LOVE IS BEAUTIFUL
Batshani Sekoto will live to experience the wedding of his dreams, thanks to Jay’s Wedding Cars, a wedding planning company.
Batshani has been with Gothatamodimo Sekoto for the past 13 years until they finally got married last week. He told The Midweek Sun that he has always wanted to marry his wife legally, but they did not have enough funds for a big wedding celebration.
He explained that all he wanted was to be legally married to his wife and so they finally decided to have a small and intimate celebration. He shared that some people criticised their idea of having a small wedding but they just went on and got married. The couple is already blessed with three children.
“We had four children and lost one,” he shared. He is thankful to Sesupo Kgapoetsile of Bubuya Hair salon who supported their wedding from day one and offered free salon services for them to look good on their wedding day, when everyone else doubted them and told the to celebrate only when they have enough money for a fancy wedding.
Like many other couples, after the wedding celebration, they posted their celebratory pictures on facebook. The pictures caught the attention of wedding planner Lentlafetse Abney, better known as Ngirl, who thought that with her expertise on wedding planning, she could offer the couple her services of a beautiful intimate celebration.
“I just posted on facebook looking for this couple, and I am amazed by the feedback that I have received. I never thought that the post could go viral, but a lot of people expressed interest in being part of this second celebration to a point that we opened a group for organising the second lap of the wedding,” she said.
The group is called ‘Team Batshani dream wedding’ and they have been able to buy the couple some phones which they received on Monday. Abney told The Midweek Sun that when she looked for the couple, she learnt that they both did not have phones and her team pledged to buy them phones. She noted that,from her lessons as a wedding planner, there is no way one could plan a wedding without a phone, which is why before they could deliver the dream wedding, they bought the phones which the couple really appreciated. When they received the phones, the emotional Batshani said he was grateful and had not expected this gift, emphasizing that he did not think that anyone would support him for his wedding.
Abney revealed that actually, hosting beautiful weddings was her calling. “At first, I wanted to target elderly people who are cohabiting and offer them their dream wedding, but I ended up actively planning weddings for everyone,” she said, reiterating that it makes her happy to see people happy and embracing marriage. Just recently, she attended an ‘Events Table Gala dinner’ in South Africa, where she said she learnt a lot about coordination, working on finances and not to be known just as a decorator.
For Batshani's wedding, people pledged different kinds of services including wedding gowns and attire, makeup and perfumes, entertainment and photography, catering relations and monetary support.
Rev Thuso Tiego pledged to be the pastor at the ceremony, while Dream Shelter pledged to aggregate for building a house for the couple, and Nako Guest House offered accommodation for a getaway at their lodge.
Philanthropist, Tshepang Mabaila of Mabaila Foundation offered some gifts to the couple, while former Miss Botswana Emma Wareus pledged for a honeymoon holiday and building funds. Motivational speaker, Kago
Keotshwaetse pledged company registration for them. Abney shared that with the many attires that have been pledged, her wish is to open a bridal shop for Gothatamodimo so that she can rent out her wedding dresses after utilising them for her big day.
Batshani said this would improve their living standards as he survives by selling Cool Time and Snow Pie ice treats. “My intention was to set up a table with small stock for my wife to also start her business after the wedding, I’m now glad that Jay’s Wedding Cars also saw it fit to open a business for us to invest and live a worthwhile lifestyle in the future,” he said.
The humble Batshani reiterated that he is speechless because he never imagined all this happening in his life. He wishes for the big celebration to be hosted in Masunga and they are waiting to finalise the dates. He added that he wishes for members of the media to attend his wedding and record the events of the day.
Abney is happy with Batswana’s response, and she wishes that they continue showing love to one another in different ways. She shared that their organising group is made up of about 400 people.