What a wedding!

Showing emotion is not really something that comes to me easily. But after four years apart, fighting off a growing smile seemed impossible as my sister Lynnette made her way towards me. She is the first born and I am the last with a set of twins between us. Skype and Facebook are alright but they can never replace the real thing.

However, hugs were quickly followed by my swift regaining of composure as I withdrew my smile and pushed out my chest in the vain hope of securing my dominance before my sister’s muscle bound white husband.

Things really did not go as planned though as my outstretched arm which desired a hand shake found itself thrown to the side while the rest of my body became suffocated by an American football sized hug.

With the wedding on its way, the next few days were extremely busy. I had a very important role to play. Choosing the suits for the groomsmen, selecting the music and creating a slide show and video were all assigned to me.

The crazy thing was that all this was to be done while I was still in the process of finishing my major exams. And since I plan to go to a good college abroad, I really needed to make sure that I did not drop the ball on the school front.

Learning the dance moves for the bridal train became the highlight of my weeks as our few but crazy characters bonded us tightly together.

When the day of the wedding finally arrived the once stranger that my sister had fallen in love with had now become like another brother to me.

His acceptance of our tradition allowed him to earn his place in the family.

The wedding itself seemed like a fairytale. Everything was so wonderful that even the bride cried. The true beauty of this wedding cannot be explained in words, but the pictures say it all.

The bride and groom rode on the backs of elephants. The vows were made under a huge baobab tree while everyone was sitting on plain benches. Entertainment was provided by a traditional dance troupe from the University of Zimbabwe.

When my brother-in-law posted some of the photos on his Facebook page, the reaction was astounding.

Seeing the pictures all over the internet and in different newspapers seemed crazy. The Saturday Herald Lifestyle picked up the story and there I was on the front page of the section.

It has been a great experience to be part of what has been called an epic wedding and the wedding of the century. And the occasional WhatsApp message saying, “Hey isn’t this you?” was admittedly a little fun.