I gave him a wrong number

Fauz and Aisha Mulumba on their wedding day. PHOTO BY FAISWAL KASIRYE.

What you need to know:

To have and to hold. Fauz Mulumba wedded Aisha Nabisere at Kibuli Mosque on June 22, 2014. They told their story to Faiswal Kasirye.

When and how did you meet?
Fauz: We met in 2009, at a block of flats in Seguku where we were neighbours.
She was in her Senior Six vacation. I remember Umeme had given me a bill that belonged to them and they also had mine. So she came to inquire from me whether the bill she had was mine. Since I had theirs, we exchanged them.
I used the opportunity to ask for her number. She gave me a wrong one. I had to wait for her in the compound. When we met again, she gave me another number and asked for mine.
Aish: Fauz was rarely at his home. One day, I knocked on his door and he was in. On dropping off his bill, we chatted.
We met again, after a month, to reconcile the bills because of a mix up. I had paid his bill and he had paid mine. He gave me his phone contact and I sent him a message apologising for giving him a wrong number.

When did you start dating?
Fauz: In 2010, I called her for lunch at Steers. We chatted and got to know each other more. Aisha had started university, and we spent a while without meeting.

How old were you by then?
Aisha: I was 20 years old.
Fauz; I was 30 years old and I was working at a design and construction company.

When and how did you propose?
Fauz: After our first lunch meeting, we did not meet again because I was always up and about and we had started fasting. We had to make phone calls to each other and send sms. Even then, we are not allowed to meet girlfriends during Ramadan.
On Idd, I thought so much about Aisha. I called her up for evening tea after the feast. Since we had known each other for some time, we had developed interest in each other and the moment she discovered on Idd that I was also a Muslim, our conversation went on.
On that very day (Idd), as we were waiting for a taxi along Entebbe Road, I jokingly told her, that “we would make a good couple”. She never took it serious. We kept on meeting, texting and as well as having dinners. It took me about eight months to convince her that I was serious about marriage.
One day, I picked her up from hostel and took her to the beach. We had a lot of fun. But as we were leaving the beach, I stole a kiss and she seemed okay with it.

What attracted you to each other?
Aisha: Fauz is handsome inside out. He is always smart, responsible and caring.
Fauz: She is committed and hardworking. I spotted her while she was still living with her parents . Whenever they left her home, she could do all the work left for her at home. Most of all she is very beautiful. She likes wearing Muslim attire. Above all, she is caring, listening, organised and straightforward.

Where was the wedding?
Fauz: The wedding was at Kibuli Mosque. It is like home and I always dreamt of having my wedding there.
We hosted the reception at Lugogo UMA exhibition hall because of its location, convenience and capacity to accommodate big gatherings.

What were some of the interesting higlights of your wedding?
Aisha: I love the mosque part, because the moment I heard my husband accepting to take me as his lawful wife, I knew that it was official and no one can take him away from me except Allah. I loved the moment when I was being ushered into the venue, I felt like a queen because everyone was looking at us. The cutting of the cake and feeding Fauz was also special. When he fed me, I felt like an angel. The décor was also lovely. Guests turned up in numbers.
Fauz: I loved how smart my bride was. My heart settled because I realised that my dream had come true. I also loved seeing her being ushered into the mosque by her father, since I was there waiting for her, I knew that there was no turning back.
Then, the sheikh brought marriage certificates to me for signing and he asked me to go and hug my wife. We had finally tied the knot.
From the mosque, everything else was about having fun because the wedding was done.

Any challenges during your wedding?
Fauz: planning for my wedding was tough because I was always on the move due to the nature of my job. So delegating people to do what I would have done was a bit hectic. I was afraid that they might not do it the way I wanted them to, but thank Allah, everything went as planned, with my wife making most of the decisions in my absence.
During our wedding meetings, the turn up was very low, so it always made me worried that may be things would not turn out as expected.
Aisha: My biggest challenge was with my dressing because my advisers had their ideas but I also had mine.
Since he was not always around, I feared that anything could happen to him.

Who funded your wedding?
Fauz: we put together some funds and then we also got contributions from family and friends.

Is there anything that went wrong at your function?
Aisha: The maids arrived at the salon two hours late. They served food late yet we had made people wait for us for a long time. Actually, we were also very hungry.
Fauz: At the beginning, the bridesmaids delayed. We had to wait for almost two hours. There was confusion during photo shoots, because everyone wanted to take a photo with us which made us tired.

What did you like at your wedding?
Fauz: I liked seeing my wife dancing to Nigerian music, guests cheering us on and seeing our cake felt nice.

I liked the turn up of the guests because some people do weddings and the turn up is poor.
The meeting of the two families and the nice gifts especially from Aisha’s parents was great.

I liked seeing my relatives from the village happy and enjoying everything at the function. I wished I could greet every one that attended.

Aisha: I liked the décor, cake, two families meeting, cheers from the guests, I loved the guitarist and above all, my husband was smart and looking handsome.

How did you spend your wedding eve?
Fauz: I had to check on the service providers. I became restless until morning because I was still preparing.
Aisha: I was nervous, but praying that everything goes as planned. My friends threw for me a bridal shower.

Given chance to redo your wedding, what would you change?
Aisha: I would not change anything because almost everything went perfect.
Fauz: I would love to be present during the entire preparation process.

Advice to those planning to wed?
Aisha: Always plan early, save money for the wedding. Do things that you love and those that they have always dreamt of having on your wedding. Have an organising committee that is committed to helping you achieve your dream wedding.

Fauz: Invest time to prepare for your wedding, make good, and dedicated friends who would lie by your side even when things go wrong.
Save for your wedding and do not always depend on contributions from pledges because most times, a pledge is not a must.

How would you cut costs on your wedding?
Fauz: Always consider cutting on the number of people on your entourage. Also consider having maids that are willing to contribute to their dressing.
Aisha: Don’t borrow money from the banks, and always book service providers on time to avoid doing things in the last minute.