The pair initially crossed paths in September 2018 at Dumbo House.
At some point, I was spraying her face with rose water and offered to spray Kwames face.
We had a brief chit-chat and went on with our day.
Photo: Max del Valle
No names or contact info were exchanged.
Their next meeting took place by chance 18 months later in Accra, Ghana.
We ran into each other at a house party at Hawas friends backyard, says Kwame.
I walked up to Hawa and said, Youre the girl from Dumbo House!
They finally exchanged information and had their first date in January 2020 back in New York.
Kwame planned to propose to Hawa while they were on a three-week trip to Japan.
However, the vacation almost fell through as Kwames passport renewal was running behind.
It was there, in a beautiful, quaint garden, that Kwame popped the question.
The bride even spent six weeks in Portugal while planning the event.
While the couple admitted the wedding planning was hectic, they took the pivot in their stride.
Hawa handled communication duties while I took charge of the planning.
We put guardrails in place to ensure the planning process would not add an unnecessary burden to our relationship.
These pieces were created to be worn during the traditional part of their celebration as they danced the Adowa.
I wore a traditional Somali outfit called a Dirac, lovingly sourced by her mother, the bride explains.
In the end, everything turned out beautifully.
