Gospel singer Kofi Karikari has fondly recalled how he met his wife.

He also outlined three of the most important things to consider before one gets married.

He spoke to Prince Benjamin (PB) on the Class Morning Show on Class 91.3 FM.

1. knowing

The Never Forget hitmaker said per his experience, "There's a knowing. It gets to a point in everybody's life you get to know it's time for me to marry [and] that you need a helpmate to continue the vision God has given you".

He said he impressed on God that unless he helped with the decision-making for a spouse, "there are mistakes I'd make".

Kofi Karikari bemoaned "a lot of people" mistakenly thinking "when it comes to marriage, you have to make the decision alone" when "you can actually get God to help you and play certain things to your advantage".

He encouraged those who have the urge to marry to pray to God, "describe the specifications and he'll give you just what you want" because "God does not want us to cope but to enjoy life".

2. Meeting his wife

According to the 2024 Telecel Ghana Music Awards Male Vocalist of the Year, he met his wife, Dr Oye Karkari, at "a friend's wedding" after "I spoke to God,".

He lightheartedly recalled how he was upset with how everyone at the wedding was waving and interacting with Oye, "distracting me from the preaching,".

Little did he know, he added, Oye, who was singing mates with the groom in "a city choir, had not been seen in a long time because — I think she was in medical school" and the wedding had become a reunion of sorts.

Despite his initial annoyance, the respected singer-songwriter said, "fast forward, we became friends and through God's counsel and guidance, we found out that we really clicked, there were a lot of interests that we shared, and it was actually God's will for us to be together".

Choosing a wife

"First thing, find a woman who is beautiful," he said matter-of-factly. "If your wife is not beautiful to you, the likelihood is you'll start looking elsewhere for what you think is beautiful. So, one, find a woman who is attractive to you and is beautiful."

The second thing to consider, the Meda W'ase hitmaker said, was "a woman who loves and fears the Lord,". Here, he cited how his wife "is always looking for God in everything, asking herself, 'What would Jesus have done?'"

He emphasised this trait "helps with the hard times," and "times of friction, you know, disagreements".

He emphasised both partners have to be God-fearing to preserve a marriage.

The absence of this, he warned, "leads to a lot of conflicts in marriages and then it eventually breaks" unless you have "a person who first prioritise God".

The last character trait he named was patience "because you'll need it to finish the race" of life and marriage.

Kofi Karikari’s latest offering is a 12-track album titled Lifted High.