Michael and Natasha’s Love Story is Pure Magic!

Met through church fellowship, dated for 4 years and got engaged on Seychelles Island!

Micheal and Natasha’s love story is an interesting one; they met through their church fellowship, dated for 4 years and got engaged on the Seychelles Islands during a vacation. They are now about to celebrate their first anniversary as a married couple.

Bride: Natasha Patience Kabushenga, business woman majoring in local transport, real estate design/development and garments import.

Groom: Micheal Jackson Kabushenga, corporate manager in the oil and gas industry

Date: 6th July, 2019

Venue: Tied the knot at All Saints Church Nakasero, and held their reception at the Serena Hotel Kigo in Kampala.

Meeting

We met through fellowship. Although we had been neighbours, we had never met. On the day we mobilized to have an end of year neighborhood fellowship that’s when we met. I noticed her and also noticed her noticing me, so after fellowship, I went over and said hi, walked her home and of course got her number.

Dating

We have known each other for 7 years, in which we dated for 4 years and now making one year in marriage. The two years were for building a strong friendship before I could propose to her.

The engagement

We had gone for vacation in the Seychelles but I was secretly planning a proposal. So while we were on the ocean I spotted a beautiful rock with a good sunset and tricked her take a photo next to it, while she was starting to pose, I got on my knees and with my heart racing and palms starting to sweat, I popped the question. At this point, over 50 tourists were surrounding us and cheering us on but I could only hear her voice, she screamed and cried and eventually said yes. It was magical.

(Aww how sweet)

The planning…

We started planning for the wedding even before our parents gave us a go a head. My wife has extremely high standards and always leaves no room for error, so we had about 1 and a half years of planning. we resolved to have one wedding meeting because the people in our circles are not the kind to be called every week for fund-raising, but by God’s grace all the funds we needed were raised from that one meeting.

(Coughs, …excuse me. Can we be friends with your friends)

We had 600 guests, a list which was very difficult to zero down to because both our families are big and our friends are many. Our first list had 1200 people but we wanted something quality so we had to cut numbers. I still feel guilty about this because some of the people who contributed didn’t get invites but i guess that’s life!

(Well, they say many times we never finish the planning if we don’t carry some guilt. But I’m sure they understood)

Decor

We worked with a colour palette of gold, cream and burgundy. These are my wife’s favourite colours and there was no debate on that. We had to change decorators twice until we got what she wanted from Icandy.

(Yo! A perfectionist indeed)

The Wow moments

The unique set up, entertainment and time management which is normally abused for most weddings.

(The guest kept time? Wow!)

Challenges

Of course some service planners did not meet their deadlines, and their poor communication frustrated us even more.

(Well, it’s not a wedding without some service provider drama)

Did you hire a wedding planner?

We had Steve Jean of Fenon as our wedding planner. We shared our vision with him, and I must say his team executed it to the last detail. I would highly recommend him to any one planning to have a wedding. He sourced things from as far as New York in just two weeks.

The Outfits

The gown was imported based on specifics we shared with Fashion Episode Uganda. They did a great Job. For the suits, Rae Loft Suits supported us to import the unique design and style we had chosen to match the wedding reception theme. Each outfit was selected to match our reception theme.

(Speechless)

The cake

The service provider (The Cake Lady) let us down and we shared feedback with them.

(Oh sorry)

What’s the one thing you would change about the wedding if you were to do it all over again?

The cake! Everything else was perfect apart from this and it was too late to make any adjustments.

(This must have been really bad)

Salon

Natasha’s makeup was done by Imani Makeup. Her bridesmaids were worked on by Serene Beauty. My boys and I worked with Posh Junction. Those guys did a great job and even enhanced my little beards.

(Haha)

The entertainment

We had Lillian and The Sundowners Band perform and they did a great job keeping the guests entertained.

(She is a talent!)

Wedding day nerves?

One of my friends almost convinced me to take a few shots of Black Label but I declined. Can you imagine a drunk groom in church saying drunk vows!!

(I am painting the picture now)

I chose to remain sober. I advise all grooms not to fall for the idea of drinking a little to calm their nerves. But I cried a little when I watched her walk down the aisle with her dad, and my Best man kept whispering in my ear, “MJ you cant cry, you have makeup on, you’ll mess it up!” I had to hold in my tears.

(Haha how sweet)

One moment that will last with you forever

After saying our vows in church, it’s like God had relieved me of this very heavy burden. I was reassured that since this was done everything else would be OK. The church is unforgettable, it was so heavenly.

Song for the first dance

It was Otile Brown & Sanaipei Tande’s Chaguo la moyo. You need to listen to this song, it was just perfect for the first dance.

(On it)

Song you walked down the aisle to

Bride: This is why I love you by Major

Groom: You are the reason by Calum Scott

Favorite details

The decor was just perfect, we had to go through item by item some of which were imported just for our event.

The Photo session

Daville did a great job. We had a pre-wedding shoot at Pineapple Bay and almost got arrested by the marine police because our boat was traveling past the allowed time but we managed to escape, it was so dramatic and scary!

(Abit of drama is fun)

Advice to future grooms/brides

Start planning very early and don’t leave anything to chance. Make sure to give your expectations to all service providers yourself before handing them over to the wedding committee. And please get reliable people to be on your committee, delegate as much as possible.