Cupid proved stronger than Covid for a young Surrey Estate couple who didn’t let the global pandemic scuttle their plans to wed.
Tanweer Regal, 23, and Aqeelah Salie, 22, met four years ago through family. In October last year, they decided to get hitched and set a date for June 21.
As the Covid-19 storm clouds gathered and rumours of an impending national lockdown circulated, Aqeelah wanted to have the wedding sooner but Tanweer decided to keep the date.
The original plan was to have the nikah at Surrey Estate Mosque, then a breakfast, and a catered reception at Darul Islam Hall, take pictures and then go home. But lockdown had other plans for the couple.
Undeterred, they married at home in Surrey Estate and had a small breakfast for 50 people at their house.
They had a backdrop for pictures set up with a couch in the garage, and people took pictures of them there.
A drive-by reception followed at 12:30pm with some 40 cars gliding past the couple’s home. Each guest dropped off a gift and was given a parcel of food to take home.
Neighbours also set up tables in their driveways for people to sit and eat. One even provided the sound system and another served as the MC.
The plan was for the couple to walk down the road and pass by the houses, but it started to rain so they remained in their garage.
Tanweer, a member of the Surrey Estate Neighbourhood Watch, said the wedding had been a true community effort and he appreciated it.
The couple’s original plan was to take photos at a forest, but because it rained on the day they quickly got some shots in Cape Town CBD.
“I’m really happy that we went through with it,” Aqeelah said.
“Our families are quite happy and it turned out much better than we actually thought it would. We had fun, which was the most important thing and so did everyone else.”
Tanweer added: “Our neighbours and family really came together for us and we want to thank everyone who helped to make the day possible.”