It started like any other friendship on social media. Stanislaus Lamuel Enoit and Joanita Abenakyo met on Facebook and occasionally chatted.
“I was working at Big FM and I had some issues so I decided to travel to Kampala to meet up with my sister to share with her because I had suicidal thoughts,” Stanislaus says.
“one day in 2014, on my way to Kampala, the taxi I was in made a stopover in Jinja and picked up a woman who sat next to me and we chatted.”
When they exchanged contacts, that is when he realised that they were already friends on Facebook and they hit it off.
“It had never occurred to me that I would ever meet Joanita and that we would be a couple someday,” he recalls.
When he met her in person, his perspective changed and their communication was consistent. Stanislaus expressed his interest in her but she accepted him two years later (2016).
“I used to call her about 10 times a day but she never answered my calls and sometimes she would occasionally answer at midnight. Also, whenever she called me up and I did not answer, it annoyed her,” he recalls.
By the time they met, Stanislaus had two children and Joanita loves them like her own.
“I had always prayed for a woman that would love my children like their own. In Joanita, I found the perfect answer to my prayer,” he says.
Her patience also drew me to her because she does not easily rush to conclusions.
Joanita adds; “He really loved me despite the fact that I took long to accept him and he persisted. Stanislaus is caring too.”
Proposal
On our way from church I told her that I wanted us to wed and she accepted but also our church officials wanted us to wed because our church believes in wedding.
They said they were even supposed to wed in 2019 but the pastor who was supposed to preside over their ceremony was absent. The couple postponed to March 2020, but also Covid-19 set in and they had to postpone it again to December 12, 2020.
“I felt like he was just joking because he used to say, ‘one day I will wed you’ but he never fulfilled it,” she says.
Last year, she received a call from our pastor saying we were wedding soon that is when she believed that he was not joking. She was excited because she had, “always desired for us to make it official”.
Preparations
The two did not think of doing a pre-visit. Instead, they decided to organise an introduction and the wedding in December 2020.
The couple said they decided to do the introduction on December 9, and the wedding three days later.
“When we decided to have both events in the same month, we started buying necessary items in July while keeping them at our pastor’s
home for the introduction and wedding. After that, we launched our wedding meetings in November ,” he says.
The duo say their introduction was costly given the items Joanita’s family asked for and Joanita’s outfits. The total expenditure was about Shs32million .
Stanislaus says their wedding cost them only Shs18million because most items such as food were catered for by their church plus also the grooms and bridesmaids paid for their oufits.
Making it work
The couple says their preparation was smooth despite a few glitches.
“We had an organising committee of strong and prayerful people who really wanted to see a successful wedding,” Stanislaus and Joanita chorus.
“The committee helped us organise meetings that were held at Hotel 100 in Mbale City and their mobilisation skills did us good,” Joanita adds.
Teamwork and willingness to help are key for any organising committee to pull off a successful wedding.
Challenges
“Our biggest challenge were people who pledged financial support but never honoured their pledges,” says Stanislaus.
“Also, there are people who promised tangible things that we had banked on.”
They suddenly neeeded more miscellaneous funds to shop for items and top up service provider fees.
Memorable moment
After any event has taken place, memories ought to be created and kept.The couple cannot hide their excitement as they say the best moment was their honeymoon.
“We had our honeymoon in three places and that was; in Entebbe, someplace in Kampala, and Mbale. The reason we had it in three places is because of the nature of my work and it was campaign time. I received very many adverts and made some money off them,” says Stanislaus.
The couple also cannot forget the moment their pastor congratulated them upon fulfilling their plans for matrimony.
The bride had been on her toes from the time they started the preparation.
“When we finished the wedding, it felt like a stone had been rolled off my shoulders. This is because during the preparations I was stressed and tensed up but when we finished I was so relaxed and appreciated all the things my husband had done for me,” Joanita relates.
Advice
Stanislaus says marriage is long-term commitment which requires two people to be ready for it.
He says, “Money has never been enough. Thus, if you decide to wed, use what you have. Otherwise, you might wait forever to make enough money,” he says.
Joanita advises women to be very patient.
“Don’t rush into marriage because there is always the right person for everyone who will love you unconditionally.”
Notes
Groom: Stanislaus Lamuel Emoit
Bride: Joanita Abenakyo
Celebrant: Pastor John Wandela
Church: City Victory Church
Venue: Green Gardens
Guests: 380
