Love connects different worlds
THE start of a great relationship stems first from friendship. Once grounded, it blooms into something special. Penolpy Valentine, 25, and Tiacoro Ratutamana, 27, first met in February 2019 in Nadi where they were both employed at the time.
While Penolpy is of mixed Fijian and European descent from Qamea Island with maternal links to Tiliva Village, Nakaseleka in Kadavu, Tiacoro hails from Nawaido Village, Solevu in Bua.
The pair grew up very differently. Penolpy was a city girl, lived a comfortable life and knew nothing about rural living.
Tiacoro on the other hand was raised in his village before moving to Labasa for secondary school and later to Suva where he completed his education.
“We have very different personalities, I’m a very private person and only speak when I’m spoken to and I don’t easily socialise with new people,” Penolpy shared.
“Tiacoro, however, is very outgoing and can easily socialise with anyone.”
Penolpy recalled the day when she first joined the workplace where Tiacoro was employed. She hardly took notice of him.
“I remember asking Tiacoro once what he thought of me when he first saw me and his exact reply was, ‘I’m going to date that girl even if she’s stubborn and doesn’t smile.’
“He said those exact words to a workmate the first time he saw me.”
The pair were friends before they started dating. Tiacoro made his move when they went out partying one night with friends.
“We hopped on the same transport to get home and he turned to me and asked me if I was single or seeing anyone.
“I replied that I wasn’t seeing anyone and he told me ‘don’t lie to me.’
“He had seen the wallpaper of my phone a few days before and it had a picture of my cousin brother and me. He thought it was my boyfriend.”
After that night out, they began seeing more of each other and officially began dating in March 2019 before they both moved to Suva.
“In late 2019, Tiacoro and a few of his family members living in Suva took a sevusevu to my stepdad and mum to inform them of our courting. We call it the i tukuni or i vakaraitaki.
“That year I became sickly and was admitted to the hospital multiple times. I was always iron deficient, and dehydrated and in 2022 I found out that I had endometriosis, a chronic disease with no cure.
“Tiacoro always took care of me during these trying times and since he left Fiji in January last year, I’ve had to take care of myself to avoid getting sick.”
The pair dated for four years and 10 months before uniting in marriage on January 6, 2024.
In late October of 2023, Tiacoro began making plans to spend Christmas in Fiji with Penolpy.
“I booked his flight to arrive on Christmas Eve but didn’t book a return flight and while making plans on what to do for Christmas we thought ‘why not get married.’
“So because Tiacoro had a full-time job and a part-time job, it was my responsibility at home to look up venues and calculate expenses if we were going to have our wedding.”
When November arrived, hotels and venue halls were fully booked from the last week of December up till the first week of January, so the pair did not have a wedding venue.
“But a family friend told us that Vineyard Palace was available for booking so I went there to inquire and I booked the place for January 6 because it would give us at least a week to prepare together after Tiacoro arrived.
“The week of the wedding was so hectic, all the last-minute preparations, missed meals and lack of sleep but it was all worth it in the end.”
On January 5, the couple had their i lakovi and bulubulu before their matrimonial ceremony at the Sacred Heart Cathedral the next day.
“Usually the i lakovi is done months before the actual wedding but because Tiacoro was in Australia and had only three weeks to spend in Fiji, we had all the Fijian traditional protocols done the day before the wedding.
“It also only made sense because we had family and friends coming from Vanua Levu, Western Viti Levu and overseas to attend our wedding so it was convenient for everyone.”
At their wedding reception held at Vineyard Palace, the i tautaunaki was carried out, a traditional protocol where the bride’s family officially gives her away to the groom’s family.
“It is an act of love with trust and hope that they will look after me as their own.”
While drafting their guest list, they had initially planned for 80 guests but it kept increasing leading to the day of the wedding.
“We ended up hiring the whole venue for 200 guests because for Fijian celebrations nothing is ever going to be small.”
The couple wore Fijian masi for their church ceremony and a white-themed attire for their reception.
“My aunt from New York was in charge of the bridal team attire in church and all the decorations while my stepmum from New Zealand arranged for my reception dress which was done by Sugar Rose Fiji.
“The groom’s family was in charge of dressing the men for the wedding ceremony and their reception suit was purchased in Australia by my husband.”
Their wedding cake with chocolate, lemon and fruit flavours was done by Iconic Cakes Fiji while the food was catered by Vineyard. Their families also prepared roasted pork, beef and lovo.
“Tiacoro returned to Australia six days after the wedding, we didn’t get to spend much time together after the wedding.
“But God has already been slowly blessing us, we have had doors of opportunity open for us and achieved goals that we’ve prayed for over a long time.
“Marrying the love of your life is the best feeling in the world,” Penolpy said.