When Nikki Ogunnaike and Philippe Fonzin first met—in August 2014 at a birthday party in Manhattan—they had something in common: “Neither of us was actually invited by the host,” Nikki says. (They had been invited by another friend). At the party, which was at the now-shuttered Hudson Hotel, Nikki saw Philippe sitting at a picnic table and introduced herself. They hit it off, and spent the rest of that summer and fall getting to know each other. “We’ve been together ever since,” Nikki says.
Within the first few months of their relationship, Nikki introduced Philippe to her sister, who “immediately put him to work building a crib for my soon-to-be-born nephew,” Nikki recalls. “While that may have been annoying to another man, it was one of the first moments when I knew that Philippe was a generous and genuinely wonderful man,” she says, adding: “My 12-year-old nephew still can’t believe that Philippe has known him literally his entire life.” In 2020, amid the pandemic, the couple moved in together in Brooklyn.
In September 2025, during New York Fashion Week, Philippe proposed to Nikki. He took the opportunity of her sister’s birthday party to let her parents know his plan. After going to the Tibi show and lunch at The Odeon, she picked up balloons for the party. “Nikki was in the backyard struggling to untangle the balloons, so I was able to sneak in and brought her parents upstairs to let them know the plan. She had no clue I was even there,” Philippe says.
“Cut to the party a couple of hours later and everyone was in the best mood ever,” Nikki says. “I thought it was just because we were throwing a great party, but as it turns out Philippe had told everyone that he’d be proposing the next day.”
The next day, Nikki had a relaxed Sunday, going to stretch class, acupuncture, and Sephora. “I thought it was so strange that Philippe was really concerned about my whereabouts on what I thought would be a very chill Sunday,” she says. “Little did I know I was impeding on the picnic he’d planned in Prospect Park, where he proposed after we finished sandwiches from Radio Bakery.”
They took some time to enjoy being engaged before diving into wedding planning. But from the start, they knew they wanted to get married in New York, and especially in Brooklyn. “That’s where our love story really took shape,” Nikki says.
“A running joke was that I was a bridechilla, rather than a bridezilla,” Nikki says. As someone who attends and plans many events as part of her job as editor-in-chief of Marie Claire, she led the wedding planning alongside Fallon Carter. “When I first met with Fallon, I let her know that it was important to me to work with as many women and vendors of color as possible,” Nikki adds. “We found an incredible assortment of partners who all came together to make for an unforgettable few days.”
