionally and teaches. Singing led by Ghislain's talented sister Kayssan who is also a professional singer, musician and teaches many music forms. The trumpet was played by my uncle, which is a tradition for my family. For the wedding party's wedding procession, "Canon, in D," by Johann Pachelbel, the instrumental version by Stepan Grytsay was beautifully played by piano. For my entrance as the bride, the instrumental version of the song, "1000 years," by Christina Perry, played by piano and trumpet. The wedding party and our parents were adorned with matching attire and with rose and baby's breath boutonniere for men and wristlets for the women with extra special ones for our mom's. Ghislain wore a teal bluish 3 piece suit custom made for the wedding with my design instructions and traditional french dress shoes in a gunmetal color. I was adorned in a 4 piece bridal ensemble I designed for the wedding inspired by the église and château. A Parisian Priest conducted the ceremony in both French and English. At the end of the ceremony, a fun and upbeat recessional song, "Better with you," by Major, was played to celebrate our union's start and the ceremony's end.
I was adorned in a 4 piece bridal ensemble I designed for the wedding inspired by the église and château.
The cocktail followed and was held on the back terrace and gardens of the château featuring massive lawn games like chess, and was flowing with champagne, French delicacies, and petit fours. The dinner took place in the Salon de Pompadour in the château, a stunning, breathtaking room decorated with tall antique gold-colored vases holding an assortment of a white flower bouquet for each table. The tables were each named after French kings to identify the tables for guest seating. We entered the reception to Janet Jackson's "Made for now," and had our 1st dance to a quick compilation of Etta James; at last, Michael Bubble, Love, and Patoranking, Happy day was created by Ghislain. For the father-daughter dance, my father and I danced to Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole, Unforgettable. The cutting of the cake was to Rihanna, Cake, with that part of the song on repeat. Channeling the design of the château, the cake was a pearlized champagne-colored 3 layer octagon shape with Grand Marnier, red velvet, and pistachio mousse layers. The assorted desserts, petit fours, macarons, cake pops, and cupcakes had the wedding colors sage green, champagne, and rustic gold. For the 2nd part of the evening, we changed into a 2nd look to enjoy the party portion of the wedding. Ghislain's 2nd look was a sharp Parisian Blue 3 piece custom suit, and I changed into a sexy mermaid style dress that I could dance in. With vibes consisting of a mix of our culture, we danced until 3 am and ended with Donna Summer, "Last Dance."
With vibes consisting of a mix of our culture, we danced until 3 am ...
The next morning we had an "All White Champagne Sunday Brunch" for all who attended the wedding plus some additional friends and family unable to make it the day before for the wedding. Ghislain, who also DJ's, was the DJ for brunch. From time to time, his DJ friends took over so he could enjoy and dance a bit with me. For brunch, Ghislain wore an ivory linen suit, and I wore an ivory sheer top tweed dress from the AISHA collection. The brunch menu had a chic French and American flare to merge our cultures.
A quote from my reception speech, "This is my dream wedding come true," reminds me of a verse of one of my favorite songs that I sing often and played in the reception entrance, Stevie Wonder, "Overjoyed." On a blissful weekend in October with the most beautiful sunny weather, this couple's dreams came true, and we were united as one in royal fashion. I thoroughly reveled in every moment of the planning, designing, and the wedding weekend. I felt like the queen of the château for the weekend.
MY WEDDING DRESSES
The bridal collection I designed for the wedding consisted of 3 looks, 2 ensembles for the wedding day and 1 for brunch. The look for the church and the 1st portion of the wedding was a jewel neckline, a sleeveless dress made of silk tulle ruched at the waist creating a sheath style bottom over a silk satin base. The dress's silk satin base was a plunging V neckline and a completely open back to show the overlaying tulle's design with a column-shaped bottom and a high back split. A layer of delicately embellished metallic thread edged tulle leaves were placed throughout the dress on the top layer of tulle, creating a 3d leaf draping effect. The next layer was a silk organza skirt with a sweeping bottom to create volume on the side and back with the front open to show the main dress's design, topped with a crystal, stone, and pearl embellished removable belt. The final piece for the main look was a silk organza ¾ sleeve jacket with an oversized hood, edged with thin dark vintage gold metallic cord trim with a tailored top fit and an A-line silhouette leading to the chapel train. This 4 piece bridal ensemble was worn for the church and cocktail. The top layering pieces were all removed for entrance to the reception, 1st dance, and the cake cutting. The 1st look's Shoes were a crystal-embellished mesh toe pearlized patent leather stiletto heel by Christian Louboutin. The crown was a diamond crystal leaf design with mini leaves leading to my hair bun's center. For jewels, I wore Cartier Diamond Earrings and a Diamond heritage high jewelry bracelet along with a Cartier pave diamond wedding band.
My 2nd dress, a sexy front plunging neckline with a high front split, mini cap sleeves, open back, a mermaid silhouette with a sweeping train, was a pale silver metallic thread embellished design over nude tulle. The shoe for this look was a metallic crystal stone embellished thong low heeled open toe sandal, which was perfect for the dancing that happened until 3 am. Since we love dancing, we were well prepared for dancing all night in our 2nd looks. The final look was the brunch dress. Ivory loosely gathered silk chiffon sheer top, tweed pencil skirt bottom dress from the AISHA collection. All of the bridal collection was inspired by regal église and château we married in.
My story and wedding have inspired me to design for brides for this very important and special time. It was a wonderful experience for me to plan my wedding and create my bridal wedding collection. I'm thrilled about doing this for other brides while considering the bride's personality, style, preferences, and adding in the reference of Feng Shui as well. Those who know me also know that I rarely share much about my personal life and the day-to-day ongoings with my family, hence my minimal social media activity. Yet, I felt inspired to share a bit as I offer to support other brides in their wedding dreams. I'm ecstatic about designing for brides their dream wedding dress and wedding.
We are beyond thrilled to bring the AISHA RTW bridal collection to brides who seek unparalleled craftsmanship, timeless elegance, and a truly personal experience. Each gown is a labor of love, designed to capture the essence of every bride’s unique journey. As we embark on this exciting chapter, we look forward to being a part of the most unforgettable moments in your life, offering not just a dress, but a work of art that tells your love story. With AISHA RTW, your bridal dreams are realized!