Go Inside Denis and Charlene’s Beach Wedding

If you still think church or court is the only place to tie the knot, this is your official invitation to Denis and Charlene Namugera’s beach wedding.

We first met as students at Kyambogo University in 2010 but we have been dating since 2012. We tied the knot at The Estate in Bweraga – Entebbe on 28th December 2019. We started planning for our wedding and introduction ceremony in April 2019 and decided to have simple functions within our means. Our very simple kukyala was held in August 2019 where I went with only 4 people to Bweyogerere and we were given the list of requirements for the Acholi traditional marriage due 21st December 2019.

For our traditional wedding, I took a group of 22 people to Gulu and my bride’s family was so lenient with us as we did not have the means to do the full Acholi traditional wedding ceremony.
For a long time, a beach wedding had been our dream, and we had to make it happen. We had to look for a venue with the capacity to host a church ceremony and a reception, and also have a beautiful scenery so that we could use minimal décor. It is not easy to hold a catholic beach wedding but we managed to work out all the logistics with Kisubi Catholic Parish and we were given the permission.

We took a visit to The Estate in Bwerenga and on reaching there we found the place so green and beautiful. The place is filled with trees and it could hold a perfect beach wedding, an outdoor reception and nice gardens for a photoshoot. This venue offered chairs, tables, drinks, public address system and accommodation for 10 people for two days. Basically you could hire the whole facility as a private venue for an event. We added lanterns and candles to the tables and canopy lightings to bring the beauty to life at night. The number of guests kept changing from 250 guests but we had up to 350 guests on the D-day.

My wife chose the theme color of the day which was lilac. The cake was baked by the bride’s family member from the UK.

What part of the wedding did you want to WOW the guests?

The arrival of the bride on a motor boat. It worked well. I could see their faces light up.

Any challenges during the preps or during the functions?

Those were so many especially organization of the church ceremony on a beach.

Did you attend a beach wedding prior for inspiration?

No. Although we attended the Bride and Groom Expo 2019 but we didn’t use any service providers from there since they were relatively expensive.

Hired MC or…
We used a youthful gentleman called Mr. Opio Edward since he could use English, Luganda and Acholi to entertain the guests.

Tell us about the gown and make up

Given that it was a beach wedding, which was the whole inspiration, it was a simple lace gown with a pearl embroidery. The makeup had to be subtle since I wanted to look as natural as possible. I am not a makeup person.
(Well done. We never want to see confused Cinderella’s at the beach like the boho theme doesn’t exist and make up, perfect for the beach)

We saw no maids…

We used children as junior maids and page boys.
(Ooh more like a team of flower girls and page boys…lovely)

Would you change a thing?
We would not change a thing
(Wow, I love how satisfied you are)

The music…
We hired a musical band to play for us our favorite tunes which we had selected earlier on.
(Wow, I like how organized you guys were. I know why everything was satisfying. Oftentimes people seem like they just woke up and got married without thinking it through)

The photo shoot
While riding the horses with my wife by the lake side.

Song for first dance
“Together” by Ruben Studdard

Walked down the aisle to…
When God Made You by New song
(I am definitely adding these to my list)

Advice for future groom/brides?
My advice to future grooms/brides is to be themselves and do what makes them happy irrespective of how small the ceremony is.

What are you most looking forward to as a married couple?
We want to love each other better than we did before.

Service Providers

Décor – Dream Events located at mawanda road.
Photography by Storyline pictures located at equatorial mall
Food was supplied by Amagara Café Bistro located in Nakasero.
The salon and makeup was done by Look Good salon in bukoto.
Suits tailored by Kings wear on Zai plaza.
Venue – The Estate Bweraga

To feature, drop an email to weddings@satisfashionug.com