In the midst of the ongoing anti-racism protests around the world, one couple’s empowering wedding photos from a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Philadelphia have gone viral.
Bride Kerry Anne and groom Michael Gordon tied the knot in an intimate ceremony at the Logan Hotel on Saturday. Hotel staff had informed the couple days earlier that a protest was set for their wedding date but they decided to go ahead with their plans.
As the couple was preparing to do their “first look” outside the hotel, demonstrators gathered to cheer them on, which made for a truly powerful moment.
“I come running around the corner and I see Kerry standing with a circle of people around her just cheering, and she’s literally standing there looking like a Black princess. That’s all I see,” the groom told Vogue. “These peaceful protestors, positive energy, cheering, yelling, people with their phones out taking pictures and videos.”
“And Kerry’s just standing there looking beautiful as can be,” Michael continued. “And I walked up to her and took her hand, and she was shaking. The energy and passion and moment, everything that was going on, was just blowing through her.”
Celebrating this milestone in their relationship during such a pivotal moment in history, was “empowering,” the bride — an OB-GYN who’s originally from Jamaica — told ABC News.
“Not only are we feeling the movement of the people … but I’m meeting my husband, on our wedding day, as a strong Black man and a good representative of who we are as people, what our men are like, what our culture is like,” Kerry Anne Gordon said. “It was just a very, very empowering moment for us considering all of this is happening at one moment in one time.”
Initially, the couple had planned to get married in May, but had to postpone due to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to their small, socially distanced ceremony this weekend, they plan to do a larger celebration with extended family and friends in 2021.
To see more photos of the couple’s memorable wedding day, head over to Vogue.
