They barely noticed each other

At last. Reagan Mbabali and Hilda Anyango were workmates that barely noticed or even spoke to each other. As fate would have it though, they both changed workplaces but still crossed paths. And a marriage was brewed, writes Esther Tusiime Byoona. 

“We worked in the same environment, I on TV and he in the radio section. But we did not cross paths,” Hilda Anyango recalls.

“While at UBC I kept seeing her around with her friends,” Mbabali says.

She left to work with her uncle with whom coincidentally Mbabali was an acquaintance.

He says, in December 2018, they were organising some work and Hilda’s uncle brought her to their office and he greeted her.

“When I saw her, I knew that I had seen her somewhere but I got back to my laptop. I did not mind her, I was living my life,” he adds.

Mbabali says on his birthday in 2019, she sent him a message online and promised to tell him a story as a birthday gift.

A few days later, he asked for the story.

“That was the icebreaker,  we found out that we go to the same church. We started talking and developed a friendship ,” he says.

Mbabali says, later that year they met and he realised she was a great talker.

“She was commenting about every single thing, and I was in shock. She had an Iphone while I had a Tecno and she belittled my phone,” he recalls.

Becoming close

He says he wanted someone who could accommodate his craziness and loved God.

“From the first time I saw Hilda, I noticed there was a source of freedom in her life that I would be in without being judged,” he says, adding  that he was looking for someone who could accept him as he was.

“She is the home that I was looking for,” Mbabali says.

Anyango says she wanted someone who was religious.

“His relationship with God was really important for me. That was the reason I asked him to be active in the Men of Valour ministry at church,” she recalls.

She says she wanted someone who would love and care for her.

 Mbabali says, at that time in his life, he was ready to settle down and had asked God to send him a wife.

“When I started talking to Hilda, it did not come to my mind because I did not think my request would be answered that first,” he adds.

 Mbabali says they met again. This time, he opened up on how he felt about her.

“After she had arrived at the restaurant, I told her and I was waiting for a slap or for her to walk away which she did not do,” he remembers.

“I asked her when her birthday is and asked her if I could marry her in the following year on her birthday and she allowed,” he says.

He says that after that, she held his hand, prayed and asked him to prove he was serious. 

“She was wearing a Rolex , and I had an Omega, we exchanged watches to show that we were serious,” he adds.

Mbabali says when their date was done and he reached home he was worried but he trusted in God and he knew she was the one for him.

Proposal

“In my heart I kept wondering why he was delaying to propose to me after he promised to marry me,” Anyango says.

 “I sent a friend to tell him he had to propose, he got annoyed and told me he knew he has to propose.”

Mbabali says he talked to his workmates to find out the best time to propose.

He recalls that he wanted to know the right size of her engagement finger and when he asked her, she went with a friend and brought a dummy ring in her right size.

“I bought the engagement ring in October and kept it while looking for the right time to propose because I did not want to be predictable,” Mbabali remembers.

He says that when he got the right time , he was in touch with her sister and planned to have a photo shoot before the proposal.

“When we had changed into our fancy clothes, she was still excited about the pictures and that’s when I showed up with the ring. She almost collapsed,” he says.

Functions

“Before the proposal, we had already planned the date for the Kukyala,”he says.

Mbabali says after the Kukyala they planned for the introduction.

The introduction and Kukyala was at Anyango’s parents home in Ndejje. The wedding was at Watoto Church, while the reception was at Hotel Triangle.

He says they wanted a small wedding of 30 guests but did not know how their parents would take it.

“Knowing our parents as people who love numbers it was going to be tricky but we prayed to God and asked for his help and guidance,”  he recalls.

Entourage

Anyango says her entourage was made up of her close friends. She says she chose them because they were reliable and were helping out in planning the functions.

“My groomsman and bestman were friends that became brothers and I chose them because we knew each other well,”  he adds.

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, they used some of their friends who could offer services for the wedding.

 “Every service provider we used for the wedding, we kept using for any event we have held ever since,” Mbabali says. 

Preparations

He says the planning for the introduction was going on well until the first Covid-19 lockdown was announced in March.

“I knew God would come through for us and I knew I was not shifting any of the dates, we prayed to God and he provided for us,”  he says.

He says despite the Covid-19 lockdown and its implications, they had everything needed prior to the introduction date.

When asked if they were any strenuous moments during the wedding preparations, Hilda says her entourage delayed to pick their dresses from the tailor.

“I kept getting calls from the tailor since it was getting late,” she recalls.

Guest list

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, the couple invited a few people for their wedding.

“I was given a bigger number of seven people including my siblings,” she says.

“I had my mom, uncle who represented my grandfather and the two families that were my father figures,” Mbabali says.

Anyango says that only couple that they invited were not able to make it.

Premarital counseling

Anyango says while in premarital counseling, they learnt how important it is to understand each other’s temperaments.

“Understanding each other’s personality temperaments has helped us in our marriage,”  she says.

Mbabali says that they learnt how managing finances is very important.

Honeymoon

 “We travelled to Kapchorwa, did mountain hiking and went to Sipi Falls,”  he says.

Mbabali says, the honeymoon was for two weeks.

Quick Notes

Main Celebrant: Pastor Herbert Musoke

Date: 12, September 2020

Groom: Reagan Mbabali Williamson

Bride: Hilda Anyango

Reception: Hotel Triangle