These images were taken in Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn, NY on the June 19th, 2022 in celebration of JUNETEENTH.
RACHEL MATTHEWS
Where do you picture this conversation taking place — a hotel lobby, a friend’s floor, or somewhere else?
PAIGE ELKINGTON
Well, sitting on the floor is my baseline...natural posture, so that's not very exciting for me. I'd pick a hotel lobby. That's sexy. But, right now, I'm actually on my floor surrounded by moving boxes because I'm moving to New York next week.
RM
I'm in Mexico City on set right now, but I'm envisioning us in the Huntington Gardens' bonsai garden…something outside, in the grass.
PE
Perfect. On the grass it is.
RM
How did we first meet?
PE
We ran in the same LA circles for years, but didn’t get close until later — when we did, it was instant best friendship. We always joke we’re the same person, even down to both having a prolapsed mitral valve.
RM
I remember seeing you outside La Poubelle in 2016 and thinking, who is this stunning, iconic woman? I need to be friends with her.
PE
I didn't know this!
RM
Then I was like, she's so hot, funny, smart. Honestly, now that I'm telling you this story, I feel like I pulled a full Ingrid Goes West.
PE
This was your big plan all along.
RM
I've been playing the long game, dude. Imagine I follow you to New York City.
PE
When did we actually get each other?
RM
The Renaissance Faire was the real turning point.
PE
Oh, yes! Jousting, throwing axes. That was our first moment.
RM
If the internet is a stage, what role are you playing?
PE
I’d say I’m half big sister, doling out advice, half performer…jester.
RM
You’re very much like a modern Carrie Bradshaw. With your Substack. But then, yes, you also perform and direct, and make people laugh.
PE
When did we actually get each other?
RM
If our friendship had a mood board, what's on it?
PE
Lots of photos of land. You and I are always sending each other houses with land. We're obsessed with acreage.
RM
Obsessed with acreage. All we do is send each other Zillow properties. And making films and TV shows.
PE
What's the best smell in the world?
RM
Campfire. And then Jasmine.
PE
hat's what I was gonna say! Jasmine! Best smell in the world. That's one of the things I will miss about LA.
RM
What's a role, real or imagined, we'd cast ourselves in together?
PE
My dream would be for us to play co-workers in a corporate office comedy à la Broadcast News. Except women in their 30s.
RM
I would love it if we were to redo Step Brothers...Step Sisters.
RM
What do you think the other one will be doing in 20 years?
PE
In 20 years, your production company will have churned out tons of amazing shows and movies. You’ll have kids and be volunteering at church.
RM
Oh my God, I love that. For you, I’m seeing Pulitzers, bestselling books, films, and TV shows. And you’ll be married to the love of your life, three kids, a farmhouse upstate, and an apartment in the city. And our kids and husbands will be best friends.
RM
If this conversation is a time capsule, what’s the one thing you want people to remember about you right now?
PE
My ability to try to help people be their best selves. Or my writing.
RM
My loyalty. I'm very selective about the people I keep in my life, and I would go to hell and back for them. I would hope they remember that.
PE
What’s in and out?
RM
In: Gray hair. Out: Scaffolding.
PE
In: Shoestring filmmaking, Substack. Out: Waymos. We’re not giving our money to those soulless robot cars.
With you and Temi both being from Nigeria, what drew you to have such a global celebration rather than one back at home?
We are both proudly Nigerian, but global citizens in every sense as our work has taken us around the world. For the civil wedding, we had just concluded my late mum's funeral in Nigeria and we wanted a place that was sentimental to us both, but also where we would be alone just the two of us, and Monaco was the most ideal as it’s our euro base (we live between Dubai, Monaco , Lagos and Accra). For the traditional ceremony our culture demands that it’s done in the home of the bride's family and Temi’s dad had said many times that we inspired him to get the villa (side story he and Temi had gone house hunting and immediately when they entered the villa they had joked about it being ideal for our wedding and that motivated him to pick that villa as the family Dubai home) so we wanted to stay true to culture and maintain privacy, hence Dubai was perfect. As for Iceland it’s Temi and I’s favourite place next to home, it’s our escape and we have been there over 10 times since we started going in 2021, we wanted to bring our friends and family to our special place and it was nothing short of magical.
Given this, how did your Nigerian heritage influence each of the ceremonies?
