Official Pictures and Background to the Wedding of Dapo Ladimeji and Funke Feyisitan

By Paul Baldwin

The celebrations
The first official celebration was a private viewing at the Stephen Friedman Gallery on Friday 26th of July to meet and view the work of Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare, MBE. This was followed on Saturday by a reception at the Dorchester Hotel in London for some 250 guests including:

· Oba Adisa Akindele, King of Abeokuta
· Pastor Ojeme, Winners Chapel of Ota Church - who will be giving the blessing
· Pastor David from the Winners Chapel of Ota Church
· Adesina Agboluagbe - Head of Asia - Nigerian Foreign Office
· Ade Adebiyi, Managing Director, GT Bank
· Ike Chioke, Managing Director, AfrInvest
· Tola Jagun, Chief Compliance Officer and Company Secretary, Oando
· Kayode Akinkugbe, CEO, FBN Capital
· Taiwo Okeowo, Head, Investment Banking Division, FBN Capital
· Viswas Raghavan, Head of Investment Banking EMEA, JPMorgan Chase
· Folake Ani-Mumuney - Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, First Bank of Nigeria
· Akin Akingbade, Executive Director, Goldman Sachs
· Kofo Oyeleye, Controller, Morgan Stanley

When did they meet and where?
When “Nigerians in Square Mile” was formed, Dapo and Funke were both asked to be members of the Advisory Panel www.nism.uk.com and they met at one of the founding events

And when he first spotted her, he thought he was not in her league although Funke kept smiling at him!

A year later they were both on a panel at the annual symposium of NISM in 2010. He then asked her out and for their first date Dapo took Funke to an event at the Queen's Gallery. But she says he was so laid back in his wooing that Funke did not realise he was interested.

The proposal
After 18 months of seeing each other Dapo finally proposed. He says he is a poet and a writer – an excuse for not doing it properly… He proposed at Heathrow Airport, when seeing her off on a business trip but Funke was not satisfied and they had to go somewhere special for him to make a proper effort!

He decided to go to Paris and booked dinner with two days' notice going down on bended knee in the hotel before celebrating with a romantic candle lit dinner afterwards.

When was the registry office wedding and where?
October 13th, 2012 in Camden, London. Thursday 25th of July 2013 was the date for the 'Engagement' and meeting of the two families.

Who is the best man?
Gbolahan Lasaki - cousin, senior engineer for a North Sea oil company in Colorado

Who designed the dress and the gentlemen's attire?
Funke's dress was designed in Barcelona. Dapo's clothes were tailored in Hong Kong.

Some close family were wearing traditional dress in wedding colours (burnt orange and bronze) as agreed by the families.

Who made the ring(s)?
Both rings were made in Hatton Garden and Funke's ring is a diamond

Where are they going on honeymoon?
Mauritius or Bermuda




ENGAGEMENT DAPO WITH BEST MAN GBOLAHAN LASAKI


ENGAGEMENT FUNKE AND DAPO AT THE ENGAGEMENT


ENGAGEMENT IMG 0010A


ENGAGEMENT IMG 9857A


ENGAGEMENT IMG 9860A


ENGAGEMENT IMG 9914A


ENGAGEMENT IMG 9927A


ENGAGEMENT LOOKING RADIANT


ENGAGEMENT THE CAKE IMG 9966A


WEDDING 8544 DAPO MAKES HIS WEDDING VOWS TO FUNKE


WEDDING 8569 DAPO AND FUNKE DURING THEIR CEREMONY OF BLESSING


WEDDING 8572 OBA ADISA AKINDELE, KING OF ABEOKUTA. ONE THE TRADITIONAL KINGS IN NIGERIA


WEDDING 8654 DAPO AND FUNKE WITH SOME OF THEIR GUESTS


WEDDING 8666 DAPO AND FUNKE WITH FBN CAPITAL CEO, KAYODE AKINKUGBE


WEDDING 8684 DAPO AND FUNKE IN THE BACK SEAT OF THEIR WEDDING CAR, A VINTAGE ROLLS-ROYCE


WEDDING 8719 FUNKE WITH HER AUNT


WEDDING 8784 CUTTING THE CAKE


WEDDING 8874 FUNKE, ON THE DANCE FLOOR, WAS SHOWERED WITH GIFTS OF BANK NOTES


WEDDING 8881 FUNKE AND DAPO PRIOR TO DEPARTURE


YINKA SHONIBARE MBE PICTURED WITH SELF PORTRAIT AFTER WARHOL 4


YINKA SHONIBARE MBE WITH DAPO