When Whitney first met Siya, it wasn’t necessarily love at first sight. Truth be told, the event she met him at in Brooklyn, “I absolutely didn’t need to go,” she recalls to ESSENCE. Something else she had no real interest in? Dating. She didn’t need to mix nor mingle, as an alternative focused on creative execution agency, nineteenth & Park, but she allowed herself to be persuaded into attending this particular party in support of a friend — and since there was food there. So when she was introduced to Siya, she didn’t think anything of it at first.

“I went about my business and proceeded to station myself in a chair with my full plate of food and he kept coming over and asking me questions,” she says. Despite that, she found that she wasn’t bothered by his presence.

When the 2 encountered each other on the after-party, Whitney, of Bahamian descent, was taken by the soca tunes. Siya got here as much as her and asked her to bounce (which she would discover later was something he does NOT do). The dance would draw them closer, as they continued to speak because the night went on. By the tip of it, he easily asked for her number to call while she was driving back to her home in Latest Jersey to be sure she and her friend got home safely. She appreciated his concern, and would also appreciate the text message that might follow.

“The subsequent day, he sends me a text message: ‘With every part occurring yesterday, I forgot after we said we might get back together. How’s Sunday at 2 p.m.? I made us a reservation just in case,’” she says. “Obviously, we had never made any future plans but I appreciated the intentionality of all of it, so I said ‘after all.’”

The remaining, as they are saying, is history. The 2 would would hit it off swimmingly, which Siya felt would occur when he first laid eyes on her at that party.

“I’m a one who believes in love or the thought of it and I romanticize moments. The primary time that I saw Whitney in Brooklyn at African Chop House, I knew I needed to try to be as near her as possible,” he says.

They might eventually grow as a pair, sharing a house together and in response to Whitney, doing “all of those married people things without married people documents.” After some discussion in 2020, they decided that by 2022 they’d get married, but she had no concept that Siya had already began preparing to propose. He went to a minority woman-owned jeweler to design a hoop for her, which he drew by hand, and got all their family and friends involved within the proposal in a clever way amid the pandemic (more on that shortly!). Nearly two years later, on the weekend of June 11, 2022, the couple said “I do” in grand fashion, celebrating with a three-day event called Camp Madikane (which is Siya’s surname). It was a play on the sleepaway camps of childhood, crammed with food, fun and opportunities for people to make connections. It involved a welcome event with stilt walkers, a steel drum band and flamingo girls, in addition to a gospel brunch on the ultimate day. Sandwiched in between was the gorgeous wedding ceremony. It was attended by family members from all around the world, brought together on the Hutton Brickyards in Kingston, Latest York, two hours away from the town.

“These were really different people from all different walks of life/countries/cities,” Siya says. “They got here for us and didn’t even know one another but were all getting along.”

Camp Madikane, made to create community and have fun it as well, was a treat not just for family and friends, but most of all, for the most recent Mr. and Mrs. Madikane.

“The whole lot was perfect because we made sure we did it our way,” Whitney says. “Now, we have now all of those memories, from start to complete, that we’ll cherish and look back on perpetually and that’s what is basically vital.”

They’re memories that the couple decided to share with ESSENCE! Take a look at stunning images from the large day, and learn more in regards to the love story behind it on this week’s Bridal Bliss.

Vendors

Wedding Location: Hutton Brickyards

Creative Direction: Whitney Headen of nineteenth & Park (the bride)

Wedding Stylist: Jenna Tyson 

Caterer: Chef Tiffani Janelle

Groom’s and Groomsmens’ Suits: Custom by 5001 Flavors 

Photographer: Stanley Babb 

Videographer: Bricks Group Media 

Florals: Javier Valentino 

Wedding Dress: Custom Ghalia Lahav designed by the bride. Dresses were coordinated by Vainglorious Brides.

Wedding Planner: Tricia Smith Brown

01

How the Bride Knew She’d Found the One

“I knew I discovered my person after our first date. As cliché because it sounds, every part was just really easy,” Whitney says. “Conversations flowed seamlessly, and we genuinely had so many things in common. He was one in every of the primary men who I didn’t feel was intimidated by my personality and will also humble me in a short time. My usual pick-up lines or talks of all my world travels didn’t faze him and he was so attentive and excited by every part I needed to say. It was refreshing. We began the date at a elaborate restaurant where he treated everyone like family, and by the tip of the night, we were rapping all of the lyrics to Nipsey Hussle while eating tater tots at a dive bar and I knew then, even with all my resistance, that this was my person.”

02

How the Groom Knew He’d Found the One

“The moment that sealed it for me was at my friend’s wedding in Italy,” Siya says. “Whitney had just come from a piece trip in Cannes, so if she had told me she was drained, I’d have understood. As an alternative, Whitney dove into the trip with each feet and didn’t complain if anything went flawed, but she made sure that I knew when she wasn’t pleased and after I needed to do higher and communicate together with her and all can be okay. That is something that, up to now, would have been handled poorly by me. The trip and my friend’s wedding was really good for 2 reasons: This was our first wedding and our first trip together. After that trip, I desired to see Whitney nearly on daily basis to the purpose that I’d make excuses simply to go to her office, bringing snacks and libations.”

03

The Proposal

Siya put a variety of thought into popping the query. “He contacted my best friend to trick me into considering I had a photoshoot the night before, so the 2 of us could stay at a hotel while he literally transformed our front room right into a nightclub venue,” Whitney says. The day of the proposal, he had her meet him for lunch at one in every of their favorite restaurants, and that’s where he worked his magic. “I get to the restaurant and we’re outside at this mini glass hut and he has the whole place decorated with flowers with music playing looking SO nervous,” she says. “He had a voice note from his birth mother in South Africa playing of their native tongue and after I asked what she was saying, he got down on one knee and said, ‘She is welcoming you into our tribe, for those who can have us.’ At this exact moment, our family and friends come out of the bushes, jumping up and down, cheering, and popping champagne bottles. After that, we head back to our house, which I had no idea he fully transformed into our own personal nightclub (remember, Covid times) with all of our closest friends, family, favorite chef, a DJ…every part! On top of all of that, he had all of our family and friends who couldn’t be there on Zoom. All of them stayed on and partied with us almost the whole night. It was truly a magical event.”

