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Michael Unearthed a Rare Gem in Bami! See the Exciting Pre-Wedding Shoot & Hilarious Story

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Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH300Bami and Michael‘s love story reveals unique ways of attracting your true love with determination, humility and confidence (in its sweetest form).

When two halves pair as One – it’s so beautiful!

~ Photography: Akintayotimi

How We Met
from Michael (groom-to-be)
They say in life, “you never know where you will find true love. So, be prepared”.
On the 1st of June 2013, I was invited to a wedding which I attended, I was enjoying the event and merry making when all of a sudden this girl walks in my line of sight. I lost my bearing; She looked beautiful. She wore a simple but classy free flowing dress. I tried to regain consciousness but I knew it was going to be a long night. I was completely oblivious to everything that was happening around me as it all seemed to be a blur.

I kept on staring at her hoping our eyes would meet, it just didn’t happen. I inquired about her from my friends on the table, but they all told me she was unavailable. I managed to say hello on the dance floor but she was too busy to give me any attention. People who know me well are aware that I am a confident lad and I am able to hold a conversation, but this time I couldn’t and it bothered me.Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH289

I went home pretty sad about it and I must admit I looked her up on LinkedIn and was tempted to private message her but refrained because she was unavailable.

Fast forward to 16th August 2013, I went clubbing with my friends as we were celebrating a friend’s birthday. As the Bible says, “God works in mysterious ways”. My friend (same guy who invited me to the wedding) came up to me and said “that babe Bami, wey you like dey here o. U better go follow am talk sharply”. Instantly, my radar was on. I looked at her from across the room, eyes fixed on her like a lion about to pounce on its prey. I approached her with a simple smile, said hello and introduced myself. I could tell she knew about me already because she had a smile on her face. I didn’t want to ask her for her number in front of everyone so I asked her if she was on LinkedIn (even though I already knew and had stalked her like 10 million times). She said yes, so I told her I would be in touch.Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH253

At that point, I knew the power was in my hands. I told my mate I will marry this girl, he told me I was mad. Actually, I think he said crazy and well, the rest is history.Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH271

from Bami (bride-to-be)
Hmmm…How did I meet Michael!!
According to Michael “They say in life, you never know where you will find true love. So, be prepared”.

On the 1st of June 2013, I attended a friend’s wedding with my ex ( not as an item!!! but we were trying to get back together), sisters and friends. As usual I was running errands and playing the good friend to the couple, serving people and making sure everyone was okay so I didn’t even get the chance to see my “true love” standing opposite me. It was finally time for DANCE DANCE DANCE! we all ran to the dance-floor, whilst trying to dance someone said hi to me and I responded hello and walked off and went about my business.

I think it was around the end of June or so, I bumped into my sister’s friend Nancy at work and she said “There is this guy Michael disturbing me for you oh” I was like “I’m not interested jor, I’m still thinking about getting back with my ex” and that was the last I heard of him.

Fast forward to 16th August 2013, I went clubbing with my friends and work colleagues, the plan was to have FUN not find a man, which we DID!!! It was my first time out after over a month of finally saying goodbye to my EX! Now time to have fun, enjoy the single life and at the same time ask God to take over my life, direct and choose for me.Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH316 I danced so hard that day, there was just this spirit of fun that descended on me from nowhere. We could see all the guys queuing to talk to us and dance with us but we spoke to NO ONE!

After dancing for so long, my feet got tired, so I decided to chill on the side (maybe a bit tipsy too). The next thing I know this brave guy approached me “Hi , my name is Michael do you remember me?  I said NO, then he mentioned I’m Nancy’s friend, then I smiled and said “Oh yes, she mentioned you”.

He asked if I was on LinkedIn, I said yes, he said he would be in touch and that was it! I forgot I had that convo with him till I got an email on Monday morning from Linkedin.Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH332This guy messaged me “Morning Dami, hope u r well?
Here’s my number: ***
Holla at me when you can. Have a good one.”

