Rumours indicated that Namirembe Cathedral had told the couple that they wouldn’t xchange their vows in church since the groom (Joel Isabirye) had exchanged vows with another woman in church before.
Joel was previously married to a former Daily Monitor writer, Grace Naisamura. However, Isabiye told us that he and Naisamura divorced at Nakawa Court a year and a half ago.
He also told us that he was not thrown out of church as the rumourmill on social media went last Thursday. “What happened is what the Church of Uganda calls a blessed marriage.”
He told us that in a blessed marriage, the couple first weds elsewhere and then come to the church for a solemnisation of the marriage.
“Me and my wife (Jjingo) first conducted a civil wedding at the registrar of marriages. We then went to church and announced our intentions to have a blessed marriage and the Church agreed,” Isabirye said.
“The reverend prayed for the us, we made new vows, we gave thanks giving and then exchanged rings in the church registry in front of the reverend and the vicar of the church and in the presence of our relatives, friends and witnesses.”
He told us that they signed two certificates indicating that their marriage was solemnised at Namirembe Cathedral, and the other one showing that their marriage had been blessed.
All said and done, Joel and Rebecca’s wedding was a spectacular one and a contender on the list of top weddings of 2013. The couple flew in a chattered chopper from Namirembe cathedral and they had two receptions; one inside the UMA exhibition hall in Lugogo and another in the gardens opposite the hall. Several entertainers also performed at the wedding reception that also had a fireworks display as the couple cut their cake. The pair is yet to return from their honeymoon in Geneva.