The wedding ring goes missing

The couple (middle) poses after exchanging their wedding vows. COURTESY PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • SAILING IN LOVE. Daniel Babalanda, an IT consultant at Brofmon Services, and Phoebe Muyama, financial consultant and baker wedded at Watoto Church.
  • Photographers asked Phoebe for the ring for a photo shoot but they did not return it.
  • They talk to CHARLOTTE NINSIIMA about their five-year-marriage journey.

When and how did you meet?
Daniel: In 2007 at a hangout.
Phoebe: I first met Daniel at Kyadondo Rugby club during my university days in 2007. He was a friend to my friend’s fiancé.

When did the two of you become close?
Daniel: I asked for her phone number when we were leaving the hangout. I liked her composure and decided to pursue her thereafter. It was a matter of time before we linked up even with my kind of work schedule.
Phoebe: We had a long-distance relationship which was on and off for five years. At that time he was working with a humanitarian organisation and would get transferred to different locations while I was still a university student. Our relationship became serious after I completed university. He also settled in Kampala because he had been promoted to a better job. This gave us more time to understand each other in 2012.

How did you move to the next level?
Phoebe: We did not do kukyala. We had an introduction ceremony in January 2013 and wedded in April 2015.

What attracted you to each other?
Daniel: Her calmness drew me to her .
Phoebe: He is kind, humble, God fearing and developmental.

What was your budget?
Daniel: Initially it was Shs10m but it was revised to almost Shs30m.
Phoebe: We raised our money from our savings, family and friends. The meetings and WhatsApp groups were very resourceful in mobilising this.

How often were the preparatory meetings?
Daniel: We had only five wedding meetings at Nyama Choma, Centenary Park.
Phoebe: Some friends contributed by sending money without attending meetings because it was held on Wednesdays at 6pm, which made it hard for others to make it due to traffic jam.

What was the most expensive item?
Daniel: Food and venue.
Phoebe: We opted for Kololo Courts Hotel because we did not want stress from different service providers. They charged us Shs35,000 per head to cater for food and venue.

Did you involve a wedding planner?
Phoebe: No, our chairperson Ashley Nantongo Kitibwa helped us.
Daniel: I also used Microsoft Excel for accountability.

What were you doing on the eve of your wedding?
Daniel: I was in a salon trimming the hair and having a manicure to prepare for the next day.
Phoebe: I was home with my family but I had a throbbing headache, I think from anxiety.

What was your colour theme?
Phoebe: Red and white.

Were you disappointed in any way during the wedding?
Daniel: Yes, when the bride’s ring went missing.
Phoebe: I was disappointed with the photographers. They did not deliver to our expectations, and they stole my ring. They claimed they wanted to use it for a photo shoot. At first, I was hesitant but they insisted, and I gave it to them. They placed it between the shoes to take a photo. That was the last I saw of it. I had even forgotten about it until when my husband asked to see it on our way to the reception venue. We went back, searched for it for about an hour but never found it.
Also, the decorator lagged behind on some things.

How did you react when you found out that you had lost your ring?
Daniel: I hardly react fast. I took it easy believing it was in our environs and it would be found.
Phoebe: On reaching the reception, Daniel asked to see the ring and I remembered I did not have it, so we went back to Upper Kololo Gardens at the photo shoot site and searched for it because the photographer insisted that he had left it there. After an hour’s fruitless search, I borrowed a ring from someone and returned it after the reception.

Did this affect your day in any way?
Daniel: Yes, because the ring is almost equal to the wedding ceremony. It disorganised our day.
Phoebe: Yes, we were traumatised, and unhappy. I had dearly spent on that ring and I remember at the reception, some of the guests complained that we were not dancing yet it was our day.

What did you enjoy or what disappointed you?
Daniel: The number of guests shot up beyond our budget and I thought they would be few at the reception.
Phoebe: Church service, when we exchanged vows in the presence of our family and friends. The reception was great. I initially was nervous because of the big number of guests but I later loosened up and danced like I had never danced before.

What was going through your mind during the wedding ceremony?
Daniel: I was not sure if we were marching properly or making mistakes as we walked out of church and at the reception. Also, I thought to myself, ‘when are all these people letting us go for our honeymoon’.
Phoebe: I kept wondering whether people were having a good time and if the food was enough.

How did you cater for the excess number of guests?
Phoebe: We paid for 20 extra plates just to secure ourselves but the other 30 we paid for at the end of the day.

Did you go for premarital counselling?
Daniel: Pastor Derrick Wadulu at Watoto East in Bweyogerere counselled us.
Phoebe: They emphasised that we are adults who come from different backgrounds and, therefore, have to be patient with each other and also try to understand and accept our partners the way they are. We have to put God first in our every decision.

What is your advice to those planning to wed?
Daniel: Keep watch of all the service providers and the couple should not give their rings to the photographers because they can easily forget about them.
Phoebe: Budget within your means and plan early. Our wedding was simple but elegant. It is also important to budget for extra people. We planned for 250 people but about 50 extra who turned up did not contribute to the function.

How many guests did you invite?
Daniel: We invited 250 people but we got around 300.

Did you have any debts after the wedding?
Phoebe: No.