Listen to the heart
They were family friends, but later fell in love
LOVE can creep into our lives in different ways, many are quite unexpected and are later cherished for a lifetime. Meredani Tuirara, 31, and Ratu Kinivuwai Nanovo, 28, grew up knowing each other and their respective families — their relationship was not something that was expected
Meredani is from Vunivaivai, Nakelo, Tailevu and has lived in England for eight years with her parents and two siblings before migrating to Australia in 2007 with her family.
Ratu Kinivuwai on the other hand is from Tavuki Village, in Kadavu and migrated to Australia in 2019 and now the pair live together on the Gold Coast enjoying their union.
“We first started dating officially in 2014, but it was all on the down low as they say,” Meredani shared.
“My first impression of Ratu Kinivuwai when he first approached me asking if we could start a relationship was not something that I had expected.
“I thought it would be a no because he was younger than me and also the fact that both our families knew each other, so we were family.”
Meredani did not want to complicate things so she kept refusing to date Ratu Kinivuwai, but this did not stop him from pursuing her for a couple of years before Meredani finally said yes.
“As we started dating there was a lot of our families that didn’t agree with us being together.
“Meanwhile in all of this, I had hid this whole relationship from my family in Australia.”
While everyone had their sets of opinions about their courtship, they chose to continue seeing each other and Meredani visited Ratu Kinivuwai regularly in Fiji.
“We thought to ourselves, the heart wants what it wants and we had to decide whether to listen to the noise or listen to our hearts.
“So, then we knew that we were destined for each other and we both would not be able to live without each other.”
Meredani and Ratu Kinivuwai dated for four years before they got legally married in Fiji in 2018 without their family knowing.
“My husband didn’t exactly propose to me like you do see in the movies etc.
“He just knew I was going to be his wife. When he saw that he had an opening and I was single he said these exact words, ‘you will be my wife, I already know and I have prayed for you’.”
While not being able to afford an extravagant wedding back then, their love was enough for them to head down to Suvavou house and seal the deal.
“Our witness for that day were my beautiful cousin sister Aliveta Tukuca and my number one brother-in-law Ratu Apakuki Nanovo.”
Early last year, the pair began to look for a place to hold a wedding in Fiji and wanted their church ceremony and traditional wedding to have a special meaning.
“When we planned our wedding, we wanted everyone to feel included which is why we wanted 400 guests.
“The reason why we had five groomsmen, five bridesmaids and five flower girls was to represent the five years that we already conquered as a married couple.”
The couple wanted everyone that had been a part of their lives to celebrate their big day.
“Some of our families we had not seen in years and our wedding felt like it was a reunion and that was what we both looked forward to the most.”
After their traditional formalities were completed, their beautiful union was held at the Centenary Methodist Church on December 15, 2023 with the reception held at the Grand Pacific Hotel.
“Our big day was magical. We made a promise to each other that we would enjoy the day as we spent a lot of money, time and effort.
“We just wanted to enjoy the day as we would not get to have that day back. So that is exactly what we did.”
Meredani’s stunning wedding dress was made by Tabuadrau Designs, with hair and makeup by Unik Hair and Beauty.
“My husband’s traditional Fijian clothes along with the groomsmen and bridesmaid’s traditional clothes for the church ceremony were ordered from Moala, Lau organised by my beautiful mother Adi Akanisi Tuirara.”
Their four tier wedding cake, which according to the couple tasted phenomenal, was done by The Cake Lab, with live band performance that got everyone dancing performed by the Gang ni Kaji.
“They accommodated all age groups and everyone had a lot of fun.
“The food was provided by Grand Pacific Hotel which was a buffet setting and it was prepared beautifully.
“We were able to order two dishes from outside from which was provided from Niu Grillz they had delicious kokoda and roast pork.”
Meredani said the entire celebration was beautifully done with the gracious and kind help of their families and loved ones.
“It’s hard to find love and even harder to find someone that you would want to spend the rest of your life with.
“If you want to marry someone ignore whatever noise that is in the background and stand firm on what you feel.”