Happy Tuesday beautiful people and thanks for reading our blog posts and for all the encouraging feedback. We appreciate you!!

Today’s blog is from my dear friend Paa Kwesi. Mr. Metrosexual himself. He’s the only man I know who knows the colors tangerine and magenta. Please read and enjoy his post and remember, we’re still accepting Twirly Tuesday posts from any and everyone. Kindly send them to info@thepurpletwirl.com. Thank you! xo.

““I hate weddings. They’re such a waste of time and money and energy. What is worse is that the bride is almost always late. If I had my way, the wedding would take place without me.”

Those are the thoughts/words of many young Ghanaian men, until they get involved in a close friend’s wedding or they themselves are getting married. The truth of the matter is we all love weddings. There’s something special and sweet about that moment where two people deep in love commit themselves to each other for the rest of their lives. No wonder that it is God’s special institution.

My wedding was a miracle. I don’t have any other word to describe it. My first attempt at getting married was on 1st January, 2009. I was then living with my parents, and in the morning of the first day of 2009, my mother asked me what I intended to achieve in that year. Without hesitation, I declared that I wanted to get married. I guess that was to be the beginning of a journey till I finally got all green light in May 2012 to get married in August 2012.

Our first step towards matrimony was, of course, was to ask for God’s favour. We needed it more than anything else. And with that, all else was a smooth ride. Or was it? Since this is supposed to be a short note, I’ll write only on that one aspect that I was especially interested in and was in total control of – my clothes.

All those who know me know that I like to look good. And at weddings, I like to look better than the groom. I’ve been known to wear the exact wedding colours in my outfit to weddings, down to my underwear. It is no surprise that when I stated sangria and tangerine as my wedding colours, I got a lot of people curious on what my outfit will look like.

In my mind, I knew exactly what I wanted. I even designed my own suit. I contacted my couturier in May and made full payment for my suit and that of my best man (the wedding was to be in August). I had the fabric imported from France; it was a confusing twirl of purple, blue and silver. I also got the tangerine threads and lining for the suit. In my mind, I was all set for the wedding. All I needed to do was to hit the gym to build the body a bit to fill the suit.

I also placed an order for 2 white shirts from London. The sad truth is that finding good quality white shirts in Ghana is almost impossible. All the shops I visited had cheap funny-looking shirts from China at ridiculous prices. Those who had the good quality Jermyn Street shirts were selling them at double the price. I just had to order from London.

Knowing that my costume was sorted out, I focused attention on other matters.

I guess this is the point where a wedding planner would have done me a lot of good. I was to receive some shocks which could have messed up my costume. I paid in full for my suit, and waited the usual 14 days for delivery. 14 days turned into a month. Then 2 months. Each time I contacted the tailor, he would have a story for me. At the end of June, I advised myself and contacted another bespoke couturier. I didn’t even inform the first one of what I was doing. I didn’t have the heart or time for it.

He must have been confused himself when he realised that I didn’t call or send him a message for the whole of July and August. 2 days to the wedding, he had the nerve to send me an sms (after I had refused to answer his calls) asking if I didn’t want my suit anymore.

Another shock I had was with the white shirt when it arrived – it didn’t fit. It was a little too big. With no time to order another shirt, and none readily available in Ghana, I was in a bit of a limbo. Fortunately, my Spain connection came through for me, and I got a sexy Zara shirt.

My advice to men getting married is plain: pray, and plan in advance. The wedding planner makes it simpler and gives you more time for the more important things, like praying and enjoying the wedding.”