Wedding Favours With Afia Bayayi

Megan Hill
&
Published:
03
Nov
2022
Updated:
18
Nov
2022
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Afia Bayayi wears a yellow blazer and arranges flowers on a wedding dining table
Afia Bayayi—founder of Afmena Events

Afia Bayayi is a florist, event designer, and founder of Afmena Events. Afia never underestimates the power of a beautiful backdrop, but her client's stories remain at the forefront of her approach to design.

Afia reflects on her journey into the industry, the importance of setting boundaries, and the timelessness of elegant design with the help of an old wedding day tradition: something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue...

Something old

Following a passion

I decided to pursue a career in event styling whilst on maternity leave with my firstborn.

I was thinking of careers that would enable me to work on my own terms and I had always done styling and flowers for friends and family, so it occured to me to work with what was already in my hands.

I registered the business whilst on maternity leave and have never looked back since.

Something new

An image says a thousand words

When I first meet a new client, it is important for me to know both what they like and what they don't like. I ask my clients to send pictures of their inspiration to help me vibe with them, their tastes, and their preferences.

At Afmena events, our signature style is "elegant". I've never seen elegance go out of style, elegance can be applied to any design era or movement.

A groom wears pink velour tux and bride wears white gown. They stand under a white and red/purple lower arch
An elegant ceremony—wedding designed by Afia Bayayi

Something borrowed

Lessons learned

Throughout my career, I have learned that it is important to learn how to say "no" to certain jobs and opportunities. Some jobs show red flags from the beginning, the signs are always there but we often pursue them anyway—perhaps out of desperation or wishful thinking.

However, it is important that we listen to our gut feeling because these are jobs that we'll end up resenting or regretting.

Something blue

License to create

When building a colour palette, I consider my client's preferences and the complementary colours. I use these as a base and create from there.

It is always awesome when my clients give me creative license—it's so much more fun that way.

I'm expecting bold colours to be popular next wedding season, and I'm here for it. Blush is pretty, and white is classic but I'm a colour-burst type of girl—it lends itself to creativity a lot more.

Outdoor dining table with pink orange yellow colour scheme
The return of bold colours—wedding design by Afia Bayayi. Colour palette made in Visualist.

Find out more about what Afmena Events offer on their website, or browse an archive of beautiful celebrations on their Instagram.

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Wedding Favours With Afia Bayayi

🟪 wedding favours

Words by 

Megan Hill

Published on 

November 3, 2022

Visualist is a software empowering creative professionals to work, earn and scale their businesses. Learn more here.

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