We brought Nigeria to Dubai in Temi’s family home, all the food, the officiant (the Alaga), the attire of all the staff, guest and performers was all traditional Yoruba attire, the food was all Naija food, and the band was the legendary King Sunny Ade. Our attires were both Yoruba Wedding attire and we had one that was Iseleuku wedding attire as an ode to my late mum's Ibo heritage, the entire run of events stayed the same as if it were in Lagos and it truly felt like Lagos in Dubai.
Choosing locations must have been challenging for such a global celebration so what factors influenced your decision in picking each of these strikingly different locations?
We selected locations that maintained personal sentiment for us both (Monaco being home and private, Iceland being our safe space and Dubai being home & private).
Each ceremony had a different theme, how did you decide upon these?
Temi is the queen of themes and design haha, for Monaco we leaned towards Grace Kelly’s wedding inspiration, for Dubai it was Lagos & for Iceland we leaned to the beauty of nature in Iceland with the ice, volcano and moss.
Moving onto your love of music, how did music play a role in these three ceremonies and how were these roles different for each wedding?
Monaco was really calm and reflective. Temi made a playlist that had some of our favourite love songs and gospel music, to set the mood. Temi also made a playlist for Dubai with a lot of our favourite classic Afrobeats songs , the OG songs we both partied to 15 years ago! It was a real Naija party so of course DJ edu understood the assignment, you can’t have a traditional wedding without a band and we had the iconic KSA perform until we went for the after party which was more recent Naija afrobeat songs. Iceland was a mix of music we love from all over the world, I listen to a lot of Cuban and Spanish music and so we got Havana heat band to perform, and I surprised Temi and our friends and family by having John Legend close the wedding reception it was so lovely to see all the guests come to the dance floor and hold each other whilst dancing to John Legend live. For the after party and the leaving party, our good friend Michael Brun took us from classic hip hop to soca to reggaeton, dancehall and ended the night with the newest afrobeat hits.
Did you have any specific musical influences for each wedding?
Dubai - AfroJuju, Afrobeats , Monaco - Gospel and RnB , Iceland - Cuban Music & RnB.
Have these weddings given you any inspiration for future music?
Yes, I wanna make more love songs you know, stripped back acoustic songs that I could perform live at Future Nigerian weddings.
Moving onto fashion, how did you and your stylist begin the process of deciding what to wear?
Big up Jason Rembert because my biggest concern was matching Temi's energy , she is the queen so I knew what I wanted in terms of the vibe but I needed someone to help me execute it correctly and in line with Temi's vibe, I told him I wanted to have a classic timeless yet understated regal look across all ceremonies and we killed it.
Throughout your and Temi’s wedding outfits, you both mainly wore Western designers but also wore some African designers, was it important to you to honour both of your African heritage through clothing?
It was important for us to be true to ourselves being Global citizens, it was about showing Nigerian elegance in our way, either whilst selecting Nigerian, Gambian or Western designers.
Suiting was the main component of your wardrobe for the Monaco and Iceland weddings, what makes a suit stand out to you?
I think suits carry energy, these days I find myself rocking suits and jackets and I see how depending on where I’m going or who I’m meeting or my vibe for the day my selection is different, so it’s important for me to pick a suit that can be a conduit for my chosen energy and in that sense be a part of my being for the day as against being an accessory and that’s what informed my selection.
Your Dubai wedding featured more traditional African wedding looks, do you feel more comfortable when proudly showing off your culture through clothing?
You know what’s funny is anytime I imagined myself getting married I never pictured the suit part, it was always me in my Agbada with my Fila (Abeti Aja) inspired by the Obasanjo and a Jimmy Carter photo I have been obsessed with since the first time I saw the photo! So it wasn’t even an option to not wear my Yoruba Atire! I was looking forward to this part. For the all white beaded look my late mum actually selected that look for me before she passed it was inspired by a look the Obi of Issele-Uku , she was from Issele Uku in delta state Nigeria and I was waiting for the day to show the world that I am both a proud Yewa man & a son of Aniocha North
Finally, are there any personal highlights of each wedding which you would like to share?
It was an out of body experience seeing Temi and I get married in Dubai in the presence of our close friends and family and I can’t forget when she was told to describe me and she called all my names including the special name my mum loved to call me, also before she walked into the church there was a moment the organist played my mum's favourite hymn and as she walked in a cloudy day started to turn sunny, this was so special.
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Check out some highlights from the hike below!
