When you are getting hitched to the one that your heart beats for, there’s a set of people that are the happiest, and they’re your favourite people! 

The Very First Day! – 30 May 2020
Our first selfie together. Still checking ma settings kuti taka fitana here? Lol. We were so excited, yet scared. Somehow, we both felt weirdly drawn to each other, but in a scary way. We met through a mutual friend, Panashe’s cousin Eugene. Keen had at some point ghosted Panashe. He. Says he took one look at the beauty, and thought, “Well, this might be too much for me.” Panashe had also expressed some fears of her own. “He doesn’t seem very interested in me,” she’d told her cousin. But over a period of time, we kept talking, and eventually, we found a connection. We both loved music, traveling, adventure and just genuine love. Long hours at night, talking till 3 or 4 am in some instances. Keen finally built the courage to ask Panashe out. She made him wait for seven days, (she says she was thinking about it🙄). And on 30 May, she sayed the first “Yes!”

You know, when people are in love, they talk about a lot of things. Especially about getting married, having babies, the babies names etc. So like any ordinary couple, we talked about getting married. Keen would often tell Panashe that he wanted to marry her. But like any other girl, she would dismiss the reality of that statement. “Tozoona kana waa serious.” The topic was just casually brought up here and there, until, March 12, 2021.  So our birthdays are the 9th and 10th of March. Panashe had suggested we do something special together, to celebrate our birthdays. So we gathered all our friends and headed to Kariba. Panashe was totally unaware of any of the plans Keen had secretly made. All our friends knew, and no one even hinted to the bride-to-be. We had a great trip. Panashe was working flat out to be a great host. Keen was handling all the entertainment and fun.
Perhaps you saw the video? It’s on both our feeds. Keen had planned a very creative way to propose. And it payed off! When he got down on one knee, she sayed the second, “Yes!” and put a ring on it. 💍

Soon after the proposal, we called all our relatives and parents to let them know that we were now engaged. We didn’t want them to find out on social media, so we asked all our friends who were with us in Kariba not to post on social media until the important people had been notified. Panashe’s family were so surprised! And supportive of course.  Keen’s family already knew. A new muroora / mukwasha was coming home! We started visiting various members of each other’s families, introducing them to our better half. The family was thrilled and super excited about the upcoming marooro / lobola. Keen had his lumpsome saved, and as per tradition, he also allowed his family and friends to bring in their tokens, to ensure that the family was well respected. On the other side, Panashe’s family was making preparations of their own. Food, for vakwasha, the decor, cleaning up the venue. The company hired for the occasion provided food, tent and decor. The grooms family was supposed to see that Panashe was coming from a very good family. We decided not to have a squad. Because of the pandemic, we had to keep our guests under 50 people, including ourselves. So the ceremony was a very intimate moment for the family, and on July 10, 2021, Panashe and Keen were traditionally, Mr and Mrs Mushapaidze.
The day after lobola, Panashe’s family hosted a beautiful “Kutambira Vakwasha” (Welcoming the Son-in-law) ceremony in their family home.

Lobola Done! To be honest the bond between us has only grown stronger over the time we’ve been together. The feeling of being one makes it easier for love to flourish. We felt that we needed to go all the way, and we were ready to put in the work. So we began to plan our wedding. The pandemic was our biggest obstacle, in terms of guests. But we really tried to have at least two representatives per family. We went venue hunting, cake tasting, and decor scouting whenever we weren’t busy with work or family. Most of the wedding was planned in the evening, after work. As with any couple, we sometimes argued over things like staying within the budget, important people, things that were actually necessary or not. But it’s normal, and we got past it.
We made it a point to celebrate our success in planning the wedding, by throwing a party with the bridal team, on the wedding eve. And on the 4th of December, we were legally Mr and Mrs Mushapaidze. We thank God for the amazing day. People had a great time. We had a great time too!

We would like to thank everyone who watched the wedding video. Indeed it was an amazing day. We’d also like to thank everyone who assisted us and helped make the great day a success. All the family had friends that we had invited, who took time out of their busy schedules to be with us. We’re so humbled, so grateful! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported and watched us grow, from 2020 till now.

Truth be told, our love story has just begun. We came to a realization, while on our honeymoon in Zanzibar, that love is a long journey. It has ups and downs, curves, obstacles, accidents and pain. But we will choose love always, we will advocate for love and put our love for each other first, before anyone and anything. We will win together, travel together, explore the world together for better or worse, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.