Best friends turned into soulmates

Marion Violet Kusoniwa, a Human Resource & Administration Manager and Hamza Ndiwalana, a Land Economist got married on December 21, 2019. The couple told their story.

How we met

We met through a mutual friend during my first year at university. My laptop got faulty, and I went to seek help from a friend. Unfortunately, my friend was rushing out. So, he offered his own laptop for me to use as he headed out. He also invited his friend (Hamza) to keep me company until he returned.

Hamza was special! He was hospitable in a way that; he bought me snacks, made me tea as well and when he left, he kept coming back to check on me. Fast forward, we became very close friends that we laughed and chatted about everything and anything. We grew fond of each other and from us being friends for a while, we started dating 2 years after school, and as they say, the rest is history. We are now married.

Our Engagement

(Hahaha) we had talked about marriage and all that comes after the wedding. I had just gotten a new job as Group HR Manager at Ruparelia Group and I was new at the job. It was a few days after valentine’s Day and we were praying and fasting about our intention to get married. He called me and told me he will be picking me from the office so we can go and break the fast together after work. He mentioned that he would call me once he got to the reception downstairs. When it clocked 6:00 pm sharp, he called and requested me to head out and meet him so that we would proceed.

I packed up, signed out, and went downstairs to meet him. Once I stepped out of the elevator, I miss the sight of standing a few meters away holding a very huge teddy bear. I almost run back into the elevator.

Meanwhile, as this unfolded, most of my workmates were leaving work to head home, so the reception area was busy. And, guess what? I had to receive a teddy before all of them.

I gathered some courage, walked up to him and we hugged. As I picked the Teddy Bear from him, he went on one knee and proposed. I couldn’t believe it, I panicked. When I pronounced the word ‘YES’ I looked around and noticed that camera lights were flickering. I also noticed that my friend Walter (photographer) was among the photographers in sight!

We sat at the reception for a while as I let it sink in. We then went for a brief photoshoot at the Independence monument after which, he asked that we head home. He, however, requested that we take a walk which I gladly accepted. We walked all the way from the monument to Cafe Javas (Nandos). Upon arrival, he requested to buy me something, which I accepted of course. But, when we set foot into Cafe Javas, I was welcomed by family members and a few friends who had come to have dinner with us, plus a giant black forest cake that crowned the night. It was beautiful.

Planning Our Wedding

We always wanted our wedding to be different and not the usual so we planned according to what we wanted. We planned for an outdoor vows ceremony and an indoor reception.

We held our wedding day on my birthday and he endeavoured to send me flowers and a beautiful message that morning before we went to church. This got me so emotional… He remembered to celebrate my birthday on such a busy day.

My husband had a dance choreographed for me as a surprise wedding dance so he and his boys practiced without my knowledge. It was beautiful. It cheered our guests up so much and made me happy as well. For our wedding pictures, we chose a different setup because we wanted something unique as well.

The experience of planning our wedding was a different one. Our wedding meetings were attended by family and they made it so easy for us. They embraced our ideas; our committee was entirely family and they did an awesome job.

On the D day, we were relaxed and chill. Only that I was so emotional throughout the day. (Hahaha) We cried, laughed, and had so much fun. It was such a beautiful day!