Encomium
The Saturday, June 10, 2017, wedding of Folarin Alakija and Nazanin Jafarian Ghaissarifa in the United Kingdom broke all records with a N2.3 billion bill at one of the world’s most well-appointed venues within all the trappings of a grand fiesta.From decor to food and drinks, entertainment to galaxy of guests, Nigeria’s richest woman raised the bar beyond spectacular.
1. Folarin Alakija and Nazanin Jafarian Ghaissarifa were introduced by friends in London and he proposed in October 2016.
A lavish traditional engagement was hosted in November 2016 at the Grand Ballroom of Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island attended by the wife of the President, Hajia Aisha Buhari.
2. One million roses and white orchids (at £200,000) adorned the venue (planned and executed by the decorator to the Kardashians, Jeff Leatham who brought about 30 staffers to the United Kingdom to work on the project).
£10,000 8-tier cake decorated with a hundred ornate white roses and doves (by Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium which attends to the cream of high society in Europe and the Middle East).
3. A spectacular fire work display in the grounds of the venue was a fitting finale to a jaw dropping nuptials which breaks all records of glamour and extravagance.
4. The Iranian bride studied Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering at Manchester University. The marketing consultant beauty and model who once dated Rob Kardashian (in 2013) also has a Diploma in Law.
Born in Iran (to Khosro and Nooshin Ghaissarifa), she has lived in Los Angeles (United States of America), London and Manchester (in the United Kingdom).
5. Folarin, who studied Geography at Imperial College in London, is a businessman who loves cinematography and savvy investor.
His parents, Mr and Mrs Modupe and Folorunsho Alakija are worth $1.7 billion with their FAMFA Oil business.
Finicky about the best things in life, the second richest African woman (after Angola’s Isabel dos Santos with $3.3 billion net worth) has two private jets, two flats in Knightsbridge and a mansion in Ikoyi (Lagos) among other objects of desire across the world.
6. The first wife of one of the four sons of the Alakijas (mother of his daughter) died of cancer about 6 years ago.
7. £5 million (N2.3 billion at N460 exchange rate) was reportedly splashed on the nuptials with event planner Sade Awe of The Bridal Circle whose painstaking attention to details wins her elite clientele.
8. The venue of the ceremony, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire ( the United Kingdom), was hired for £150,000, and an extra £200,000 for marquee and marble etched with the couple’s initials in gold.
The decoration required a week of exclusive hire of the venue.
9. A five-course meal had guests lapping up deliciously decadent meals of barley wafers with cheddar and chive yoghurt dip, crispy duck egg and Wiltshire truffle, foie gras, beef and sole, guinea fowl, edible flowers and pink champagne granita and more…
10. The A-list guests included Shanina Shaikh (a Victoria Secrets’ angel), actress Rio Fredrika, fashion designer Becka Indigo, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mrs. Toyin Saraki (wife of Senate President Bukola Saraki), Onikepo Braithwaite, daughter of billionaire mogul Femi Otedola (Temi, who’s a fashion blogger), politicians and moguls as well as socialites from Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
11. Hundreds of guests from Nigeria were flown in and lodged in plush hotels.
12. Pop star Robin Thicke (of Blurred Lines’ fame) performed at a price put at £150,000. He was flown in from the United States of America.
