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How did you meet?

Stacy: We knew each other through a mutual friend 11 or so years ago (Jery will confirm. I’m not good with dates… haha) and started talking, and we became really good friends.

Jeremiah: When Adia (Stacy’s daughter) was born, I would travel to see her on her birthday, with a cake (sometimes) but always a gift for her.

On one birthday (Adia was turning three, in 2015), I saw how well Stacy was taking care of Adia and I thought, ‘She’s great at being a mum… she’d take great care of our children’.

At the time, Stacy was not single, so I shelved that at the very back of my mind because I considered it a passing thought.

It never went away, it stayed with me. A few months later, she was single, and we started dating in 2015, but it didn’t work out, as she was shocked that I’d show any interest in her.

Two years later, in 2017, she accepted my advances, and we began dating seriously.

Fast-forward to the proposal. Tell us how it went

I had been in Hong Kong for all of 2019, and told Stacy I saw the earliest I could return to Kenya was 2020.

Then, I went ahead to plan the proposal. I first talked to my parents and told them of my intentions (my mum cannot keep a secret to save her life, so I did not tell her of the plans to come back to propose in person), and asked for their prayers and blessings.

I then talked to Stacy’s parents to ask for their blessing as well, and for their help in planning the proposal.

Once that was done, I talked to Stacy’s closest friend, Euniver, who was in Eldoret, about the proposal, and she helped me get the ring size, venue and photographer.

We told Stacy that there was a ‘birthday party’ that she had been invited to, and it would be happening on October 5.

The greatest challenge was getting her to be allowed a week off work, so I asked her dad to talk to her manager, which he did.

With that cleared, I flew into the country and went straight to Eldoret to show up at the birthday venue without her knowing that her life was about to change.

I popped the question, Stacy was shocked because she believed I was in Hong Kong at the time – she almost fainted, and said ‘Yes’ eventually (laughs).

How was the wedding planning process like?

Stacy: The Covid protocols kept shifting, and by August, we realised we couldn’t hold off the planning awaiting the situation to stabilise.

We started at 30 guests because that was the allowed number at the time, and it changed a bit, but once we got to 100, that was it.

The list got to about 110 or so people, but if we hadn’t put our foot down, we would easily have ended up at 500 guests.

Jeremiah: It was stressful, considering I was in another country for most of the planning period. We didn’t work with a planner or a committee, because of how small the wedding was.

We did, however, take a lot of notes from friends who had planned their own weddings before. Stacy’s cousin and his wife really helped.

The biggest hurdle was getting the marriage permit/wedding license. There was an issue with the application and we had to get a special one.

We had few days to address it before the wedding. Other challenges were balancing the requests of both families and church because my dad is a bishop.

There were a lot of competing interests and lack of proper communication caused misunderstandings. The biggest lesson here was to never assume.

What were your non-negotiables?

We desired to have a garden wedding, and also that the church ceremony and reception be in the same venue. Time management was also key. 

Again, the budget items that were non-negotiable for us were photography and food.

What is most memorable to you about the big day?

Stacy: We danced a lot. The whole day had such a tangible sense of joy about it.  I also loved that we managed time well.

Even though we got to the venue a few minutes later than we planned, the ceremony started just 10 minutes after the intended time, which is unheard of these days. I have no regrets, as everything went well.

Jeremiah: Stacy had braids, which she hasn’t worn since Lord-knows-when. They made her look like she had a small hat on her head (laughs).

Watching my wife to-be walking towards me and thinking, ‘That’s who’s going to be my wife’, cutting the cake and feeding her for the first time as my wife, my promise to Adia (my daughter) that I’ll always be her dad.

As for the regrets, in some instances, the MC took his jokes too far, wish he’d have toned some of those down.

Also, I wish we had a cover over our heads, as the sun was too harsh. Thirdly, our car broke down on the way to the wedding, so we ended up not starting on time.

So how did you get to the ceremony?

We called the worship leader (who was driving) and he then began heading our direction, but miraculously, the car restarted. Those were the toughest 15 minutes in recent memory.

I was thinking about all the messages I had sent to guests to arrive on time, only for me to be the one to delay them.

Suppliers;

Décor: Luxe & Allure

MC: MC Asika

Food: Hillary’s Food Hut

Photography: Jackson Mwangi