Joseph Kabuye, a Kampala businessman, chanced upon Susan Kiggundu during one of his many rounds through Kampala’s arcades shopping new stock for his business. He disguised himself as a good client, and many times bought items he didn’t need, because he wanted to win Susan’s heart. Read on for their love story.
Their story
Joseph and I deal in electrical appliances. In 2015, during his movements across different arcades looking for new items, he noticed me. He disguised himself as a customer so that he could talk to me. Naive me, I actually thought I had got a big client since he shared that he worked in Lira. This was a big lie! Joseph would buy from me at least every two weeks, I learnt later on, that most of the items he bought he actually didn’t need. The plan was to build a bond with me, which worked.
Suddenly, he went silent on me ( reason – he had heard stuff about me that put him off, yet he had never disclosed his feelings to me)! It was sad that I had lost one of my big clients for reasons unknown to me. But once in a while, I would do a customer check up ( follow up phone calls) but he still never came through.
Two years later, my big client returned, with this positive attitude and continued buying from me like he had never left. It’s then that I realised that he worked in the city centre just next to me, and not Lira. Then, our bond grew stronger. He shared how he felt about me, which was humbling because I had seen a friend in him.
Engagement
Around 2020, a time came when he would drop engagement questions, like how would you like your engagement? Do you prefer a public or private event. And more. I would say private, although in my heart, I deeply knew he would never propose.
On the eve of Christmas 2020 while on a getaway holiday in Jinja, he popped the question and before I resurrected from the surprise, the ring was already on my finger. That night will forever be one of my best moments ever. He sought my opinion, again, on the kind of wedding events I wanted. My answer was – small numbers (a few invites) but very glamourous.
Planning the Kwanjula
The first date we agreed on was 15th August, 2021 (that’s his birthday ) he wanted a date that would always be remembered to be celebrated by default). But when the second lockdown kicked in, we pushed it to 26th September, 2021.
I had my sister ( Sera of Peponi Couture ) and my best friend Dorah by my side through it all. The two helped out in researching and selecting the best service providers for the day. They even helped in booking them. I think we planned the Kwanjula in like 2 months.
We love rustic/boho themes, so we chose it for Kwanjula, and the decor was done by Jamelia – It’s showtime ltd
My sister ( Sera of Peponi Couture) designed all our Kwanjula outfits. She took the reins of everything from colour selections to mixing the different styles. I believe I gave her sleepless night because we wanted to smash the looks.
Planning the wedding
Joseph chose the date 13th February, 2022. His reason being it’s next to valentine’s day. He didn’t want a date he would easily forget then I get mad about it… And Valentine’s day is hard to forget.
Since all our service providers had done a beautiful job on the Kwanjula, we agreed to take them on for our wedding as well. Their professionalism was unmatched. They had worked with us before, so they knew what we really wanted, which was a stress reliever.
The venue had been suggested by Joseph about 2 years prior ( even before the proposal). We also took it on because we wanted a getaway feel ( a place a little away from the hustle and bustle of the city center with a beautiful ambiance, and trust me Masheda Palms just hit home). Not forgetting, we both wanted an intimate ceremony laced with class, elegance and beauty. We had 150 guests in attendance, a number we streamlined properly to cover friends and family.
We also chose to have both the church ceremony and reception at the same venue to waste little time and focus on what what’s most important
Having a sister who is a fashionista is a real life saver. I knew she had the best taste and choices ever. I let Sera make the decision on what we would wear because she’s a star. She and I would google designs for inspirations, then she would panel beat them till she decided on what to do. Colour selection was in her docket too, however, I don’t like bright and loud colours, something I made her know. I love, whites, nudes and grays. All I desired was for the whole bridal party to look smart and beautiful. That’s the only memory I wanted to keep, and thanks to Sera, it happened.
My gown was whole heartedly designed and selected by my sister as well. She knew I wanted to look like royalty, and that happened too.
Again, since we all love boho themes, we had chosen to have a boho theme for the wedding. However, about 3 weeks to the event, Joseph suggested we go for a glam feel because we had done boho for the introduction. He suggested that the wedding should as well have a different theme, otherwise all the photos would have the same feel and look. We agreed to have a glam theme with colours being white, gold and a little blush.
