Marie Lozano and Bertie Gekoski’s off-the-beaten-path love story

Two herds of elephants 12 hippos and a lioness, 300 meters nearby, became their guests, along with that beautiful Zimbabwe sunset."

With or Without You by U2 was playing in the background as an homage to their first date in the Philippines back in December 2019 as the stars aligned for the two last Nov. 24 at the beautiful Hwange National Park.

For Marie Lozano and Aaron “Bertie” Gekoski, it was the most meaningful wedding they could ask for.

Yours truly crashed the second leg of the newlyweds’ honeymoon in Cape Town as we got an hour of their time to give us all the beautiful details of their meaningful and ultra-intimate nuptials. Marie being a lifestyle journalist and Bertie an award-winning wildlife photojournalist have traveled the world extensively.

So, our question was: Why did they get married in Zimbabwe?

Marie shared, “We had the most peaceful time there. We loved every single day of game drives. We would wake up at 5 a.m.”

Bertie added, “You feel at peace when you’re there in a way that it’s difficult to describe.”

With the logistics of it, both of them also had created a beautiful relationship with a conservation master, Mark Butcher, who quickly became a mentor to them through the years that they have visited Zimbabwe.

“He is such an inspiration. He is like a father to us and he really does a lot of conservation work. He brought the white rhinos back to Hwange.”

As many of us know, Marie is an “it” girl always having the first dibs on what is in at the moment and is always on the society pages, thanks to all the events who wish for her presence.

So, it was not a surprise when they shared her roadblock as they started planning for their wedding back in 2022.

“We were going to do either a United Kingdom (UK) or Philippine wedding. You can’t not invite people. We were thinking how are we going to do it? Who’s going to go where and it went by the one-year mark and usually when you get engaged and get married within a year of closer to the time of engagement, but it became like a big issue already.”

Marie is a glowing bride in a Mark Bumgarner wedding gown.

As the engagement was floating and Marie recounted the ordeal until finally Bertie’s father made sense during a trip the three of them had.

“The father of Bertie told us back in January in New Zealand, ‘You, two, do something for me, get married already. Just do it,’” she said.

That is where the idea popped in Marie’s head to wed with their most favorite creatures as witnesses.

“I threw in the idea to Bertie and said, ‘Why don’t we get married in front of elephants? When everything else was starting to give pressure. Why don’t we get married with elephants as our guests?’ He’s so game he liked it.”

The north star of the newlyweds suddenly became clearer that what mattered most was how both of them gave meaning to their love.

“In the end, you know what, in the end, it’s supposed to be about us,” said Marie.

Bertie added, “People forget the whole purpose of getting married and it’s the union of two people, not necessarily all the other stuff. This may sound selfish to some people but this just became about the two of us, and we just managed to forego all the family politics and potential sources of stress and conflict and allowed us to focus on us.”

During this one-month trip to Africa, Marie and Bertie already knew they were getting married but they did not have a definite date or location yet, they just knew it was going to be in Zimbabwe. They were so at peace and sure of their next steps that they surprised the people of Zimbabwe with their plans when they got their marriage certificate there.

Bertie shared, “They’ve never seen two foreigners get married in Zimbabwe. They were very confused as we filed for the marriage license.”

During the wedding day, Bertie recalled what they felt at that exact moment.

“On the day of the wedding, we were so relaxed. Just sitting there and chatting. We were just enjoying a glass of wine. Zero stress. We chose the location a day before the wedding. We found a watering hole,” he said.

Bertie and Marie met in their 40s, and it is a testament that finding one’s true love and soulmate is possible at whatever stage you are at in life.

Both balance one another as Bertie simplifies Marie’s high-strung surroundings and makes her realize to bank more on experiences. On the other hand, Marie gives Bertie a sense of safety and security that pulls him back to his now-beautiful reality after chasing a hardcore wildlife mission.

So, Marie leaves us with her musings on her adventures with Bertie by saying, “When you find a place where you feel peace, it really becomes a special place for you.”

And as for Bertie, here is his reflection on love, “Don’t give up and don’t settle.”