Couple: Norbert Krisztián Palotás and Sheilla Olivia Atto

Wedding Venue & Date: Entebbe, Uganda on 30th Nov 2024

Sheilla Olivia Atto and Norbert Krisztián Palotás, both IT professionals, met through mutual friends, sparking a connection that blossomed into a beautiful love story. Their journey—from their first meeting to a heartfelt proposal, a traditional Acholi introduction ceremony, and a faith-centered wedding in Entebbe—was guided by shared values and deep devotion.

In the following account, Sheilla narrates their love story, sharing the moments, decisions, and emotions that shaped their path to marriage.

How They Met

Our friends were friends, and we ended up meeting through them. The first two times we encountered each other, we were just hanging out with our respective friends—walking on the streets, shopping, and doing casual activities. Coincidentally, our friends met, greeted each other, and naturally, we also introduced ourselves. However, we didn’t really talk much—just exchanged introductions.

The third time we met was in a livelier social space, unlike the previous casual street encounters. There were more people around, and it was an interactive environment. That was when we finally started talking. Before we knew it, we were dancing together, and at that moment, it felt like the whole world closed out. It was just the two of us, having fun, and that became the spark that started everything. After a few minutes, we each had to leave with our friends, but that moment lingered in my mind.

The next day, I found myself thinking about him. I thought he was very interesting and wondered if he felt the same way. I told myself that if he reached out to find me, then I would know that he had felt the same connection. To my surprise, he did! He found my Facebook through my friend, sent me a friend request, and that was the beginning of our conversations.

From there, things progressed quickly. We went on our first date, which lasted for hours because we had so much to talk about. From that day on, we became inseparable. Within about two weeks, he asked me to be his girlfriend, and I said yes. A few months later, he told me he loved me, and I felt the same way. Everything was beautiful.

A few years later, my pastor from Uganda was visiting Sweden for a conference. I introduced my boyfriend to him, and after speaking with us, he prayed for us and told me, “This is a good man.” That moment felt like a blessing over our relationship. Soon after, we decided it was time for him to meet my family in Uganda.

At the beginning of last year, we traveled to Uganda, where he officially met my parents and family. It was a beautiful experience. That was also when he asked my father for my hand in marriage. My family explained the traditional marriage customs to him, and from there, we started planning for our future together.

The Proposal

Then came the big surprise—the proposal! Since summer was approaching, we planned a vacation. I thought we were heading to location in Hungary, but little did I know my husband had something entirely different planned. When it was time to leave, he blindfolded me all the way to the airport! He joked that he considered blindfolding me on the plane but didn’t want to get arrested for abduction.

When I finally took off the blindfold at the airport, I was confused. I thought we were taking a train, but instead, he had booked a flight to Paris! I was overjoyed when I realized where we were going. We arrived at night, and he had booked a hotel near the Eiffel Tower—it was so beautiful.

The next day, he told me we were going out for a fancy dinner by the river near the Eiffel Tower. He had even bought me a dress and shoes, saying, “This is Paris; you have to look fancy!” As we walked by the river, he asked if we should get on a boat to dine, and I hesitated because I’m Ugandan—water makes me nervous! But before I could think too much about it, he got down on one knee and proposed.

I was completely surprised! He had planned the whole thing so well, even hiring photographers to capture the moment. Of course, I said yes! Afterward, we celebrated, had a lovely dinner, and enjoyed the rest of our Paris trip as an engaged couple.

He told me he planned to propose at the start of the trip so that we could enjoy Paris as fiancés. It was the most magical experience.

Introduction & Wedding Ceremony

Next came the introduction ceremony, which we wanted to do traditionally, without blending in any other cultures. My husband excitedly participated, including crawling in, as is customary.

He brought everything my father requested and officially paid the bride price. The ceremony was held at my father’s house, and it was a beautiful day.

