How Football Brought Benjamin and Mercy Together!

Meet Benjamin Nyakuni, a businessman who is also the founder & chairperson of Onduparaka Football club, and Mercy Grace Munduru, who is the head of marketing and public relations at the football club. The two tied the knot on 30th November, 2019.

Spill the beans on how you guys met

We met in 2015 in our footballing circles although I have known him since 2013. I was supporting the football club passionately as a fan not knowing who the proprietor was. When the club gained fame in 2016, we as fans at the time volunteered to fundraise for them as they ascended to the top tier of the league. As fate would have it, I was called to do an interview as a fan of the club on Urban TV and Benjamin watched this and loved it, he sent me a message thanking me and hoping we would work together the future. A few weeks later, one of my friends asked me to join him in fundraising for the club which put me directly in the path of Benjamin and it’s from here that we started working closely and communicating a lot more.

(Pulls seat closer)

We have known each other for five years although we have been together romantically for four years. When we met in 2015, I was in a relationship which eventually ended so I took a break from dating to concentrate on my career and relationship with God. I never for once thought Benjamin was attracted to me because he is a very quiet person and a total introvert so many people fear to speak to him. However, he was always different with me. He always looked out for me, took care of me and was extremely honest with me (he later told me from the first day he saw me he knew I would be his wife and he started to pray about it).

(And they say a man who gets on his knees to pray sees better than a man standing on a mountain top)

Now let’s hear the part of the engagement

I had three proposals (hahaha)

 (Aww she is even blushing. But babe three what gold are you keeping)

Benjamin first proposed to me on the phone just a few days after I accepted to start a relationship with him. I laughed it off and yet he was very serious…although I said yes, I took it for a joke.

The second time was 2017, we were out for one of our usual weekend getaways when he asked me to marry him. Unlike the first time, I was blown away and felt more ready. However, I didn’t think I wanted to get married that year or even immediately. At the end of 2018, I had travelled upcountry for work, Benjamin went to meet my father behind my back and asked for his blessings saying he wanted to formalise our relationship. He then had one request that my father asks me for two dates (the traditional marriage and the church wedding). He however emphasized that the first date should not be beyond the first quarter of 2019. So I chose 30^th March 2019 and 30^th November 2019. To my surprise while out on our post valentine dinner(since I was out of the country for work on valentine’s day), he proposed for the last time just to be sure(lol) and this was Serena in a very quiet space  with a very romantic set up with candles and a dinner for two. The funny part is that we didn’t have any photographers so we hijacked one who was covering a function close by to capture some of the moments

(Somebody pass us tissue please)

Now this is the part we hear about the knot

We wedded at St Francis Chapel Makerere, a church that is very special to me because it was the first church I attended when my family moved to Kampala.

(Aww. Kumbe you were a villager for a while…)

We started planning for our wedding a year before however most of what became of the day was the hard work of our families and friends. We had personal saving plans and developed a budget ahead of time to enable us stay on course. This helped us to pick service providers to fit within our budget. Although we planned for just a Bear, a lot kept changing and we had to proactively revisit our plans before engaging externally.

How many guests

We intended to have 800 guests however we planned for 1,500 guests which was the exact number we hosted on the wedding day

(Babe this is almost a concert! haha)

We hosted our reception at UMA multi-purpose hall and this was because we anticipated the numbers to shoot up. We therefore decided to arrange for our own catering to minimise eventualities with commercial hotels when numbers change.

(Wow! And some of us fear big weddings. Challenge accepted)

Tell us about the décor…

The theme was Black, white and gold.  This was because Black and white are universal colours that represent purity, harmony and warmth while gold represents splendour. We also just really wanted to break away from the usual traditional colours that most times draw attention away from the purpose of the day which is to make merry

(I like that you even took time to know what the colours meant. Many times we just go with what we believe blends and how the pics will look)

My general décor was done by the amazing Renzioni Hill and the walkway/photo booth was by capital events. We had round tables for the guests and thanksgiving tables for the bridal team on both sides of the walkway.

For the choice of linen, Renzioni chose linen that had a motif/damask (this sounds exotic Pause I google…)

So the choose the motif/damask feel because he felt we didn’t need anything ordinary and for the thanksgiving tables, we had just plain white table linen with black and white runners to give it a pop of the days theme. We also really didn’t want the everyday busy wedding décor, we just wanted something warm and subtle to keep attention to the day’s activities. The floral arrangement, we wanted towering pieces however the decorator changed last minute and settled for the low centre pieces so that the view of the high table and the LCD screen wouldn’t be abstracted considering the enormous size of the Hall. This really turned out great because the guests were able to communicate with one another and the warmth in the colours of the flowers gave it a beautiful pop.

The floral walkway was a dream of mine…in making this, we decided to have a mix of colours and incorporate a memory lane which included pictures of our life story. The walkway as opposed to the everyday photo booths gave guests an experience of a lifetime as they were able to take memorable pics with us in the background. The walkway also had the cathedral poles which gave it such an exotic look

(Wait I drink water please. If décor was food, my mouth is watering already)

Which part did you want to WOW the guests?

Church! I wanted our guests to experience God at our wedding and I guess they did! We had the outgoing Arch Bishop, His Grace Stanley Ntagali and over 50 clergy who stood witness to our vows….I also sang with the choir during the service in fulfilment of a commitment I made to God years before my wedding. I enjoyed this the most.

(babe, babe! I want your life especially this part in my next life…I am very envious right now)

Challenges you faced planning

My biggest challenge was numbers and the costs that came with it… As a couple, we had few guests in mind considering that we were having our wedding in Kampala however, this kept changing with our families adding numbers to the day. We had to transport hundreds of people from Arua to Kampala and cater to them for three days! Although we managed this, it made me extremely anxious and the process was tiring.

