IFIE + OBI STEP INTO THE LIMELIGHT | OPAL SANDS RESORT + DUVAL BANQUET CENTER | CLEARWATER, FL

A beautiful love story from our Bride & Groom:

FROM OBI:

On a bright weekday afternoon in October, I remember a beautiful slim girl accompanied by her sister entered the computer training center to inquire about taking computer courses. After speaking to my boss, she got enrolled and received a start date for the following Monday.

Monday morning dawned and so did a new chapter in our lives. She had caught my attention and I found myself drawn to her and distracted over the course of the computer training sessions. We cultivated a beautiful friendship that morphed into a budding new relationship and it added a lot of excitement to my otherwise boring student life.

I introduced her to my extended family that I lived with in Lagos and she was loved by everyone. I knew that I had found something very special. After three incredible months, I completed my internship and returned to my University in another city hours away. We kept in touch by letters, periodic phone calls (sometimes with pay phones, no cellphones at the time!) and saw each other again on my occasional visits to Lagos. Ifreke ultimately completed her course and became proficient in computer use, a necessity for her upcoming immigration to the United States...

August 4, 2000.. a day I would never forget. Ifreke was leaving Nigeria to the United States to begin a new life there with her family. I was not prepared for the void it would leave in my life. With the love we had for each other, we parted with promises to stay in touch and keep the flame of our young love burning, until we can meet again...

... but distance, time and life eventually took a toll on us and we broke up after several months. It brought great pain and sadness to my youthful heart. I held onto memories of our love for comfort and continued to hope that we may someday reunite. We subsequently both moved on with our lives and had little to no contact for some time. Then Facebook happened...

FROM IFREKE:

From 2006 - December 2016, indeed thanks to Facebook we began communicating again albeit sparsely about once or twice a year. We were both involved with other people and busy with school or work but exchanged a few messages periodically. I learned that he had moved to London, England in 2006, completed a Masters in Information Technology and working at an energy firm Orsted. I shared about the stresses of my long journey to a career in medicine and he was ever the caring gentleman I knew. Little did we know what the future had in store for us...

On New Year's Day 2017, I received a Happy New Year message from Obi, as he had done every year since Facebook started. This time, we both happened to be single at the same time. Then came February 14, and I got a lovely Happy Valentine's Day message. Just like that, we were talking again and it was a breath of fresh air given our history.

These chats soon led to deeper conversations that revealed that he was not over me! :) We reminisced about our time together during our youthful days in Nigeria and rekindled our friendship. We realized that we still had a lot of love for each other and within a few months, I was on my way to London.. we saw each other again after 17 years! It was quite a happy moment for us! We got back together shortly after and found ourselves reopen the chapter we had left behind, this time as two mature adults learning more about each other. We have shared good and bad times, including a period of grief after Obi's father passed away in September 2017, just few months after we reunited. Through it all, we found support and strength with each other. On March 5, 2019, Obi proposed and I said YES!

Our love story has spanned two decades from 1999 - 2019 and three continents, Africa, North America and Europe. It has not been easy but we have made it here and are looking forward to creating a great life together. We have enjoyed a lot of wonderful experiences together such as traveling, outdoor activities, spending time with family, friends and my cute little dog Lily.

http://www.ifreke-obi.com/

WEDDING DAY:

Ifie and Obi were simply gorgeous together on their wedding day and even when the weather was not in their favor, their love and happiness together outshined any darkness! The wedding day started off at the Opal Sands where the pair got ready. They got to see each other during first look and they couldn’t be happier to see each other again. Although the ceremony changed locations, this was okay to them and they were just happy to be able to say their I-Do’s. It was definitely a beautiful moment when they shared each other’s vows. Once reception started, the fun began and all they did all night was laugh, have fun and dance with each together! It was truly a day full of surprises but they were simply at peace within each other’s arms!

Lead Photographer | Tara Zimmerman
Associate Photographer | Emma Hintz