On Saturday December 6th, 2008, Samuel Bangura and Saliana Tucker, Sierra Leoneans residing in Farmington, a suburb of Minneapolis in the great state of Minnesota, were married at a beautiful ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nathalia Tucker, the sister and best friend of Saliana, acted in the dual capacity of a wedding planner and master of ceremonies.The wedding that was attended by friends and relatives from all over the continental USA, occurred at a wedding chapel in the majestic Excalibur Hotel on Las Vegas Boulevard. The extremely beautiful ceremony, was short and simple. Samuel and Saliana promised to love each other no matter what, and pledged to provide comfort and solace to each other till their hairs turned gray. With relatives and friends from Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Maryland, California, Ohio, New York, Georgia, and Uganda in Africa looking on, the two were a model of happiness and epitomized love, as they gazed at each other with eyes of contentment and bliss. At this moment some of us became blissfully oblivious of the present economic problems that were hitting us like a canoe in a category 5 hurricane.
After the ceremonies, the wedding delegation was transported to the reception at the grand Stratosphere Hotel via three stretched Hummer limousines filled with champagne, and entertained by the best contemporary American music.
At Stratosphere, toasts were made to the bride and groom, their continued happiness, and a trouble free marriage. The Stratosphere catering staff spared no expense; and provided food that was just out of this world. The groom expressed his gratitude to all the guests and said he was humbled by the love shown by all those who had to travel so far to grace the occasion.
After the reception that was ably chaired by Nathalia Julia Tucker, the delegation moved to a lounge in the Casino of the Sahara Hotel, were they spent the rest of the night entertained by American, African and Caribbean music. The next day, most of the guests went to the wedding suite at the LuxorHotel, for more partying until we were bound to leave at 8.00pm to catch our flight back to cold Minnesota.
Unfortunately I forgot my camera at my hotel, but was able to take the pictures shown here with my cell phone. There were a lot of professional photographers at the wedding and I promise to publish more pictures as they are made available.
