I married my friend

Having shared a lot of interests, a genuine friendship budded then love blossed and culminated into a beautiful wedding

Who: Joan Bett and Emmanuel Serem

Date: December 17, 2011

Venue: St John’s ACK, Kaplamai Cherangany, Eldoret

Reception: Grooms home in Kaplamai, Cherangany

Guests: 500

Budget: Sh500,000

Interview and photos: Ann Wanja

Eve Bridal: How did you two meet?

Joan: We met in Eldoret where we lived in the same neighbourhood. With time, we become very good friends.

Emmanuel: Having lived in the same estate, we shared a lot and our friendship grew from strength to strength. I knew she was the right woman for my life.

EB: What attracted you to each other?

Emmanuel: Joan is a nice, loving, caring and understanding person. I couldn’t ask for more — I thank the Almighty for her.

Joan: Emmanuel is handsome, loving and has a great sense of humour. He makes me very happy.

EB: How did he propose?

Joan: One Saturday afternoon, he took me to a resort in town where we had quality time talking about ourselves. Somehow I felt great about this time even though I didn’t know what was coming my way. In the evening we went back to his house and he made me a delicious meal. In the cause of having dinner, he went down on his knee and proposed. I said, “Yes!” followed by tears of joy.

EB: Did you have traditional ceremonies? How many?

Joan: We had two ceremonies; the first was when Emmanuel’s parents and relatives came to our home to formally introduce themselves and let my parents know of their intentions. It was not a must for the groom-to-be to attend this ceremony.

The second ceremony was a week before our wedding. It is called koito in Kalenjin. It is a dowry negotiation ceremony between the two families and is held at the girl’s home and the groom-to-be must attend.

EB: What part did you love most about the wedding day?

Joan: I loved the fact that we arrived in church by 8.45am! This gave us sufficient time for the photo shoot and entertainment.

How did the wedding go?

Emmanuel: It was great! We had such fun. Everything went on as planned; the suppliers did their best, the bridal party looked ravishing and the DJ rocked, to say the least.

EB: What was going through your mind the entire time?

Joan: Oh my God! This is real! Thank you God.

Emmanuel: Finally it’s here! It’s our wedding day!

Honeymoon?

Joan: We decided to visit a local destination since I was six months pregnant and wouldn’t have managed to travel far. Our honeymoon was lovely and we really enjoyed ourselves. We went to Kerio View and Naiberi Camping site.

Emmanuel: Our honeymoon did us some justice; we really needed some time to rest after weeks of planning.