Lina Kerubo Magare and Kenneth Kay Thompson
"We met on eHarmony. When I joined eHarmony, I was matched with Ken and after the initial introduction and communicating through this platform we decided to meet at Piatti’s for dinner. On our first date Ken impressed me with all the information he had about my hometown Mombasa, Kenya and we spent hours talking about culture, religion, food, family and what we wanted out of life and the rest is history."
"Ken was planning this surprise proposal for about 2 months and had contacted my parents and siblings unbeknownst to me. On 11/17/18, Ken invited my daughter and I out for dinner at Signature Restaurant which is one of my favorite restaurants in San Antonio. He picked us up and when we got there, we were surprised to see a Kenyan singing trio called the Moipei triplets video recording some songs there. To my bewilderment and dismay, Ken interrupted their session and asked them to sing a Swahili song since I am also from Kenya. They proceeded to sing "Malaika" which means "Angel" a romantic Kenyan song that got me very teary. After the song, Ken read me a bible verse from the book of Ruth and got on one knee to propose. Of course, I said YES, and the rest is history! Ken went to such great lengths to express his love and had the whole proposal video-taped and I will forever remember this beautiful day."
The lovely pair got married at The St. Anthony Hotel in Downtown San Antonio.
The gorgeous off-shoulder gown is from Livie by Enzoani, purchased at Olivia Bridal in San Antonio.
A navy blue and Gold Champagne cake with Amaretto filling covered in Amaretto Buttercream by Tomas Rosales at the Painted Cake San Antonio.
"Since our wedding was a mix of cultures, we were able to incorporate a Shuka exchange ceremony to signify two families becoming one and the official acceptance of each other’s families."
Lina's advice for future brides: "If you are a busy bride and have the resources, please choose the “full wedding planning package” as it will save you a lot of time and energy. In the scheme of things, the big picture can be attained easily but it’s the nitty gritty details that do take a lot of time and energy and if you can designate that to your planner, that can help you sleep easy days before your wedding."
The honeymoon was filled with adventurous contrasts -New world Dubai versus Old world Paris and Zen Maldives. It was a whirlwind tour of deserts, mosques, palaces, museums, restaurants and markets. We visited the tallest restaurant in the world at Burj Khalifa -atmosphere and ate at Ithaa the undersea restaurant in the Maldives. Dubai was a dream, Maldives was romantic, and Paris was so dreamy.
Wedding Date: August 3, 2019
Photography by: Ashley Medrano Photography