Cassandra Dittmer and Chinedum Nweze wanted a wedding that would honor both of their families and traditions. “The first thing that came to mind for us—and this was pretty true throughout the process—was having a multicultural wedding,” says Cassandra, an eco-focused stylist who has worked with actors like Ty Burrell and Reid Scott, as well as philanthropists. “We weren’t as concerned about the food or anything else, but rather, how are we going to bring together all of these people from across the world and make sure that it’s inviting and fun and welcoming?”
Their initial plan was to have a ceremony in Nigeria, where the groom is from, and another wedding later on in the States, where the bride is from. Because Chinedum works in supply chain, he realized that regardless of where the couple had their wedding, a great deal of guests would have to travel internationally. In a way, that freed them up to start thinking of other far-flung locations. They loved Italy and, in particular, Puglia.
“We weren’t going to do Lake Como or Tuscany, which are beautiful. [We wanted] something that’s a little less trodden. Some place where, even if you’ve been to Italy, you probably haven’t been,” Cassandra says. The couple met at her brother’s wedding.
The Location
“Puglia is very family-friendly, low-key, and stunning. It’s the type of place where you stumble. This happened to us when we were on our wedding tours. We would stumble into a beautiful place that’s on a cliff side. The person that is serving you is the owner of the restaurant. His wife comes out with drinks, they bring their cat over to the table, regale you with stories...” she recalls.
They had the wedding at the boutique hotel Masseria Torre Coccaro.
The Ceremonies
A Nigerian wedding combines two events: a traditional Nigerian celebration, followed by church ceremony, known as a white wedding.
On Friday evening, the couple had the Nigerian celebration. Cassandra had never been to a Nigerian wedding before, so she had to do a bit of research. “You can imagine, I’m talking to my husband, Googling, what am I supposed to do, what am I not supposed to do?” she says. “I felt pressure around that, because I wanted it to be really thoughtful and very considerate.”
Alas, a wrench was thrown into the couple’s plans. There were planning on having an outdoor welcome dinner in an olive grove, but sudden rain forced them to rethink the setting. What’s more, the Nigerian chef who was set to be coming in from Los Angeles had a visa issue, forcing them to reconsider the food as well. They quickly found a chef in Rome who was Igbo, like Chinedum, and able to speak about the origin and meaning of each dish.
Per custom, Casandra and Chinedum made dance entrances into the reception. The bride typically performs a ritual where she goes from table to table, pretending to search for her husband. “It’s a little play that you’re supposed to do before you sit down,” Cassandra says.
The following day, they had their church ceremony and a reception followed.
Sustainability
The couple wanted to make sure that the wedding was as ecologically responsible as it could be. “The very first thing I said to our wedding planner was, ‘How can we minimize waste?’ I was like, ‘I don’t want to see any plastic at my wedding. Is that possible?’ I think I was feeling a lot of eco guilt,” Cassandra admits. They were able to have the wedding without single-use plastic (something that Italy regulates) and with a menu that focused on hyper-local foods, including vegetables grown at the hotel.
The Dress Code
Cassandra worked with a Nigerian tailor to create custom outfits for around 80 of the guests who had never been to a Nigerian wedding. “We were DHLing outfits three, four, five months before the wedding,” she says.
The Looks
As her styling business focuses on sustainability, that was a major priority to Cassandra when it came to her wedding wardrobe. “It was so important to me that every piece along the way was rooted in a value-driven approach to fashion, because that’s what I do,” she says.
Cassandra worked closely with Tabs Atelier for her Nigerian wedding looks, which were created from deadstock fabric. “It was of the utmost importance to me to make sure that my Nigerian outfits, and my friends’ and family’s, were made in Nigeria, prioritizing the local craft theory. I really exist in that space, so it was very important to me to not just make something that looks Nigerian,” she explains.
For the church wedding, Cassandra wore a white dress designed by Ronald van der Kemp, who is considered one of the first sustainable couture designers. She traveled to his Amsterdam atelier for her fittings. Her jewelry was from Dorsey, a lab-grown jeweler, and her shoes and garter were hand-me-downs from her mother. She was thrilled to see that Jimmy Choo provides eco details on their products. “I saw the Bon Bon ivory crystal bag and immediately thought: that’s it.”
She also wore a dress from the designer Charles Harbison’s line Harbison Studio, which uses deadstock fabric, and a dress and headpiece featuring cowrie beads that was designed by Lafalaise Dion. “I wanted to meet every single person that was making these outfits,” she says. “We were in close conversation.”
Cassandra Dittmer and Chinedum Nweze’s Wedding
Adrienne Gaffney is a features editor at ELLE and previously worked at WSJ Magazine and Vanity Fair.
