20 Years after Their Roora & 3 Daughters In Between, Bibi & Muchi Take it to The Altar in Australia!

BNW May 12, 20210 Comments

Bibi and Muchi have us so emotional and excited at the same time! Theirs is a story of love, happy ever after, and bliss in between. Twenty years after their Roora (traditional marriage in Zimbabwe), they went on to have a white wedding and it was just so beautiful.

The two had met at a time when communication systems weren’t as advanced as they are now. Meeting at a call centre, the attraction was instantaneous. They both went on to start their life together as they got hitched in a traditional Zimbabwean wedding. Now twenty years and three beautiful daughters after, Bibi’s dream white wedding came to be! It was a breathtaking affair as they exchanged their “I do” in an outdoor ceremony. All the romantic feels were certainly not lost on us. Overlooking the beautiful waters in the city of Perth in Australia, they sealed the deal to continue their love forever! Everything about Bibi and Muchi’s wedding just has us really elated.

We had a chat with Bibi and we bet you want to know all that she has to say. Keep scrolling to enjoy our conversation and of course, all the beautiful photos from their wedding below.

Take us down memory lane, how did you meet your husband?

I met Muchi in 2000. I was on my high school holidays and Muchi was on his university break. Instantly, I was attracted to him because he was a fine young man. However, I didn’t show it. I knew he also had a thing for me but we were both trying to play hard to get.

Unfortunately, we didn’t exchange numbers at that time. Later on, that same year, I escorted my sister to a call box. Lol… yeah we are that old. Muchi must have recognised me and decided he also needed to use the call box. ? We ended up exchanging numbers that same day.

Fast forward two months later, I received the first call from Muchi and we arranged a date. For our first date, we went for breakfast at Wimpy UDC Centre in Harare. Oh, my word – the butterflies were all over! I couldn’t even look at him. We had a cute innocent date. I went straight home after but we made plans to meet again the following weekend.

We met again the following weekend and he invited me to his house to chill, those days it’s was all innocent, not the “Netflix and chill kind”. ? We made our relationship official after that. Muchi asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes immediately. I didn’t have to “think about it”. We started dating in March 2001.

The Traditional Wedding Roora (Lobola) – December 2001

9 Months later Muchi told me he wanted to marry me, mind you, those days it was normal for someone to propose marriage without a ring. I told my sisters what Muchi was planning and immediately started the procedures. We did introductions first. I went to meet Muchi’s family. His grandmother was happy.

Muchi also met my side of the family before the roora. My family was happy because he looked responsible. Fast forward one week later, we had our roora day. It was on the 23rd of December 2001. We had our roora event at Churumanzu, at our village home which was my parent’s wish.

What was your favourite memory from your trad in 2001?

Guys, lobola day finally came and Muchi was late! Oh my word, anyone that has been through this can relate. We didn’t have mobile phones to keep in touch. I humbled myself that day and told myself the Lord is my shepherd. ? Four hours later, Muchi and his family came. Roora proceedings were just straightforward and quick, I finally became Mai Mandishona.

Was there always a plan to have the white wedding later? If not, what prompted the idea to now to have a white wedding?

Where do I start from! ? Planning my wedding has been the longest, hardest and most beautiful thing I’ve ever had to go through. Life kept getting in the way. After our roora, we found out we were expecting our first daughter. So, we had to put wedding plans aside.

You know that babies cost money and at that time, the Zimbabwean economy was also on a downturn. I and my husband decided to relocate to the UK and as you know, it’s not easy. While in the UK, we were working and trying to make ends meet and we welcomed our second daughter. At that point, our babies had us occupied 24/7.

A couple of years later, we had our last daughter. At this point, I was content. However, I still knew I wanted a wedding someday. After we had our last daughter we relocated to Australia. Moving to Australia was not easy but it’s the best decision we have ever made.

I really wanted to have my wedding in Zimbabwe. I even went to meet with @kevintheweddingplanner in December 2019. Then early 2020 Covid happened. It was devastating but I didn’t think It was gonna last long so I was willing to wait for things to normalise. After waiting it out, we realised that Covid wasn’t ending soon and Australia wasn’t going to open international borders anytime soon.

I decided to start planning my own wedding here in Australia. It was hard knowing that our families would likely not make it to our special day.However, they were happy for us because they knew how much we wanted this and how long we had waited for it. I started planning my wedding in December 2020 and our wedding was on 17 April 2021.

Having your white wedding 20 years after your trad… How did it feel?

It was just smooth. I never had any issues during the planning process and on the day. My husband is a very simple man so he trusted me to plan everything myself.

What were the most memorable moments for you, from your wedding?

It was just an enjoyable journey, from looking for the venue to choosing vendors and dress hunting, I would do it again!!! Above all, the journey has taught me to trust God’s timing because things will flow easily when it is his time. I’m also grateful that my children could witness one of the best days of my life.

A little marriage advice for brides-to-be…

Guys marriage is not easy. It’s a serious commitment and both parties must be willing to sacrifice. Take time to know, understand and forgive your partner. Things will happen – good and bad, it’s a roller coaster but at the end of the day. God must be the centre of your marriage because without God there is no strong foundation. It also takes two to tango.?