BRIDE: Esther Odenyi
GROOM: William Bulemi
DATE: August 6, 2016
GUESTS: 400
VENUE: Loreto Convent Valley Road, Nairobi
PHOTOSHOOT: Sarova Panafric
BUDGET: Sh600, 000
FIRST DATE
ESTHER: We met at an event where I was part of the organizers. Even though we interacted, and exchanged contacts, I paid no special attention to him. When he later contacted me I honestly could not remember him and this offended him.
BULEMI: We met at an event in town. Her beauty struck me and her dressing was also stunning. I took her number but she was very arrogant when I contacted her later. I even helped her recall how we met but she still was disinterested. But I pursued her nonetheless. I convinced myself that it was her defense mechanism and that it will be fine. I nearly gave up along the way and I even deleted her number. We did not talk for about four months. I later contacted her on Facebook and pretended I had lost her number. She gave it to me and I kept on chasing.
ESTHER: About eight months later, we were to meet in town but I felt lazy and invited him home instead. He had been asking for months and I agreed because I wanted him to stop asking.
BULEMI: She called me on the material day of our date informing me she did not feel like leaving the house. I told her I would meet her anywhere convenient to her. She told me to go to her place. She gave me directions but she appeared unsure if I would make it. The next thing she heard was a knock on the door and there I was.
THE PROPOSAL
ESTHER: I made lunch and spent the time talking about our families and work then he blatantly said he wanted to marry me.
BULEMI: I had already made up my mind about her and I was looking for a chance to tell her how I felt. I had seen everything I wanted in her. That is why I told her I wanted to marry her on our first date. She was shocked. She did not think I was serious and kept asking what I meant long after the date. I gave her the same answer every time she asked.
Later I planned a proper proposal with the help of her sisters, our friends and the owner of the restaurant where we met in Buru Buru. Even her mother was in the plan. Her elder sister helped me get her ring size. I had missed her birthday on June 18 last year after my grandmother passed away. So I booked her for coffee on September 20 to make up for missing her birthday. She was shocked to find a few of our friends at the venue but we joined them at the table. It passed like a mere coincidence.
What shocked her was when all her sisters, two nieces and her close friends arrived. They had been hiding in the building waiting for us to settle down. That is when I announced we had gathered to celebrate her birthday, though belatedly. After tea, we cut the cake. It was while she was posing for photos after addressing the gathering that I drew out the ring.
I knelt for a while before she realized what was happening. Everyone was shouting but she thought they were cheering her because she had spoken so well only for her to turn and see me down on one knee with the ring. When she went home to give her mother the news, her mum revealed that she had been part of the plan all along.
ESTHER: I remember that during the photo session, someone asked me to turn so the people behind me could also take photos. I turned and found him on his knee holding a ring. That caught me off guard and was fighting tears the entire time.
THE DRAMA
ESTHER: Getting funding of course was a challenge but we thank God for good friends and family who supported us. I also buried my mum three weeks to the wedding and this was a major setback both financially and emotionally. She had been ailing for a while, getting well at one moment and being hospitalised the next moment. But then again, God gave us wonderful family and friends came in strongly with support and prayers.
BULEMI: Her mother and I had become very close friends. We would even organize to meet whenever she was in Nairobi even without Esther. That is why her death really hit me, especially because I lost my own mother much earlier, in 2008. Esther’s mother had been looking forward to our wedding.
ESTHER: On the wedding day, we woke up to a nationwide power blackout. My hair needed to be flat ironed that morning and the photographers needed lighting in the house. I had to go to town to do my hair which delayed the programme by two hours. The photographers had to risk exhausting their back-up power in the hope that electricity would be restored by the time we got to the venue; or that the back-up generator at the wedding venue would be sufficient.
WITH HINDSIGHT
ESTHER: God answers prayer; you can achieve almost anything through prayer.
BULEMI: When you put God first, you succeed. For me, God is the author of marriages and I believed He would see us through and He did. Also everything good is possible to a willing heart, but you must be ready to sacrifice. You should also invest in those around you by being there for them and you will not lack help in your time of need.
MEMORABLE MOMENT
ESTHER: When he put a ring on my finger and I had chills all over my body. I did not believe this was really happening.
BULEMI: After we exchanged the vows and we were declared husband and wife. I felt such a shift into another life, the crowning moment for all the efforts we had put in.