'Stima' bills brought us together

BRIDE: Hannah Gathoni

GROOM: Morgan Fundi

DATE: August 23, 2016

GUESTS: 600

VENUE: Karura Community Chapel

BUDGET: Sh800,000

FIRST DATE

HANNAH: We met on March 17, 2007 during a Form Four mathematics symposium. Incidentally, a month later, both of us were sent by our parents to pay electricity bills at Kenya Power in town. It was never planned.

MORGAN: We completed the errand then went out for a bite at Wimpy along Tom Mboya Street. That was in April 2007. The date was pretty simple and short. We were both nervous yet eager to know more about each other.

THE PROPOSAL

HANNAH: We got engaged on October 3, 2015 at Serena, Kilaguni. It was so random.

MORGAN: I had carried the ring in my pocket for some time but I was waiting for the right time and mood to pop the question. On this particular occasion, we were exploring Tsavo National Park when the opportunity presented itself.

THE BIG DAY

MORGAN: Having been together for almost a decade, we had a vision of getting married in 2016. Our initial wedding date was in June but it did not materialise as our traditional ceremonies had dragged on. We were heart broken when the date passed. Two weeks later on July 14, after our final traditional ceremony, we decided to have a church wedding on our ninth year anniversary date, August 23, 2016 which was on a Tuesday.

HANNAH: So we hit the ground running. The planning took a little bit over a month. It was hectic and awesome at the same time. Hectic as we had little time to plan and execute as well as meet work related obligations. Awesome because of how close to each other the planning brought us. Our dates became more frequent as well as our calls. At no point during the planning did we disagree. We knew and understood each other’s wishes and expectations with respect to the wedding.

MORGAN: God made everything beautiful in its time. But our main challenge was time. We were rushing against time. We had a month and eight days to put everything together. Although we chose to keep it simple, some items were almost forgotten and left out. We thank God for our close friends who kept reminding us about the items that were essential on our big day. Finances was another challenge. There was so much pressure to make deposits with the service providers within the shortest time possible. Immediately, we settled on a service provider we had to make a payment and at times the money wasn’t there.

HANNAH: But God is great all the service providers delivered both on quality and time. We pulled off our rustic theme with a personal touch. And despite having the wedding on a Tuesday, there was a massive turnout which was beyond our expectation.

ADVICE

MORGAN: Never give up no matter how many obstacles come your way. We focused on our love and journey together. Nothing could sway us. We also prayed a lot as a couple and God sailed us through so many storms we never thought we would pull through.

HANNAH: Then you should always have an idea and agree on what you want as a couple at the beginning of the planning process. It saves on the time to make decisions. Have a committed team to see you through and plan for the unexpected.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

HANNAH: Reciting our vows was exciting because we were making a promise to a best friend.

MORGAN: The ‘you may kiss the bride’ part was quite something.

HANNAH: When Morgan was asked to kiss the bride in front of the congregation. He had a placard written “Keep Calm She’s Mine!” He used it to hide from the crowd as we kissed. We found that to be so cool and unexpected to the crowd. We also got to kiss without the placard for all to witness. We also had so much fun dancing at the reception.

WORDS: Esther Muchene

PHOTOGRAPHER: Willy Muturi/Courtesy