An Athlone couple’s first shopping trip as husband and wife has brought them more than they bargained for.
But that’s only to be expected, seeing that bride Zaakiyah Achmat, 21, was wearing her wedding gown, accompanied by her new hubby, Ridhaa Ryklief, 28, in his suit.
The couple had barely said their “I do’s” on their big day last Saturday when they decided to pop into Pick n Pay in Rondebosch for a snack.
A fellow shopper took a picture of Zaakiyah in her white dress and posted it on Twitter where it went viral, prompting PnP to offer the couple a gift.
“We were dating for about two years and on Saturday was our big day. I had my reception at Kenwyn Primary School in Lansdowne,” Ridhaa explains.
NEWLYWEDS: Couple Zaakiyah Achmat and Ridhaa Ryklief’s big day. Photo: Courtesy of Zaakiyah Achmat
“We then made our way to the University of Cape Town to have our wedding photo shoot done.
“It was hot, we were running up and down and were exhausted.”
With some time to spare before Zaakiyah’s reception, they decided to go to the shop.
Ridhaa says at the PnP in Rondebosch, their driver offered to go inside and buy them cool- drink and chips, but then Ridhaa says he made a joke which would change their lives.
“I joked that there are so many things to choose from in the store, and asked Zaakiyah if she would like us to go in ourselves, it would be our first shopping experience as a married couple,” he laughs.
He says as they went about their business, shoppers started congratulating them.
“A shopper came up to us and thanked us for making his day. He also took a picture,” Ridhaa says.
“Thirty hours later, a cousin sent us the screenshot of the post on Twitter.
“Neither of us are on Twitter or Instagram and it was the customer who posted the picture,” he adds.
The tweet was liked nearly 2000 times and retweeted over 400 times.
Pick n Pay also tweeted that they were looking for the couple to give them a present.
The owner of the Rondebosch Pick n Pay, Fred Cockrell, says he was aware of the incident and that Pick n Pay’s marketing department “has made contact with the couple”.