By Faridah Nakazibwe
Its only in Uganda where a couple will spend Shs20m on a wedding and come back and fail to pay rent of Shs100,000! Vologoto !! Why didn’t you buy a plot of land instead ?Or at least pay rent for a year and invest the rest in a mutual fund? By the way, a marriage certificate at the Marriage Registrar’s office is less than Shs250,000.
My brother,”i pray you don’t find a kinder of a woman who values an expensive wedding over having a financially independent life”.
I agree wedding ceremonies bring people together and yes, I love eating and drinking, but I also want to do it within my means. Don’t forget that weddings have become a serious industry involving decorators, fancy car hires, gowns, suits and all the glamorous stuff all of which are not getting any cheaper.
With that in mind, I have never understood why a couple would hold a Shs20/30m wedding to enable them ride in a limo for that one day, only to retire to a small place they call home, probably heavily indebted because some pledges were not met. Others have taken bank loans to finance that special day then spend ages repaying them to the detriment of their own financial security in the marriage.
People are under pressure to beat wedding/Kwanjula standards set by other couples without understanding our different financial abilities. They, therefore, struggle beyond their means to show off in what is considered ‘a family affair’.
The end result in many cases is an expensive event with relatives, school mates and neighbours they have not heard from in years coming to eat and drink and criticise everything about the ceremony.
I therefore suggest that more of us begin to consider the possibility of having small, intimate and affordable weddings. Let us try to invest more on the longevity of marriages as opposed to the one day extravagance of weddings because there is no guarantee in marriage, except that the two people love each other and are willing to make it work.
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