Love really does happen in the most unexpected ways! Fiora and Ife can relate because this is how their sweet love began.

It was definitely love at first sight for Ife who sighted Fiora in the banking hall where he worked. Although he didn’t approach her then, he patiently waited till the second time he saw her and he told her at that instant that she was going to be his wife – when you know, you know right? 😄

For Fiora, what she thought was all a joke led to the sweetest fairytale! Now, these lovebirds are on to happy ever after and we cannot hold back our excitement for them. Their pre-wedding photos are adding a truckload of sweetness to our day and we are loving every bit of it!

Enjoy their pre-wedding photos and sweet love story below.

Their love story as shared by Fiora

When you stumble upon love, no one tells you how it happens, it is not like those people you come around and have an unending talking stage with, it is also not like the guy you allowed to woo you, or like the one that is indecisive, mine came fully ready and prepared. You know, you’d wake up in the morning, pray to God and hope for beautiful things to happen. But what you do not really pray for is that you meet the love of your life in a banking hall. I remember walking into the bank on that faithful day in 2018. I had a different business but God came with a full menu. In the banking hallway, I passed by a tall guy on the way to my sister’s office who greeted me politely, but I didn’t pay any attention to him. I went back to the same branch on another occasion to see my sister but she wasn’t in the office. You can imagine the audacity that overwhelmed the air when this same tall guy whom I saw a few weeks back on the hallway enters the office looks at me and says, “I will marry you”.

What do you do in a case like this? There is first disbelief, then confusion and finally laughter. This man must have come out with a mouth full of jokes. But this joke is what has led me to saying I do. On the 4th of August 2019, an unknown number sent my photo to me with the caption; “See my baby… In fact, I’ve died.” It was him, that ‘nuisance’, I thought. Love is that joke that beautiful joke you cherish, remember, and tell over and over again. The surprising thing is, what started like a joke, transformed into a beautiful thing. The man I teased at the bank is making me type this story and smiling from ear to ear. He was unrelenting, lurking around in the most conscientious way, rejoicing with me at my success, following my progress; he sent songs to me, I remember thinking to myself how someone would send a full song to me on WhatsApp when there was Apple Music; Phyno’s Ride for You was the first song he ever sent, my actual best! Me? I felt it.

But there were times I could have done better, like when he called and wanted to meet up in Abuja. I could not because I was due to travel the next day to Asaba. He pleaded I wait for him. I felt it was a joke only for him to call the next day to tell me he was in Abuja but I had already left. I felt bad and agreed to spend Christmas day with him in Enugu; my sister was living there so a day out won’t hurt. I ended up following him on a lovely wedding trip to his village in Anambra the next day. It was filled with friends gisting, and so much music. It felt more surreal when at that traditional marriage ceremony some dancing group surrounded me and started singing my praise. I cowered as I almost tripped over but in the midst of that, my tall handsome lover made his way to where I was and took me to safety. That moment of safety can’t be described, my own knight. That was the moment my love was born.

Now, I cannot tell if it was his unrelenting attitude, or his precision. Whatever it was held magic. It did the magic. Then, the tides came. It was in 2020. When love hits the wall sometimes, it raises difficult questions. For instance, two strangers getting to know each other and trying so hard to make an honest relationship work. For us, we conquered the strangers in us. We were intentional about it. So, while we fought, disagreed, and prayed, we stayed afloat. We found ways to maintain our closeness through alternating weekend visits since we were in different states. I was always applying for jobs in Lagos, never in Enugu. I felt I was going to stay in Lagos but I met a friend during one of my weekends in Enugu at Roots Restaurant in late 2020. He asked that I do a job for him. In 2021, the same friend informed me that his firm also needs the services of a lawyer. I got the job and relocated to Enugu. This singular move made our relationship move easily.

Their Love story as shared by Ife:

Going about my regular duties as a staff of Access Bank Plc, I left my office to go see a colleague in another office when I met this fair, petite and beautiful young lady. She had a flowing black dress on, her hair let down with a young man walking beside her. Her beauty was stunning because it had an immediate impression in my heart. However I did not walk up to her nor speak with her because I had a lot of work tasks to get through with that day and the guy walking beside her was walking too closely to her and acting very protective so I figured maybe she was already in a relationship with him. All these thoughts passed from my mind from just a single glance at her. So seeing her that first time made a strong impact. But after that day, I paid no further mind to it.

In less than a month, I met her again, in my office building again but this time, in one of my colleague’s offices. Then my colleague introduced her to me as her sister. Her name is Fiora, most people do not get it the first time as they always think she said or meant Flora but I got it the first time she said it. Right there and then I told her that I will get married to her and she laughed it off. We exchanged numbers and she left the office. Then I began to interrogate her sister, asking her 21 questions. Her sister reiterated to me that Fiora is already in a relationship and will not be inclined to date me. Again, I made it crystal clear to her sister that I will get married to Fiora Amarachi Eze and that the matter is settled as said.

Then the pursuit began, I addressed her like I wanted her to be, mine. She did not like it but could not stop it either. The calls followed, the chats, the texts then one day, she called me. In the call she said that she appreciates me as a friend and likes my personality but I should know that I am wasting my time. That she could not date someone like me and sees my overtures as mere jokes. That I should please stop as not to get the impression that eventually she might fall for me. That call only spurred me on the more as I love a good challenge and she was a conquest worth fighting for.

Fiora Eze was called in Abuja to the Nigerian Bar and I called her up that I was coming to see her; to this, she paid no mind. When I got into Abuja, I called her only to receive the shocking news that she left Abuja the same day I was entering even after I had informed her that I was coming. I guess this was the event the won the battle because being the good person that she is, she felt bad of her actions, whether avoidable or not and was open to make it up to me.

The result of this was that she will spend the Christmas of 2019 in Enugu and by extension, with me. It was during this time that she fell in love with the tall, dark, handsome and extremely hard working man that I am. So when next they ask me why I waited this long to get married, the answer is simple: I was waiting for Fiora Amarachi Eze and she is worth every second I spent being single. I call her Tedday and our union/team Fiodera. She is my Roar.

Credits:

Bride-to-be: @fioraeze
Makeup: @uniktouch
Photography: @officialbigdealweddings / @bigdealstudio