Behind the Fan: Henry & Genevieve's Virginia Wedding

Two Ceremonies, One July Day

Henry and Genevieve gave the tenth of July two ceremonies and filled both: a traditional Ghanaian engagement in Fairfax, Virginia, then a white wedding and reception in Chantilly, with around two hundred and fifty guests moving between them. The morning began with the details. Genevieve's traditional gown waited on its stand, green melting into pink and finished in beadwork, beside a pair of jewelled heels, while Henry dressed in kente with beads at his neck and a crown of black and gold.

Before the families met, there was time in front of a pair of golden doors: Genevieve and her wide green fan, her bridesmaids in pink, Henry and his friends in matching green. Cloth in the morning, white by the afternoon. The DMV does days like this well.

The Engagement

At the Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center, the engagement followed the order they had described to us: family introductions, the presentation of gifts, traditional attire and the rites that bring two families together. Henry's side arrived in olive and gold, baskets and wrapped gifts held high, and a spokesman took the microphone. Henry danced in behind them, and her maids followed, fans swaying.

The drummers set the pace and a line of women in purple kente danced in. Genevieve came last, hidden behind her fan and dancing her way to the front. When the fan came down and Henry saw her, the hall erupted.

They sat side by side on a gilded settee, rose again to dance, and both families crowded in for the photographs, their friends close around them.

Afterwards we led them outside for a few minutes among the trees, the fan still in hand. By afternoon the cloth had given way to white: two rings resting on a little book of vows, a veil being set in place, a quiet moment at the window.

The Walk

At The Bellevue Conference & Event Center in Chantilly, Henry stood in a double-breasted tuxedo, trying very hard to look calm while his groomsmen made no such effort. The aisle was lined with flowers, and the bridesmaids walked in blush.

The doors opened, Genevieve walked towards Henry, and every guest rose to meet her. Their vows were spoken into the microphone for all to hear, the bridesmaids did not even try to hold back their tears, and the rings followed.

The Exit

A kiss beneath the flowers, and the exit: husband and wife walking back up the aisle, laughing. The bridal party gathered around them in blush and black, first by the aisle and later on the staircase.

The Entrance

The reception glowed pink: a grand staircase, chandeliers, tall arrangements of roses and a cake in pale tiers. On the stairs, Henry and Genevieve stole a kiss, and then the bridal party turned its entrance into a show, signs and all, with the couple close behind.

They stepped into a hall already on its feet and took the floor beneath a chandelier, candlelight in the foreground. Later Genevieve changed into gold, and beside the cake there was one more kiss. Two ceremonies, one day, and a crowd that stayed to the very end. Congratulations, Henry and Genevieve.