The Sunday News
IN America, research shows that the average couple spends about $30, 000 on their wedding day. In Zimbabwe the average couple spends about $5 000 — which is a lot of money by our living standards. So, hypothetically, a $20 000 wedding is destined to get people talking.
Last Saturday people were talking because Nkosilathi Saka, the groom, and Bongani Sibanda, the bride, had such a wedding.
The beautiful and immaculate wedding dress for the bride cost $1 000. The groom’s suit was $500. The couple’s shoes for the glittering event were bought for a combined price of $1 000.
Oh, by the way all this wedding wear was bought in Dubai.
The unique wedding invites were made and purchased in China for $500. The 13-tier wedding cake cost $1,500. The limousine hire was $1 000.
Iyasa demanded and got $1000 for performing at the wedding.
The diamond rings were made at Diamond Centre in South Africa for a combined cost of $2 100. The bride’s ring’s fee was $1 300 and the groom’s ring — well, do the maths. Both rings — to signify equality — have 13 carats.
The dresses for the bridesmaids saw the bride parting with $1 200. The groom had to use $1 000 to dress up the groomsmen.
The security included the police, but the man who stood out like a sore thumb in the security detail was Zimbabwe heavyweight champion and former Pan African World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Thamsanqa Dube. He is believed to have been paid a cool $500 for manning the gate and keeping the peace.
The MC at the wedding was ZiFM DJ Morris Touch and he didn’t disappoint. We failed to find out how much he was paid, but the way he did his thing he’s bound to be still spending the wedding “Benjamins”.
In one of the most stunning weddings ever held in Bulawayo, cocktails and expensive wines were served to 300 delighted guests in a day-long celebration of the union at Shonga Lodge.
For the right to have their wedding at Shonga Lodge, Nkosilathi and Bongani suffered a damage of $1 500.
The event brought together some of the well-to-do people and powerful in Zimbabwe: a fleet of expensive cars was parked outside Shonga Lodge.
On the way to the wedding venue the groom, who works in South Africa, was typically accompanied by a fleet of Quantum buses. The bride had an elite fleet of BMWs and D4Ds on her tail, while she travelled in style — in a white limousine.
Guests were waited on by the Shonga Lodge staff who served good food. Alcohol and wine were served with abandon.
The bride and groom’s gifts came in the form of cash. By the time the guests had stopped showering the couple, who only accepted money, with cash, about $10 000 was in the gift bag.
In an interview a friend to Nkosilathi, who requested anonymity said Nkosilathi had decided to give Bongani the wedding of her dreams because he loved her.
“When it comes to pleasing the woman he loves money is no object. His wife wanted a wedding so he went out of his way to give her a wedding she would remember and treasure for the rest of her life. The best gift you can give your girlfriend is to marry her in front of friends and relatives and you can only do that through a wedding and he has just done that,” he said.
When the bride and groom were exchanging vows in the morning, Bongani (the bride) couldn’t help but shed tears of joy. Who could fault her? She was having the wedding of her dreams.
Their honeymoon started at Shonga Lodge before they made an upgrade and found base at Holiday Inn where they spent four days behind locked doors. But the honeymoon is not yet over — they flew to Durban.