(I feel you)

Did you attend any wedding shows?

Surprisingly I have never attended any but I read a lot about wedding planning and read several wedding stories online

(Aha! I see you are a love of love)

Tell us about the gown and the grooms Suit

My gown was ivory in colour with flower gathers on the shoulders and the trail…My gown was inspired by my love for femininity and flowers…I always envisioned a floral gown because for me it represents new beginnings, fidelity, purity, true love and strength. I did not have a specific dress inspiration however after brainstorming with Anita, we zeroed down to the fabric and I allowed her to create. I didn’t try to control the outcomes because I knew Anita had a great understanding of my personality. She ended up creating what she felt represented who I was and I loved it.

I also wanted a very long flower trail, I ended up with a 7 meter long trail which for me represented the future ahead of us and this ably complemented by gown.

(Anita, you really did well)

The groom is a random shopper, his suit and that of the best man were shipped by a friend from Turkey (Marshalino). He wore a gold blazer complemented by polka dot bowties, a matching waist coat, black trousers and a statement shoe to complete his look.

(Well, for a random shopper, I love his taste)

Makeup and Salon…

My makeup was done by Mona of Mona faces and I wanted something subtle which matches my skin tone. I got that and I totally loved the outcome… My hair was done by HairbyZziwa and thank God for his flexibility, I had everything done at my apartment. It was also the first time I was wearing my natural hair out for any function, he gave me a lot of confidence with the way he played around with my not so good hair.

(Hehe, now I think the confidence from that day should linger on)

Bridesmaids?

I had five bridesmaids and five grooms men and oh! My, weren’t they just the most amazing support system?

(Don’t say, you had no bridesmaids from hell not even one? You are blessed babe)

Did you hire a wedding planner?

No. I did not hire a wedding planner because my decorator himself is a wedding planner and a personal friend who helped me get everything together. He gave me valuable advice and tips to plan the entire wedding day.  We also had a very strong support group of friends and family who had a lot of experience in planning weddings…this lifted away all the burden from us as a couple.

The cake, I just love cake!

We had two wedding cakes; one was a typical floral cake to represent my personality and then we had a sports themed cake which represented our love for sports especially my husband who is a proprietor of a Football club.

Any cold feet that need warm socks?

My mum tamed me because clearly I couldn’t have tamed those nerves. She told me a month to the wedding; “Pray about your day and try not to control everything, whatever becomes of that day is what God desires for your day. Accept the outcome of the day and most importantly thank God that he gave you a good husband and a holy matrimony. Don’t sweat the small stuff”. Every time I was tempted to be anxious, those words rang in my mind and it was like magic, It was well…..

Tell us about the entertainment

We had two Deejay’s for our day, one to play contemporary music and the other to have fair mix of our West Nile music to cater for our family members who travelled from Arua. We had a disco at the wedding hahahahaha…..

(Disco! Interesting!)

We danced to “All of me-John Legend”… for our first dance. My husband and I love this song because it really describes our mutual feelings towards one another and down the aisle I walked down to “you waited”-Travis Greene (God gave me this song three years before my wedding, it describes my entire life story). Our son walked right in front of me with a big sign that read “Daddy, here comes your girl” and both my parents walked me down the aisle

(Tissue please…. I like that all the things you chose incorporated everything about you both)

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

I wouldn’t change a thing about my wedding because as a believer and somebody who prayed earnestly for the day, I felt like everything happened the way God wanted it to and I am very grateful to him. Most importantly for the fact that he attended our wedding…

(Oh, yes. Oh yes)

One moment that will last with you forever

My last dance with my father after which he handed me over to my husband, wow! That had me emotional in every way….

(Always steal another dance when you can)

What about the photo session

We took our pictures at Eminpasha, a location rightly identified by the photographer…. the sessions were fun but I was already tired, I had such a long trail that wouldn’t let me do much but overall we were surrounded by nature and that was the only thing we needed after church.

My favourite details were;

• The grief corner that we had for the departed intimate persons in our lives including my husband’s parents, his sister and my grandparents. We had their names inscripted on a beautiful board surrounded by candles. This was very special to us because it felt like they were there with us.
• The inscription of our names on the ceiling just above the dancefloor was another special detail because it communicated how much God had been glorified during our wedding
• The memory lane at the walkway was the best thing on the day! It was a beautiful reminder of our journey of love

(babe stop stop stop. Let me go home and replan my wedding and realign my goals plans and purpose already. )

What are you most looking forward to as a married couple?

We look forward to a blissful marriage that will glorify the lord, we would like our marriage to be a testimony of God’s love. We want to be able to help a lot of young people to find their purpose in God and meet their significant others by his help. We look forward to more babies and travelling the world together.

(Amen and Amen…and thanks for blessing us without knowing)

Advise to future grooms/brides

We advise them to be prayerful, to have a wedding within their means, to build a strong inner support system and to plan early. The most important part of the wedding is the vows you take before the Lord in the witness of friends and family so don’t sweat the small stuff. Be grateful for whichever way your wedding turns out, focus on the two of you because that is all there is to this day.

Décor: Renzioni

Floral Walkway: Capital events

Wedding gown and Changing dress: Anita Beryl/Beryl Couture

Brides Maids Dresses: Arizak Fashion House

Cake: Cake Memo

Photography: Daville Photography

Hair: HairbyZziwa

Make up: Mona faces

Bridesmaids’ salon: Fezabu owned by Carol Flower

Special thanks to the Nyakuni’s for sharing your journey with us. God bless you

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