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Bride: Lucy Wanjiru Wambugu
Groom: Douglas Makhandia Malala
Date of wedding: May 3, 2014
Guests: 500
Reception venue: KCB Leadership Centre Karen
Budget: Sh1,300,000
The proposal
Douglas: Early in 2008, the atmosphere was still hostile from post-election violence. At that time, I was a Masters student at Egerton University, Njoro, a hotspot in the wrangles.
I chose to remain at home a little longer. This gave me an opportunity to always visit Lucy at the school. One warm afternoon, just when we were the two of us, I gathered some courage, took a deep breath and asked her why she had never given me a chance in her life.
I requested her if I could write her a poem about how I have always felt since we met four years ago. She laughed it off, and sarcastically asked me when she will be getting the copy.
I didn’t sleep that night, as I crafted for her a romantic poem. The following day, I went to our market cyber where I typed and printed it. In the evening, I presented it to her. She replied with an acceptance poem.
Early in 2009 I got a job in Nairobi and convinced her to join me in Nairobi.
Early 2010 one evening I surprised her with an engagement ring but she surprised me with another surprise, she was pregnant!
We postponed wedding plans until our daughter was born. And for sure we have postponed it like 100 times.
Lessons:
• Take time to plan, avoid last minute rush.
• Have at least 2/3 of the budget. Do not depend on friends and relatives.
• Do what you have always dreamed to have in your wedding.
• Take time to listen but never allow people to push their ideas on to you.
Story behind the wedding
Lucy: We started planning our wedding at the beginning of January when we were reviewing our New Year resolutions. We agreed that the wedding would be our only project this year. The plans looked super at first, as our friends and relatives responded well to the news. But slowly, things became tough at the realisation that we had to foot two thirds of the bill if not more.
The church was very supportive. Selecting the right service providers was the hardest. This was complicated by the theme colours — lime green and yellow — which were hard to get, especially for the cards, decor and cake. We almost changed the colours a month to the wedding. But on the material day, it turned out great and beyond our expectation.
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