Ever had a dream that keeps you up at night?…
This was an unconventional wedding for more than one reason; first, Kenyan weddings are known to be large with guests ranging anywhere from 600 to 800 guests. So when they chose to have an intimate wedding of just 100 guests, their decision was met with quite a bit of resistance. But this courageous couple would not have it any other way, because they wanted a cosy, intimate affair and because they preferred quality over quantity when it came to their wedding.
Nyambura and Mbugua both resided in Nairobi and so getting married in Nairobi would have been the obvious decision. But it was too late, they had already fallen madly in love with the quaint, Italian town of Malindi. Planning a destination wedding can be a logistical nightmare; you have to travel back and forth to meet and select suppliers and do the rest of the planning on remote control.
Any other couple would have said, ‘you know what? It is never that serious. We just cannot do it’. But for this remarkable couple, it was that serious! It was their once in a lifetime wedding and it was the day that they would celebrate their love and exchange vows before God, family and friends. And they were ready to make all the sacrifices required to pull off the wedding. And there were sacrifices to be made, with Mbugua’s demanding job, Nyambura would shuttle between, Nairobi and Mombasa every once a month to meet suppliers and to ensure that every little detail was in place for the wedding. This couple’s confidence and never-give-up personality kept them going and chasing their dream of a wonderful, romantic beach wedding.
It is not every day that you see a couple embracing DIY projects like this one did. To most couples it just seems easier to shelve their personalised and creative ideas and instead leave everything to wedding planners and suppliers. Nyambura knew that with just a little bit of elbow grease and a lot of determination you can pull off creative and stunning DIY projects.
They wanted a coastal feel to their beach wedding, so for tie backs, they used yellow and green kikoi fabrics which would later serve as favours for their guests to take home. To source for the kikois, Nyambura had to scour the shops in the bustling Biashara street looking for affordable kikois in the exact colour she desired. And that is not all, they tied palm leaves to candles to create stunning costal themed centrepieces.
There is nothing like the arrival of the bride, and so to make her entrance Nyambura chose to arrive in a tuk-tuk! Yes, the bride and bridesmaids arrived in cute, yellow tuk-tuks, decorated with green and yellow ribbons. Tuk-tuks are a common mode of transport in Malindi in town but for wedding transport, this was a first!
It generated a lot of interest and amused smiles as the tuk-tuk entourage made its way to the wedding venue. Nyambura and Mbugua wanted a unique entrance and that is about as unique as it gets.
At the reception, there was to be no high table. This couple got to serve and dine together with their friends and family and later on gleefully dance the night away under the stars.
Photography by Ben Kiruthi
Nyambura and Mbugua’s wedding was everything they dreamt it would be, and then some! We hope that their story will inspire you to dream big and #ChaseYourDreams
