Double Valentine’s Day celebration

I t was a double celebration for a Belfort family, who not only marked their 50th wedding anniversary on Valentine’s Day, but also celebrated their youngest daughter’s birthday and a wedding vow renewal on Sunday. Dennis Moodley (72) and Rani Moodley (72), from Lotus Road, met years ago at the same bus stop they both used to travel to work. Rani recalled that she was initially reluctant to engage with Dennis — and even gave him the wrong name when they first started talking.

“He would ask to sit next to me and I would say that someone else was sitting there. I even told him my name was Sandra,” she said. “As time went by, we began talking more and he eventually proposed.

I had to tell my mother. I came from a Hindu home and he was Christian, so I called my grandmother. She and my mother met him, they liked him, and we got married.” Rani said the couple had a large wedding, followed by a traditional wedding meal shared with more than 200 family members and friends.

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“We were married at the Presbyterian Church in Longmarket Street, which is no longer in existence, and then we had a huge reception. It was a beautiful wedding,” she said. The couple recently celebrated their 50th anniversary with their children over supper at a restaurant, before renewing their vows at St Paul’s Anglican Church in the Pietermaritzburg CBD.

Dennis wore a suit while Rani wore a dress, and the renewal was witnessed by family, friends and members of the congregation. Dennis continues to run his own business, while Rani attends the Woodlander Senior’s Club She said the secret to their long-lasting union was honesty, trust, love and communication and putting God first in everything they do. The couple have three children and six grandchildren.

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