Those of you that know me will know I am an avid twitter user and over the last year or so I have connected with many amazing people from many industries, but especially the photographic and wedding industries. One of those people is award winning dress designer Yemi Osunkoya, who is London based with his Kosibah label. Kosibah specialises in contemporary and elegant couture bridal, evening and formal day wear and is this year celebrating 20yrs in the business. When you have finished reading this blog post, please do go and have a look at the Kosibah website and be prepared to say WOW!

I have admired Yemi’s designs for some time, his ability to make every woman, whatever her size and shape, look absolutely stunning is simply amazing, so when he announced his intention to hold a 20th Anniversary reception and the unveiling of his latest bridal collection, I would have begged for a ticket if he hadn’t actually offered one.

There were several of us from twitter all planning to meet at the event, held at the Institute of Directors on Pall Mall and I think I can speak for everyone when I say it was a fabulous evening. The gown collections were gorgeous, especially the Bienvenue 20 Bridal Collection and meeting Yemi himself aswell as several twitter friends made it an evening to remember.

So, the pictures. I have never photographed any kind of fashion show before and of course I was simply a guest with a camera, so grabbed the best angle I could. It was great fun and would love to do such a show on a more formal basis in the the future, but forget the technical aspect, this was about glamour, fun, feeling very posh for an evening and being in great company. All boxes definitely ticked on those!

I will start with the gowns themselves and for those that are interested, all pictures are taken with a Nikon D300, Nikon 50mm and an SB800 flash.

Evening / Formal Wear

After the evening and formal wear collection, Yemi explained that his new bridal collection, Bienvenue 20 had been inspired by the ballet, so with that in mind we were next entertained by ballerinas.

Bienvenue 20 Bridal Collection

Yemi Osunkoya, the genius behind the Kosibah label, with some of his models of the Bienvenue 20 collection

So that was the formal part of the proceedings, but what about all those twitter friends I mentioned? Well of course I got some pictures of them too!

Amanda of Ardley Weddings [ Twitter ] and her friend and colleague Emma [ Twitter ]

Joyce of Brides & Beauty [ Twitter ] and Ana of Ana Ospina Make-up [ Twitter ]

Ana again, this time with friend and another photographer Claire of Claire S Graham Photography [ Twitter ]

Claire meets Damien Lovegrove

Joyce gets a hug from Yemi

Claire, Janet of Janet Mohapi Banks Cakes [ Twitter ], Yemi, Ana and Joyce

…and finally, thanks to Claire, to whom I handed my camera and asked her to point it at myself and Yemi

There were a few other friends there too, including Lisa from Ribbons and Tulle, Jo from Sprae PR, Kim from The Wedding Community and of course Seyi from Cedar Events who organised the event, but sadly I didn’t get chance to get photographs of them this time.

One person that couldn’t be there herself, but was very much there in spirit [and jewels] was Sarah of Tiny Gems. Certainly Amanda, Janet and myself were wearing pieces of her gorgeous handmade jewellery, but one of her heirloom bouquets featured in the show, as can be seen from the pictures above.

Full Event Credits

Venue & Canapes – 116 Pall Mall

Event Design, Planning & Management – Cedar Events

Flowers – Blue Sky Flowers

Soprano Singer – Lisa Carlisle

Mine Ice Cream – Ice Angels

Cake Design – Elizabeths Cake Emporium

Bridal Tiaras/Headpieces – Clare Odgen Designs and Tiara Heaven

Heirloom Bouquet – Tiny Gems

Saxophonist – Adewale Olutunbi

Videographer – Laja Than Life

Drapes & Lighting – Fabricate Decor

Couture Stationary – Lovicci

Picture Framer – Opal Frames

Fashion Show Stylist – Adebayo Jones

Hairdresser – Kasia Fortuna

Make-up – Kemi Kings Beauty

Bespoke Hats & Fascinators – Lyze’s Hats