The power of a birthday wish

The universe has a way of aligning things. The perfect place, time, person and sometimes birthday wish can become a flower that blossoms into a true love story, as we see through Patrick Zizinga and Janet Ayebazibwe’s fairy tale. With Patrick close to Janet, it doesn’t matter whether hell breaks loose, “it is well” he says. And Janet recounts swimming through a bundle of wedding dresses, most of them – not her size, “the ones that fitted me well were just not my type” until she tired and decided on a custom-made gown. The results were more than she expected!

The couple tells their story.

Share a story of how you met

Patrick and I met in 2018 through a mutual friend. It was his birthday; you know those things of posting your friends to celebrate them. I told my friend “Tell him I said happy birthday”. I didn’t think she would, but before I knew it, the dude was already in my inbox like literally after texting. My friend (Daphine) was also shocked how fast he got my number but from thereon. we became friends and since we pray from the same church, it also drew us closer. Now he is my forever person, isn’t that amazing!!

Engagement Story

We got engaged in 2019, we were coming from church. So, we have a thing we do every month, we go to new place. It can be a restaurant, hotel or any usually food-related place because we are both foodies. That day we were supposed to visit some restaurant called Copper Chimney, it’s around Luggogo. I was all excited to try out this new place and to my surprise there I found my friends and family. When I turned to look at him, Patrick was on one knee proposing. I was in shock. I real cried embarrassing tears as-in-like ugly face and all.

Planning the Traditional Wedding

Our traditional wedding was pretty simple. I always wanted it intimate because that’s who I am, gladly, I was blessed that my parents understood, respected and accepted my wishes. It was only a kukyala then we went to church, All the important events that are supposed to happen on a kuhingiira were infused in the Kukyala. It was like a two in one thing.

How did you realize that she was “the one”?

Patrick Zizinga: No matter what, life is going to be hard. With that in mind, the moment I realized that my wife was “the one” was when I realized that with her, life was the best no matter what! It just wasn’t the same without her. Every bad day I had, I wanted to talk to her about it. I felt peace whenever I would talk and be with her. It always felt like all is well however much all hell was breaking loose the other end. Every fun time we shared together; I didn’t want to share it with anyone but her. And yes, even every disagreement we had, I was glad that it was with her and not someone else. So when you find that girl, marry her.

Interesting experience in planning the wedding:

The most interesting part about the entire process was my wedding journey. Our wedding happened during the pandemic and it was really hard to get any place due to the restrictions. I didn’t even get the chance to visit many weddings gown stores to look for a gown. The one time I got that chance, I didn’t like the experience at all.

Finding The Perfect Gown

I am petite so I was literally swimming in the gowns and the ones that tried to fit weren’t my style. That was when I made up my mind on getting a custom-made gown. I talked to my sister about it and she connected me to someone who was perfect for the job. She is called Hildah, I called her, we found a way to link up, gave her my vision though it was short notice, she took it up and delivered even more than I had anticipated. I was so happy, plus I had an amazing team who were our support system that helped us make our day the most beautiful. Honestly, I don’t how we would have handled things during that time (lockdown) without our family and friends.