Since the introduction was in the morning, we scheduled our wedding later that same day at 1 p.m. Initially, we considered forming a wedding committee, but my husband preferred not to burden our families with planning. Instead, he found a wedding planning company in Uganda called Nyom Planet. I had never heard of them before, so I was skeptical at first. However, after some research and sending people to verify their office, we found that they were legitimate.

Wedding Planning

The planners did an incredible job! They captured our wedding vision perfectly and managed everything efficiently. They scheduled biweekly video meetings to update us, and their time management was excellent. My family only had to handle a few minor tasks, like cake tasting and checking the final venue.

We arrived in Uganda a week before the wedding, and everything was already set up. Thanks to the planners, we had a smooth, stress-free wedding. It was a beautiful journey, and we are so grateful for how everything turned out.

Wedding Gown

Actually, I tried out a number of shops and stores. I wanted to wear the gown and feel it. I considered the option of getting my gown in Uganda—just sending my measurements and having it made—because there were endless possibilities with this. But then I figured I wanted to actually wear it and experience it firsthand.

So, I went to a couple of stores and tried on many different gowns. Oh my God, I was getting tired of it! I was feeling frustrated because I couldn’t find the perfect gown—one that my spirit agreed with. Then, once again, my husband found a website online and showed it to me.

I went to that place—it’s called Eternity—and the moment I walked in, I felt like my gown is here. I literally felt God telling me, your gown is here; you just have to find it. So, I tried on the gowns there, and yeah, eventually, I found it.

I almost went for a gown that was off-white, but in the end, I decided I wanted a pure white gown. And for me, the fact that this place was called Eternity felt right. My spirit agreed, and my husband’s spirit agreed with the place—even though he wasn’t coming along to see the gowns I was trying on, of course. But the place just felt right.

The moment I put on my gown; I felt it. What made it special was that my spirit agreed. Just like in the process of wedding preparation, with all the choices we made, we went by what we felt our spirits agreed with because we knew this was what God was telling us to choose.

Service Providers

One word: God. Because we are both Christians, there are certain values we have and uphold as Christians—obviously, as a Christian couple. So, for us, some things were, you know, not even a point for discussion. There were some things that we did not want at our wedding. We wanted our wedding to be a particular way, a certain way—one that represents who we are in God, our relationship with God, and who God is to us.

So, with all the service providers we chose, it was really good. Beginning with the wedding planner that my husband found on the site—we prayed about this, and we both felt that, okay, these should be the people we use. Our spirits agreed with them. When we started having discussions with them, there were certain things we told them when explaining our vision for the wedding.

And this is what I was telling them: they managed to capture the vision we had for our wedding and execute it exactly the way we wanted. There were a couple of things we told them we wanted. For certain things, like if we wanted the PA or DJ to do something specific, or have something in a particular place, etc., we told them. They would then get us a couple of service providers to choose from, and we would make the choices prayerfully. Even when speaking with the service providers, we presented how we wanted our wedding to be and what we envisioned, and they went with it, which was really good.

A couple of things we wanted at our wedding included, for example, when we were selecting the hotel as our venue. Since they were obviously going to cook the food and handle catering, one of the things we told them was no alcohol. We both don’t drink, and we didn’t want our wedding to be celebrated with the consumption of alcohol. It was entirely a spiritual decision for us. It’s not our thing. It’s not that we judge people who drink, but it’s just not for us.

Also, when we spoke with the music DJ and the PA system team, we asked them to play only Christian music. We didn’t want secular music at the wedding.

Primarily, all our service providers ended up being Christians—of course, because we prayed about this. So, these specific requests were easy for us to make because they understood why we were asking for them, and they did exactly what we requested.

So, yeah, this is what we considered and what influenced all our decisions regarding the service providers for our wedding.

Wedding Theme Colors

Our wedding theme colors were peach and maroon—simply because I like both colors. My husband didn’t mind much about what our colors would be. He just said that whatever color I wanted would be the ones.

Wedding planner: @nyomplanetx

Media: @medianirvana

Decor: @engonzi_events_and_decor

Makeup: @esther_kibeti

Venue: @bwp_entebbe