By now, the wondrous works of love that Instagram does should no longer be in question. Every new day is a new story coming to light, of how the social media platform had role-played cupid. Today, it’s Damilola and Olawale!

Sharing this sweet love tale, Damilola flashes back to Circa ’17 when the gentleman, Olawale had slid into her DMs from her Insta story. Small talk ensued and sometime later, it was Damilola’s turn to do the sliding. You will get to enjoy all of this love story as you scroll. But of course, you already know how it ends because here we are, gushing over their beautiful pre-wedding shoot! The smile on their faces and glint in their eyes tell us all we need to know about how deeply their love runs. We sure are rooting for this amazing couple as they take on the forever ride.

Enjoy their pre-wedding photos and love story below.

Their love story as Damilola shares it:

Flashback to circa ‘17 on the crazy streets of Instagram. Olawale slides into my DM by replying to my Insta story (well played, I thought to myself). He asks “90?” I was perplexed, and so he tried to explain himself. After that, we exchanged a few words but that was it.

Fast forward to March 2019. This time I replied to his Insta story lol (how the tables turned ey) & told him how I thought those in his profession are the real MVPs. Being the gentleman that he is, he replied graciously with a “thank you for believing in us”. From there, the road to #DALE21 truly began!

We got talking and instantly I knew there was something about him that I couldn’t ignore. Not to sound cliché, but he was different; a good kind of different. The type that made me want and crave to know more… Like, who is this guy????

Slowly, we began to bond over several phone and video calls, through conversations particularly involving banter, movies, music, sports and school amongst others. We would talk every day (still do) and slowly, we realised we had fallen immensely in love with each other.

I was in London at the time, attending university and he was in Kigali, working. One day, he tells me he wants to order a jersey, and do I mind if it’s delivered to my home address. I said sure and gave him my address.. Little did I know he was planning a surprise visit to come and see me for the first time ever! (We had been dating for 3 months at the time).

It was such a beautiful moment. Holding, touching and hugging each other for the first time felt so right. I knew this was someone I wanted to do life’s journey with. He makes me so spontaneous and genuinely happy. He is my best friend, confidant, gist partner, cheerleader and number 1 fan. Every moment we spend together is magic.

Altough it almost seemed unlikely that it could work, we however decided to give it our best shot. He came as often as he could to see me in London. (Hence why we were tagged “#TheLondonAffair”). The uniqueness of our relationship and our commitment to making it work was truly a test of our strength, faith and love.

For instance, I remember at the time when Game of Thrones was still running, we would watch it together, even though thousands of miles apart, syncing the show run time together. We would also have several movies nights similar to that one. Everyone thought we were crazy, lol. But it was us. We promised to always do us.

Our journey to this moment has been a rollercoaster of emotions, a beautiful adventure and a lifetime of lessons. But there is no one else I would rather do life with. Our love is beautiful, patient, kind and never-ending. May God bless our union as we say #iDO. Now & Forever. Amen.

Credits

Bride: @_.lolah
Groom: @waley14
Makeup: @revysbeauty
Photography: @seanshotit
Videography: @octalaykemedia
Styling: @_.lolah
Wardrobe manager: @ehbun
Black dress: @carewcouture
Ankara dress & Turban: @pepple.robert
Groom’s Agbada: @twif.official
Cap: @pepple.robert
Shoes: @wolfandshepherd
Bride’s T-shirt & jeans: @topshop
Groom’s T-shirt & Jeans: @kimonokollection | @levis