04

The Welcome Party

“Siya and I prefer to say that we’re skilled wedding attendees, so we overly understand what goes into the day and the things that we wanted to incorporate or not. Certainly one of the things that at all times seems unfair to traveling guests with destination weddings is that they’re only someday and you then’re out of the country or place just attempting to figure it out on your personal,” the bride says. “Although our wedding was in Latest York, it was two hours outside of the town and we had so many individuals traveling internationally. We knew we desired to host a full weekend event. The concept for the welcome really stemmed from each of our cultures: I’m Bahamian and Siya is South African and one thing we each like to do is party. Again, community is very important to us and there is no such thing as a higher communal event than a Caribbean carnival. This event was really about breaking the ice and setting the tone for the weekend. We wanted people to loosen up and just have an excellent time without the troubles of every part else that comes with the actual wedding ceremony. The dress code was intentionally casual and we had custom drinks, live performances from a steel drum band, stilt walkers, and flamingo girls.”

05

The Gospel Brunch

“The Sunday gospel brunch was also something that was really vital to us. We’re each very spiritual people and our connection to God is one in every of the things that holds us together,” Whitney says. “With the brunch, we were trying to create a sense of upliftment that individuals could take away with them. On top of that, we’re each from the South — of Africa and the USA, so we wanted something that felt like a cookout or as South Africans would call it, ‘a braai,’ which can be all about community. People were hugging, crying, and so thankful by the tip of the night.”

06

The Theme Is Camp

“The concept of camp got here about because our wedding was all about community. Crucial aspect for us was that we were bringing everyone we loved, from all around the world, together for probably the one time ever in our history. We had people traveling from Africa, Korea, The Bahamas, Sweden, England, and more to have fun with us for the weekend. And what other place do you get to fulfill that many individuals from diverse backgrounds but camp?” Whitney says. “I personally never went to sleepaway camp as a toddler (blame my southern Caribbean parents) but that is what I imagined the experience to be like. From there, Camp Madikane was born and we found the right venue to host it. We rented out the complete venue for the weekend and only allowed our friends to remain on-site. The venue had small cabins, fire pits, and golf carts to get around. It was right on the water with acres and acres of land. By the third day, you can see all the guests walking around of their #CampMadikane hoodies, drinking coffee from canteens, mixing and mingling with people whom they’d probably never cross paths with and we knew we had seen our idea come full circle.”

07

The Groom’s Favorite Moment

Certainly one of the moments Siya will remember most is watching Whitney make her grand entrance. “My wife walking down that aisle in that lovely dress was amazing,” he says. “I’m nosy and had asked a number of times what dress she was going to wear. Regardless that I do know traditionally that I’m not imagined to know, I still desired to know. So, seeing her coming down that aisle and everybody witnessing her beauty too gave me goosebumps. I had at all times dreamed of that moment and it was well definitely worth the wait.”

08

The Bride’s Favorite Moment

“My favorite moment from the day was just how authentically us every part was,” she says. “We didn’t force ourselves to remain inside any traditional limitations and that made it so way more impactful. I walked down the aisle to Beyoncé and Jay-Z, we wrote our own vows, and we gave out hoodies as an alternative of party favors.”

09

The Venue

After struggling to seek out the correct place to tie the knot, Whitney put together an inventory of 100 venues in upstate Latest York to look into. The place they’d find yourself finding, the Hutton Brickyards, actually didn’t make the list. “While we were headed back home after a disappointing farm tour, an ad popped up on my phone for a spot called ‘Hutton Brickyards.’ I had never heard of them, so I called and emailed them immediately. The event manager called me back the following day and said that they were fully booked on weekends but there was a possible possibility for a weekday wedding. Not our ideal situation but at that time, we were pretty desperate. Right before I used to be about to comply with the weekday wedding, she emailed me back to say that somebody had just canceled for the weekend of June eleventh and that just so happened to be our original date. It was meant to be and it was absolutely perfect.”

10

Wedding Planning

Whitney enjoyed putting her big day together. The truth is, a few of her family and friends might say she enjoyed it an excessive amount of! “Wedding planning for me was so fun,” she says. “I’m a creative person and marketer by nature, so I created the Camp Madikane campaign and theme to make it fun and enjoyable for myself. This helped me get through a few of the more mundane tasks which might be related to wedding planning.”

11

A Towering Treat

A round of applause for this dreamy dessert — a cake that matched the inspiration for the decor.

12

Let Me See Your Grills

How creative and funky are these grills for Whitney?

13

The Party Favors

As an alternative of giving out traditional party favors, the couple commemorated the weekend with branded hoodies!

14

Hopes for the Future

“For me, I just hope we proceed to construct on the muse that we’ve created for ourselves,” Whitney says. “From the start, we have now said that we’re having a wedding first. The marriage was only a celebration of our love. I’m looking forward to constructing a family and continuing to do things which might be authentically us with the individuals who love and support us unconditionally.”
Siya says, “For the longer term, I hope for a successful and healthy home that might be a start for an extended and lasting legacy. We’re big on having a community that’s healthy and supportive of one another. I’m looking forward to our children that God blesses us with and continuing to hold on helping children around the globe who’re in need, which is something that we strongly consider in.”