Fredrick Mwangi Ndegwa, 32 and Constance Joyce Okhako, 28, were set to wed on Saturday, March 28 but had to cancel because of the coronavirus pandemic.
They have been dating for four years and shared their story via Saturday Nation:
Constance, who is a teacher says: “I often tell Fredrick that ours is an ethereal love. It is such a shame that it took us six months to finally start dating. When I met Fredrick at the All Saints Cathedral in 2017, I was in search of a closer relationship with God. We struck a friendship from the get-go, his bubbliness to my cool, his chatter to my laughter and we often encouraged each other through our daily struggles.
If you would have told me then, that I would be here now saddened by the delay of our wedding I wouldn’t have believed you.
I don’t even know when my feelings turned from platonic to romantic, but I remember clearly when he asked me to be his girlfriend and a fire lit inside me.”
Fredrick, an ICT engineer, says: “In August 2017, I came up with the perfect plan. I asked Constance to accompany me to the arboretum. I knew she would enjoy it because she is a great lover of nature. I was worried when she didn’t accept me immediately.
After a week, as she agreed to be my woman, she finally confided that she was worried that our ethnic backgrounds, Kikuyu and Luhya, would impede our love. Connie felt perfect and completed and complimented me in ways I had never thought possible.
So in late 2018, I took her home in South C, Nairobi and my parents fell in love with her as well. My parent’s approval gave me even more confidence in our relationship.
Just before we crossed into 2019, I took Connie to her favourite place –Ngong Hills – went down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She said yes.”
TOUGH DECISION
Constance says: “I was overjoyed. It was far, far away from the current coronavirus pandemic that has forced us to postpone the wedding indefinitely. I will not forget the day we decided to cancel. It was a week before the ceremony. It took all the strength in my body to stop myself from drowning in self-pity. I spent a whole night crying and a couple of days mopping around, looking for someone to blame. But I came out empty. The scourge has affected everyone.
For days, I laid in bed recalling how I rushed around Nairobi preparing for my dream wedding. It was to be at All Saints Cathedral Church and thereafter reception at KALRO grounds on Waiyaki way. Two months ago I was tasting food, choosing the best catering company that would provide the tastiest balanced meal for our 500 guests.
I was swirling around in my pure white mermaid gown from Fintan Designers practicing my dancing moves in front of my best friends, Grace, Christine, and Terry.
I was confident that all our gowns were cut and stitched and all venues paid and booked for. I remember sighing thinking that finally, we will start our life together.
Our traditional wedding had already happened in August 2019 in my family home in Shiatsala, Butere, so I was just thinking one more blessing and we would be off sipping fresh juice on some fancy tourist beach.”
DIVINE POWER
Fredrick says: “All our 300 invitations had been sent out far and wide. So we had to text and call everyone to let them know that the wedding will not happen as planned. Some of our family members advised us to hold the 10 guests wedding approved under the new government directives. But we were conflicted about who to invite and who to leave out. Calls of support have helped us to move forward.”
Constance says: “My biggest blow was hearing Fredrick cancelling our pre-booked honeymoon. Since he was trying to be discrete, my teacher’s instinct told me not to show him that I overheard him.
’28/03/2020′ are the engravings on my wedding ring. 28 was not only the date of the wedding but the age at which I was going to walk down the aisle.
I give thanks that all the wedding vendors agreed to cater to our wedding at the date we will set in the future. Our budget was Sh500,000 and most had been committed.
Deep inside I believe that our wedding was ordained by God and I will stand by his word that he has good plans for me. I trust in the divine hand to rid us of this scary outbreak.”
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