Akua Boakye and Folu Okunseinde first clicked on OkCupid in 2011. Though she still wasn't sold on the whole online dating thing, Akua, an ad tech in New York City, liked the playful banter she had with Folu, a data architect. She was into Jay Z and Kanye's latest collaboration; he was not a fan. But as they cyber-chatted, it became clear they had more in common than not—both grew up in New Jersey families with West African roots, went to college in Boston, and have three siblings. And while their musical tastes differed, romantically they were completely in sync, as one date led to three within that first week.
When they got engaged more than two years later, they knew a destination wedding was in their future. Folu had proposed to Akua while they were vacationing in Belize with friends, and they wanted their guests to experience the Caribbean's beautiful beaches and lively culture, too, says Akua. They chose the West Indian island of Barbados, finding their ideal spot in Codrington College, an ocean-facing, 18th-century Anglican theological seminary.
On April 25, 2015, friends came from as far as Singapore and China, and family members traveled from Nigeria, Ghana, and Great Britain to be among the 194 people who witnessed Akua and Folu recite Christian vows in front of the property's tranquil lily pond. Later, everyone moved to the back lawn, where the newlyweds twirled to Miguel's "Adorn" before joining their guests for dinner, served under a tent at rows of long tables. (On the menu: breadfruit vichyssoise, roasted red-onion-and-tomato tart, mahimahi, and braised beef short ribs.) Back out on the dance floor under a canopy of stars, guests danced for three hours straight to everything from hip-hop to highlife (a fusion of indigenous African dance rhythms and Western jazz). "The power cut out briefly," remembers Folu, "so we all just sang and made our own beat until it was restored." In fact, the couple, who had once passionately disagreed about music, were so focused on dancing, "we totally missed out on dessert!" says Akua. "But it was so worth it."