Trust me! I replied 20 mins later “Morning,
You sure you didn’t mean to send this message to a “Dami, because my name is Bami”
I started complaining to Jen Cook (bridesmaid) I cannot believe this guy just called me Dami when my linkedin clearly says BAMI! I’m not sending him my number, I’m not even gonna reply him blah blah blah

He replied “Haha. Hands covering my face. I apologise. Just woke up when I sent it. Ma bi nu.
BAMI – pls send ur num.
I’m waiting……”

JEN saw his reply and was like “Aww Bami it was just a mistake just reply or you will die single!” that cracked me up so bad and she was on my neck till I sent my number to Michael

I finally sent my number 2 hours later and the rest is history! 🙂Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_Bammy_Michael_Part1

First Date
We started speaking and I asked if she’d like to go out on a date. As expected, she said Yes 🙂 We agreed to go on a date on a Friday (a week after speaking in the club)

There’s a saying that “On the first date men worry about what they’re going to say while woman worry about what they’re going to wear”. This saying was absolutely true. Turned out she had spent a huge part of the week looking for what to wear. 🙂

I picked her up from her house. I opened the door for her as every gentleman should do. She looked beautiful. Simple but classy. I looked back at her house and I could see people peeping through the curtain to see who had come to pick up Bami.

Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH228I was excited.

Throughout the drive, we kept on making small talk. She was shy, very shy. She could barely look at me. I didn’t like that. I loved it :).Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH225I took her to a nice restaurant. She sat opposite me. We ate and talked more, she barely looked at me. She maintained almost no eye contact. The food was good, I ate well. She ate a little.

We spent the ride back home talking and listening to Afrobeats. Prior to meeting up, she told me she had lost her voice. This was untrue as it turned out she naturally has a deep voice, and I spent a huge part of the journey taking the mick out of it.

Overall, it was a very pleasant night, I knew I had unearthed a rare gem.Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH208

Our Relationship
Like every relationship we have had our ups and downs.Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH083However, we are still standing. This relationship is solely based on Jesus Christ. He is the center of our home. Nothing comes easy. You have to work for it. What you put in is what you get out.

The best thing we have done so far is to go for marriage preparation classes. We acknowledge that not all marriages are the same, however there are set guidelines to help all marriages succeed. These we are prepared to follow.

“Selflessness – It should be the basis of every relationship. If a person truly cares about you, they’ll get more pleasure from the way they make you feel, rather than the way you make them feel”.Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH151

The Proposal
My most brilliant achievement was my ability to persuade Bami to marry me.

Bami always spoke about all her likes and dislikes about proposals, she would say “I don’t like this and I don’t like that”. I remember saying to her “if you carry on like this, you will end up proposing to yourself”. I knew she was ready. I could tell. Our relationship had experienced ups and downs and we were still standing, the love was stronger and deeper. I was ready. We were both ready for a higher level of commitment. However, I put up a front like I wasn’t.

I would often make multiple trips to the ring maker and once it was done, I picked it up and started to plan in my head how I would propose. Toks (Bami’s sister) and Temi (Bami’s friend) were instrumental in the proposal, they organised a drink up / games night at mine. Lots of friends came and they all had no idea what I planned to do.

I was nervous, very nervous. I needed something to calm me down, so I turned to a bottle of Orijin. It didn’t work, I drank another and felt better.

The plan was simple. Whilst playing a game of charades, I would be asked to act out “Will You Marry Me”, I started acting with people trying to guess. She had no clue what was going on, she kept on shouting at the time keeper to stop me. As soon as my time was up, I turned to face her, brought out the ring from my back pocket and knelt down. I didn’t need to say anything, the noise was deafening.Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH179

She couldn’t even look at me. She was laughing and crying all at the same time. I managed to calm everyone down and I asked the most difficult question in my life “Will You Marry Me?”. She said YES! and we all partied hard till the early hours of the morning.Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH009
It’s very simple “The day I’ll go down on my knees for another girl is the day I’ll tie shoe lace for our daughter”, I could not be happier.Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH079Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH061Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH004Bamich16_BellaNaija Weddings_2016_AkinTayoTimi_IPC Events_BAMICH131

***

Photography: AkinTayoTimi | @AkinTayoTimi | www.akintayotimi.com/blog

Wedding Planner: IPC Events | @IPCEvents

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