A Good Friend Knows Best! How a Forced Matchmaking Led to Tife & Isaac’s Amazing Church Proposal

Boluwatife and her soon-to-be husband Isaac found love, mediated by the helping hands of inspirational woman of God and Brand management professional Olufunto Ibuoye. 

Funto is a BN bride herself – her and musician hubby Gaisebaba shared their love story of getting married as virgins in their popular BN Weddings feature – click here for their story!

Tife and her spiritually inclined boo Isaac are now getting married, after a proposal at church. The game changer for both individuals was to find a spouse that would rub minds with them spiritually, mentally, physically and restore to the other all that had been lost in the past.

Be inspired!

~ Photography: Saint Clicks Photography

How We Met
from the bride-to-be Tife

I remember visiting Funto, we talked a whole lot, even as far down as my relationship status. I just answered with a simple “God is at work”  and reassured her that I was enjoying single hood and loving up on God and purpose. I spoke as one who had forgotten about her dream to get married at some point.

Our discussion drifted to matchmaking and I told her about a young man one of my friends hooked me up with and also mentioned that I kind of liked him, but I still felt really disconnected. I ended the gist by telling her of how the experience has justified my reasons for not believing in matchmaking. She had this smirk on her face that shows she disagreed with my position.

A few minutes later, I heard “oh! There is this young man Isaac I want you to meet”  at that point I felt as though she hadn’t been listening to me the whole time, to put it mildly I was bewildered but I smiled and changed the topic. Of course, I didn’t take it too seriously until she pinged me asking if she could give Isaac my number, with skepticism I said “yes”. A few minutes later, she asked if she could give him my BBM pin, and I jokingly said “yes, give him everything”.

We had our first date, and it was overwhelmingly amazing! Our second date was more amazing and many more dates after that were all shades of amazing! What attracts and connects me to Isaac the more is his regard for God, his rare values, character, passion and strong convictions. I love our friendship! God is indeed intentional; it is obvious all my wait was for the best, the very best! And the rest is the future!

from the groom-to-be Isaac

Just like breathing, love becomes effortlessly easy when you find that special one. You know how most young couples love to serve their single friends the “when are you getting married?” harassment question Yes, I’ve got quite a number of such friends; one of which is the Ibuoyes and this particular couple won’t stop teasing me about settling down. We had a discussion once where I reiterated I would only get married when I find that person who resonates most with my God-given purpose inside-out.

The next thing I got was “I just think you both should meet”, skeptical and cynical, as I haven’t done such before. Although after the chat, something inside me wanted to give it a try; after all, there’s nothing wrong with building friendship.

Our first date was going to be a very short one as we were both in a hurry due to other pre-scheduled appointments. I remember distinctly how we agreed to spending just an hour, after which we’d both leave to honor our respective appointments. To our amazement, by the time we checked the time, we had spent over three hours, yet it seemed like seconds. Dates after dates left me deliriously awed!

I was dazed by her genuine love for God, commitments to service and perspective to life. The spiritual connection, intellectual chemistry, emotional alignment, shared values and quality conversations amongst others made us great friends with so much delight in each others company. It was so deep, so real that, at a point, I thought this must be too good to be true.

“How can you find ALL you’ve ever prayed for in ONE woman?” I  can’t be more grateful for having Tife in my life and I intend to cherish her with all I am and look forward to a beautiful experience of growing together to fulfill destiny.

The Story – from the match-maker Funto

I received a visit from Boluwatife, it had been a while since we spoke in person. We caught up, normal girls gist, from work to relationships where she informed me about a guy that she had just met through someone and how she wasn’t really comfortable with the whole matchmaking ordeal. However, as soon as I heard these words, Isaac popped into my mind.

I had met Isaac when he invited me to host his event, Success Stories Africa, and from there he became a friend of the family, helping my husband with projects and all. I also remember having him around once, and found myself and my husband teasing him about marriage and he defended himself by stating “he had not found her yet”.

During my talk with Bolu, I believe the Holy Spirit planted his wish in my heart, I haven’t got a clue why I didn’t think of Bolu sooner. So I told her that there was this guy I wanted her to meet and told her about him to the extent I knew and she insisted that she was not into that kind of thing anymore and I reinforced the fact that I was not matchmaking, I’d just like them to meet and that’s all.

Fast forward to their first date! That night Bolu sent me a text saying “I like Isaac”, I was so excited, we spoke more on BBM and she expressed how different he was from other guys, how he ticked all her boxes and not before long Isaac expressed his gratitude, telling me how Bolu was everything he wanted and more and how he may be indebted to me with either a car or house in the future, I was so blessed to be a part of their lovely union, little did I know it’ll come this far.

Proposal
From Tife

I literally walked into it…! (Editor’s Note: The bride-to-be was stunned when her friends showed up with “will you marry me?” cardboard signs and even a cake, including their matchmaker, Funto.)

My best friend, Adannaya called me a week before the big day to say she had a child dedication at Sheraton Lagos Hotel the upcoming Sunday and wanted me to come along with her as her husband had a family function and wouldn’t be available. She said she wanted me to dress the part and look good. This was going to be after the second service in the church at about 10:30 am. I love details! So I asked a number of questions and this young lady was dishing answers without pausing so I had absolutely no reason to be suspicious or think about anything.

Fast Forward to the big day, Sunday 17th of January 2016, during service Isaac says “Tife, you know I love you so much, especially…” He didn’t complete the statement and said “I’ll tell you after service”. I thought it was unusual, but oh well.

We walked towards the crowded church auditorium, Daystar Christian Center, Annex 1,  Isaac said it was time to complete the statement he started while at church, I listened with keen interest only to hear a big announcement, I lost a few of Isaac’s words so I wanted to try to catch up with the conversation when I saw his hand reaching for something in his pockets.

I was a little confused by how serious he looked, I looked round trying to figure what was going on and saw four people covering their faces with white cardboard, which had four words beautifully written on them “Will you marry me?”. When my eyes cleared a bit, I suddenly realized that our two best friends and two of my close friends were the ones carrying each word. I was also bedazzled to find out, our mutual friend, the amazing Funto was also carrying a beautiful cake with the inscription “Tife, Forever starts now”. Gaisebaba also appeared from nowhere singing “titilai”.

Everything happened so fast like a movie, Isaac then went on one knee and said a few words. The most striking of them was when he asked “Tife, I want my children to address you as their mum. Will you be my wife and mother of my kids?” I overheard someone say ‘I didn’t hear you say yes’, and I shouted in return, “YES YES YES YES!!!” Not sure how many times, I couldn’t compose myself until much later. My legs were shaking and my eyes turned red, his were red too. I didn’t even realize there were so many people looking and cheering. I was soaked in the moment, and I enjoyed it all the way!

Photos: Saint Clicks Photography

Video: Success Stories Africa | @TheSSafrica | www.successstoriesafrica.com