Elizabeth and Miguel share memories of their Belgian wedding 

On April 15, Elizabeth Biyinzika tied the knot with her Belgian husband Miguel Daese Roland in Brugge, Belgium.

It was a classy, glamorous wedding that fused European and Ugandan cultures in sweeping style that could help other Ugandans interested in destination weddings. The couple permitted me to share their story.

“At the end of the day love conquers all,” an overjoyed Elizabeth aptly summed up her wedding ceremony.

After being co-opted by James Lubinga, the chief executive officer of Paramount Images, one of the service providers hired from Uganda, I jumped on the flight to Brussels for the function.

I shot their pre-wedding photoshoot at the iconic Sint-Truiden chapel, Grande-Jamine in Liege and later the wedding event in Brugge. And there were many lasting impressions, for me, to write home about.

First, I was struck by the fact that this was not an overly expensive wedding like the ones I am accustomed to back in Kampala, despite the couple having had to travel all the way to Europe for it. In Kampala, a classy wedding these days can cost not less than Shs 500m, with
the biggest cut of the budget going to the decorator!

Despite flying in some of the service providers from Kampala to Belgium, Elizabeth told me that everything remained within their budget.

“Doing our wedding in Belgium was cheaper compared to weddings in Uganda where people go all the way for luxurious and expensive functions. Here, people just keep it simple,” Elizabeth noted.

For instance, I learnt the church fee was 265 euros, approximately Shs 1.1 million. In comparison to Uganda, it would have gone for up to Shs 2m, depending on the church.

Their bridal entourage had four Mercedes Benzes and a Cadillac, which cost 1,600 euros. In Uganda each of the aforementioned cars is hired at a minimum Shs 1.5m.

The couple’s biggest expense was on decorations, which cost about 10,000 euros or Shs 40 million.

“This was a big challenge for me because in Belgium, they use fresh flowers to decorate. Fresh flowers are expensive,” Elizabeth explained.

Ugandan decorators have perfected the art of using artificial flowers that look very close to the real deal, but still charge an arm and a leg for decoration.

“[Belgians] don’t do decorations with artificial flowers, which is done in Uganda. So, I sat down, and I made peace with my heart, and said, let me do it the Belgian way.”

They invited only 100 guests, who included their relatives, friends and family members – a plus for destination weddings, because the couple gets to host only the people they can afford to host, unlike in Uganda where a wedding reception often has several hundreds of guests.

After church, they served their 100 guests drinks, food and a cake at the reception and dinner, which altogether cost 800 euros or Shs 3.2 million!

“It’s also something that is different. There is the reception, which is like a cocktail in Uganda, and there is the dinner. For mainly the reception, they invite people who are not so close to the family, but they know them and friends. Not so close friends and distant family. So, that is the reception for just about one, two hours, and they go and then have dinner. They invite people who are close to them, family members, close friends, the parents, the grandparents, the nieces, brothers and sisters. So, that is how it was. I also got challenges with that because I was not sure whom to invite and whom to leave out. Then we agreed, let’s invite everybody to both functions. But when we calculated how much we spent on everything here, it’s not even a quarter of what Ugandan weddings cost; so, I don’t understand why people in Uganda get all this money to do all these luxurious weddings.”

Unlike Ugandan weddings, the Belgian typical wedding is done in phases; first, there was a rehearsal dinner with both families as they wined and dined a few days before the wedding day. On the wedding day after church, the couple had to welcome friends and family for a cocktail before the official dinner at Lodewijk Van Male hotel in Brugge and later held dinner in the Hall at Lodewijk Van Male hotel.

In the church, you are given a chance to select your own music as a couple while you walk in and even as you exchange vows. Miguel chose Oli Omwana by Princess Amiira after exchanging vows.

Another unique thing, unlike the Ugandan wedding, Belgian grooms are the ones that bring the bridal bouquets to the bride’s side before church. There was also dancing till morning after the dinner, whereas a Ugandan wedding will close by midnight, at the latest.

Of particular interest, Elizabeth insisted on procuring her own photography services (Paramount Images) and make-up artist Celine Tugume from Kampala.

Her low point, however, was her mother missing the wedding ceremony in Belgium. She was one of her relatives that were denied visas by the Belgian embassy in Kampala.

“It was so hard for me; I cried a lot and was really very sad. But at the back of my mind, I said, everything happens for a reason and God knows.”

HOW THEY MET

It all started in 2020 after one of Elizabeth’s workmates suggested to her that he had a friend who was interested in African women. By nature of her work, Elizabeth travels often to Europe and the Middle East. And during one of her trips to France, her workmate insisted on linking her up with the said friend.

She recalls: “I was [in France] for four days. And he asked me, why don’t we go around Europe? Why? Why am I always in France alone?

Then after he said, ‘I have a friend called Miguel who lives in Belgium. Do you want to meet him? He’s single, and he really loves African women, and you are single. Why don’t you enjoy your life? It doesn’t have to be a relationship or marriage, just meet him and have fun’.”

From that time, Elizabeth and Miguel exchanged telephone numbers. They got hooked and the relationship blossomed from text messages, video calls to physical meetings in Belgium, Germany and Dubai during the post-Covid-19 period.

“The interest picked because we liked a lot of things in common. We liked food, we liked wine. We liked shopping…,” Elizabeth recalls.

On their second meeting in Dubai, Miguel hinted about meeting Elizabeth’s parents in Uganda. She obliged and they agreed to organize a traditional kukyala ceremony. At the end of the function, Miguel surprised Elizabeth with a proposal to marry her.

“I was so tired. I wanted to remove this dress [gomesi]. It was so hot. And then he went on one knee asking me to marry him. I said yes, and I was shaking. I was so emotional, I didn’t know what to do. And it’s surprising that I didn’t really cry. But the emotions came back later. And I felt like I’m in the movie in our story.”