No flowers, no conventional wedding schedule, and "no forced romantic moments just because that's what is expected of a wedding". After 14 years together, Ann-Kathrine Ungermand and VINNY's founder Virgil Mwepele celebrated their love in Copenhagen with custom Soeren Le Schmidt bridal looks, a candlelit ceremony and a vibrant party that celebrated the couple's Danish and Congolese roots
Some couples' love stories begin with a chance encounter. For Virgil Mwepele and Ann-Kathrine Ungermand, it began at Copenhagen Fashion Week, a rather determined pursuit, and an impressive number of parties.
"Of course, it all started at fashion week," says Mwepele, founder and creative director of Danish footwear brand VINNY's. "I saw Ann-Kathrine at a party and was immediately completely taken by her. I subsequently spent what felt like half a year throwing a suspicious number of parties, largely in the hope of getting her attention. With very little success, I should add." Ungermand, five years his senior, was initially less convinced. "Virgil, you met me before I met you," she recalled telling him in her wedding speech. "I probably played it a little cooler than I needed to."
It wasn't until a night at Copenhagen's now-shuttered nightclub Simons in January 2012 that Mwepele finally made his move. Even then, Ungermand needed a little convincing. But beneath the 20-year-old fashion entrepreneur's seemingly fast-paced lifestyle, she discovered someone surprisingly quiet, thoughtful, and attentive. "He was humble, caring, and genuinely curious. He listened. He was observant," she recalls. "And, actually, quite quiet."
Photo: Jannick Børlum
Fourteen years and two children later, Mwepele proposed on a cold evening in Ungermand's hometown of Kerteminde. With the children asleep and their grandparents tucked in for the night, he insisted on a walk along the harbour. At the end of the pier, surrounded by darkness and the sea, he got down on one knee with a golden, opal-adorned ring. "It became the most perfect, imperfect moment," says Ungermand. "Us alone in the dark, surrounded by the ocean in our most practical winter clothes, I gave him my yes."
After more than a decade together, there was little reason to prolong the engagement. Just four months later, they were married.