A Black-Tie Wedding With Garden Vibes at a Historic Brooklyn Venue

Aiyanna and Dike were set up by a mutual friend—and she still has screenshots of the text she received in December 2016 that read, “I have a hubby for you!” After hearing about Aiyanna, Dike was interested, but their friend forgot to share her number. A few months later, Dike stumbled upon Aiyanna’s Hinge profile and the two arranged their first date at a Cuban cocktail bar. “We ended up talking for five hours,” Dike says. “The rest is history!”

In 2021, the pair had a trip to Martha’s Vineyard planned for Memorial Day Weekend with their friends. Dike insisted they go a few days early as a belated birthday celebration for Aiyanna, but had something else up his sleeve: a beach proposal with a view of Edgartown Lighthouse in the background (naturally, she said yes).

The couple knew they wanted to host their wedding at a historic venue in New York City, and that it had to accommodate their 277 guest count. When they found the Weylin in Brooklyn, New York, Aiyanna fell in love with the 100-plus-foot dome. “It's breathtaking when you see it in person and the venue had so much character,” she says (the building was built in the 1870s and used to be the Williamsburgh Savings Bank).

They hosted their black-tie ceremony, reception, and after-party in that historic spot on January 21, 2023, and hired Elizabeth Gopal of East Made Co. to help them plan a day full of details that honored their Trinidadian and Nigerian cultures. Read on to see all of the luxe fabrics, rich colors, and joyful moments of Aiyanna and Dike’s wedding, captured by Lance Nicoll Photography.

The couple’s stationery suite featured a round invitation card as a reference to the venue’s dome. Envelopes were lined with a pattern pulled from the venue’s wallpaper; this traditional element provided contrast to the modern typography.

On the morning of the wedding, Aiyanna got ready with her bridesmaids. She wore a satin white pajama set with matching slippers; her attendants donned the same getup in black. The bride-to-be also spent a good portion of the morning hydrating, after her makeup artist, Felicia Graham, told her to drink plenty of water leading up to the wedding day. “I was chugging so much water, Felicia and my bridesmaids finally had to cut me off,” she says. “They were worried I was going to be too hydrated!”

Inspired by Jasmine Tookes’ big-day look, Aiyanna wore a lace ball gown by Monique Lhullier. “Since our wedding was in the winter, I knew I wanted a long-sleeve gown—so I opted to get the matching bolero jacket,” Aiyanna says. She had the jacket altered from a high neckline to a scoop and closed the keyhole back.

As for her accessories? She selected a matching cathedral-length veil, her mom’s diamond earrings as her something borrowed, and ivory Jimmy Choo pumps. Aiyanna also wore a necklace Dike got her when they first started dating. “I never take it off and I didn’t want the wedding day to be any different,” she says. She held a lush hand-tied bouquet of roses, peonies, and ranunculus in shades of cream and ivory.

Dike stepped into a black peak lapel two-piece tuxedo by Angel Ramos, which was made with an English mohair fabric. “Growing up, I loved reading GQ and Esquire and came across Angel Ramos when he was featured in 2010 in Esquire as ‘America’s Best Dressed Real Man,'” Dike says. “When he started his boutique, I promised myself that I would reach out to him for a special occasion.”

He completed his look with black patent leather Carmina opera pumps with silk socks from Falke, onyx cufflinks and studs from David Donahue, an Omega Seamaster watch, and a white floral boutonnière tied with a mustard-toned velvet ribbon. “I love the look of opera pumps with formalwear,” he says. Dike’s best man and groomsmen wore classic black tuxedos in their favorite style. He gifted them custom white linen pocket squares customized with their initials from Bumblebee Linens.

Aiyanna and Dike decided to exchange letters during a first look before the ceremony. “We loved the idea of having a quiet moment, just the two of us, to start off the wedding day,” Aiyanna says. For Dike, it was special to have a private moment within the wedding day’s events. “What was important for us was being intentional about carving out times just for us to celebrate our union and to share our thoughts and enjoy the small moments,” he says.

