This Bride’s Wedding Gown Took 600 Hours To Make – And Told The Story Of Her Heritage

The wedding festivities spanned two days, beginning with a Friday-night party at the St Regis Hotel Ballroom, where 300 guests – from Nigeria, LA, Dubai, London, Dublin, New York, Houston and Iceland – ate, danced and sang along with a live pianist until the early hours. TK wore an Oscar de la Renta Pre-Fall 2015 black lace gown to welcome her guests. For the ceremony itself, the bride worked with Torlowei – the Nigerian-British mother-and-daughter atelier stocked in Harrods – to create a gown that felt both personal and symbolic. “I’d worn one of their dresses for my engagement,” TK says, “so it felt right to have that full-circle moment, walking down the aisle in a Torlowei dress.”

The process took more than seven months, in collaboration with founder Patience Torlowei. “While I had always imagined a full-lace gown fitting for a Roman setting,” she says, “what mattered most was that the dress told a story.” That story began with her heritage. TK’s grandmother, part of the Windrush generation, had travelled from Jamaica to Britain with extraordinary courage; her mother hails from Nigeria’s Niger Delta, a region scarred by decades of environmental exploitation. TK wanted to weave both histories into the fabric of her gown.

The design drew on the Atlantic Ocean – the body of water that connects Jamaica and Nigeria — its wave-like silhouettes cascading through the skirt. The bodice, meanwhile, was partially inspired by one of the bride’s favourite films, The Parent Trap – specifically a wedding dress designed by the twins’ mother, Elizabeth James, in a memorable scene featuring a top hat. During the reception, TK removed the detachable train and Patience Torlowei personally added silk flowers and a cornucopia to the back of the dress. “The idea,” TK explains, “was that something beautiful can always emerge from darker circumstances.” The veil (cathedral-length with a lace trim) and gown took the team in the atelier over 600 hours, with the dress using 40 metres of silk double satin from Lake Como and the veil made of silk bobbinet, specially produced by Sophie Hallette in the Calais-Caudry region of France (the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex’s wedding dresses incorporated lace from the same producer).

Fourteen bridesmaids – all in custom Torlowei – wore deep plum silk satin gowns paired with Leavers lace shawls. The floral arrangements echoed the palette: deep burgundy against white blooms, to complement rather than compete with the basilica’s gold and gothic interiors. Chuba wore a bespoke Savile Row three-piece by Maximilian Campi: off-white for the ceremony, black for the reception.

The dress code for guests was “Old Hollywood and sculpted elegance”. “I wanted to keep things as classic and formal as the basilica,” TK says, “but still have a sense of fun. My gown was so fluid and wave-like; I wanted the guests’ sharper silhouettes to play against that.” The Italians were suitably impressed. “The aunties did not come to play,” she laughs. “Locals kept shouting ‘Bellissima!’ as they entered the church.”

The reception, held at Villa Miani, looked out across Rome – over cypress trees, terracotta rooftops and the fading pink of an Italian sunset. Dinner followed a classic Roman sequence: cavatelli with king prawns in lobster bisque, cacio e pepe, then beef or sea bream, paired with local wines. The white chocolate tiered cake, adorned with deep red flowers and fresh fruit, echoed the basilica’s gothic romance and the plum of the bridesmaids’ dresses. As the night shifted into celebration, TK changed into a crystal-embellished Annie’s Ibiza minidress. “For the afterparty, I could look no further than the ultimate party-girl brand,” she says. “Only 10 were made by Annie Doble herself. I have zero regrets – and of course, Jimmy Choos on the feet.”