How my pal's little sister became my wife

RIDE: Dorin Asego

GROOM: Maurice Ochieng’

DATE: December 20, 2014

GUESTS: 300

CEREMONY: Our Lady of Guadalupe

RECEPTION: Harlequin Suites

BUDGET: Sh1 million

FIRST DATE:

Dorin: Maurice and I have been friends since childhood. He was my elder brother’s schoolmate, so we have known each other since our primary school years. We started dating officially in 1998 after re-connecting at Our Lady Of Guadalupe Church. He walked me back home from church and that was where it all began.

Maurice: I noticed Dorin every time I visited her brother.  I remember very well how she would welcome me to their home. But we re-connected at church before the last mass.That day, we attended the mass together and thereafter I walked her home. From that day, we became good friends, and as they say, the rest is history.

THE PROPOSAL;

Dorin: He proposed at Grand Regency Hotel, now known as Laico Regency Hotel on Valentine’s Day in 2002.

MAURICE: I’m not sure if she had a hint on what my plan was as earlier that day, I bought her Chinese food and flowers. Though she was very excited when we entered the hotel for lunch, I was a little bit confused on whether to give her the ring before or after the dinner. I had given enough hints already and I still wanted it to remain a surprise so it had to be after the dinner. I instructed the waiter to bring us a bottle of wine (she likes wine) just after giving her ring after the dinner. As much as she had a hint of what I was up to, the proposal still caught her by surprise. I went down on one knee, looked her into the eyes and asked her to marry me.

THE DRAMA

Maurice: We took our time to think about the whole idea of getting married and make it special. Before we formed the committee, we consulted and had several sessions with close friends.

With the prior arrangement, planning was not a hustle. Considering December is an expensive month, we did all the bookings well in advance. But, of course, we had some drama. We lost some cash when we secured the venue for the evening party. We realised all our guests couldn’t fit in the place, so we went back and explained to the owner who took us round in circles only to tell us later they wouldn’t refund our money.

We had to go back to our already strained pockets and get  money for another venue. Well, we got another place and we were lucky enough to find guys who, after narrating our past incident, agreed to give us some discount. We opted for one vendor who supplied nearly everything so we didn’t have too much drama on this one.

I woke up very early on the wedding day and went to church where the cars were being decorated.  I didn’t trust the person we contracted to bring the cars and true to my feeling, he disappointed us. The supplier insisted for full payment prior to the wedding day and even asked for more money, which we paid and this raised many questions. I wanted three Mercedes S class but he brought two.

WITH HINDSIGHT

Start planning early as this gives you adequate time especially to finance the wedding. Take your time in choosing your photographer and buy the best rings as all you will remain with after the wedding is the rings and photos and of course your spouse. Most importantly, work together with your spouse.  Also try to avoid the high season like December when everything is expensive.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

Dorin: Walking down the aisle and seeing Maurice in front of the Church for me was a very touching moment.

My best moment was when we exchanged the rings and said our wedding vows.

Maurice: When exchanging the vows – looking directly in her eyes and publicly committing to her was so beautiful.

For the honey moon we decided to sample three different hotels - Masaai Mara we were at Sopa Hotel; Nakuru, we went to Sarova Lion Gate Hotel and at Amboseli we were at Serena Hotel.

PHOTOS AND INTERVIEW: WILBERFORCE OKWIRI