Aiyanna knew from the beginning that she wanted her bridesmaids to wear mismatched dresses, so she hired bridal stylist Anny Choi to help. “She worked with me and Elizabeth to look at our theme and color schemes and suggested some ideas for what the bridesmaids could wear,” Aiyanna says. “Anny worked with the six bridesmaids to get an idea of their sizing and style and then sent out options. I’m so thankful for her vision and love the way the dresses turned out!”

Bridesmaids ended up wearing dresses in shades of gold, champagne, rust, burgundy, and toffee. They held loose garden style bouquets of greenery and florals in toffee and blush tones.

The couple’s floral team at Designs by Ahn designed the altar arrangements for the ceremony on acrylic pedestals. “The week of the wedding, the florist texted me to ask if they could switch out the original gold urns we had for the altar arrangements, saying they wanted the design to feel larger and more overgrown,” the couple’s planner Elizabeth says. “Our answer was a resounding yes—the bigger the better in this large space and especially for nearly 300 guests!” The team arranged the florals on-site, arching the flowers around the elevated stage where the bride and groom would be standing. A white aisle runner was the finishing touch.

Aiyanna walked down the aisle with her dad to a string quartet playing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” “I lost it when I saw Aiyanna and her dad walking down the aisle—I’d never felt so lucky in my life,” Dike says. “Thankfully, my best friend was ready with the handkerchief.” The pal who introduced the pair read Maya Angelou’s “Touched by an Angel” during the service, and, at the end, Aiyanna and Dike incorporated the tradition of jumping the broom, along with the Igbo tradition of breaking the kola nut. “Breaking the kola nut is a symbol of mutual respect and community; the nut is typically broken and eaten when a host welcomes a guest into his or her home,” the bride says. Aiyanna and Dike recessed back down the aisle to “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” by Natalie Cole.

The newlyweds stepped away with their photographer for portraits before joining their guests at the reception.

The reception space was filled with long banquet tables covered with velvet linens to create a dinner party atmosphere, despite the large guest count. Aiyanna and Dike used low centerpieces with taper candles and votives to create the right ambience during dinner, which included traditional Nigerian dishes like jollof rice and puff puff along other main dishes served family style. “I think these family style dishes made our dinner feel intimate even though it was close to 300 people,” Aiyanna says. “It was nice to look around and see our guests pass bowls of jollof as if we were just at a family dinner.” Place settings included round dinner menus and place cards for every guest, which matched the wedding invitations; the table numbers also incorporated the venue’s wallpaper pattern.

The evening's speeches were big-day highlights for the couple. Dike’s two brothers, Aiyanna’s two siblings, the best man, and Aiyanna’s father each shared heartfelt toasts. “Elizabeth helped us plan out how to spread the speeches across the dinner, so it didn’t feel too repetitive for our guests,” Aiyanna says. “We laughed and cried. Some of our favorite photos from the night are the guests' reactions to the speeches.”

The couple’s three-tier wedding cake was covered in ribbed buttercream icing and decorated with asymmetrical toffee and blush roses and sweet peas. They chose carrot cake with classic cream cheese frosting and crème fraîche yellow cake with french vanilla buttercream.

Aiyanna and Dike shared their first dance to “Knocks Me Off My Feet” by Luther Vandross. “We knew from the beginning we wanted a DJ,” Aiyanna says. “It was important to us to have Black entertainers, especially folks who were well-versed playing the music we grew up with and loved to listen to.” Aiyanna danced with her father to Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” and Dike spun with his mom to MzVee’s “Come and See My Moda.”

Later at the reception, Aiyanna and Dike changed into traditional African attire and took part in a few cultural traditions, including a money dance. (Guests dance with the newlyweds and shower them with money as a symbol of good fortune and happiness for the couple.)

For the after-party, Aiyanna stepped into a Paco Rabbane skirt with a top from Alice and Olivia; Dike swapped his black tuxedo for a gray dinner jacket from Suit Supply.

The couple went to Jamaica for a mini-moon and will be headed to Serengeti and Zanzibar in Tanzania for their official honeymoon next year. To couples in the middle of wedding planning, Aiyanna and Dike remind you to stick to what’s important to you as a couple. “This is your first foray as a new family, so it’s important for you and your partner to align on priorities and 'non-negotiables' from the beginning. There may be things along the way you're willing to compromise on, but don't be afraid to set boundaries around your key priorities.”