Love Wins in the Capitol: A Timely Tale of Romance + Respect

Nésa + Joe

Washington, D.C.

This week, as we approach Inauguration Day, I wanted to offer you some wedding  inspiration that embodies all the American ideals we hold dear. Nésa and Joe’s wedding in Washington D.C., set in the very heart of our democratic nation, does just that.

What could be more timely than a tale of two cultures, merging in love in our capitol city?

Is it a coincidence that they met on social media?
Is it a coincidence that it was Independence Day when Joe realized he didn’t ever want to be away from Nésa?

Perhaps…

Nesa and Joe did in fact meet over social media. But their journey quickly delves deep into classic romance.

Joe was a public policy manager for Google at the time, and Nésa was also involved in public policy as a member of Business Roundtable. They bonded over their mutual love of food, poetry and mystery novels, but they were particularly intrigued by their contrasting cultures.

I love this romantic story, as told to Geraldine Magazine:

To celebrate their first Independence Day together, the couple made reservations at a high-end restaurant. However, en route to dinner, Nésa confessed that she was craving a steak and cheese sandwich from a local gas station. “At first, I thought maybe she was joking, but sure enough, we spent the night–Nésa in her Louboutins and dress–eating inside a gas station. It was a sight to behold,” remembers Joe, grinning. Later that night, as the couple watched fireworks with friends on a rooftop, Joe realized that he didn’t want to spend any more time away from her.

Joe later proposed to Nésa on the banks of the Potomac River. In the freezing cold of January, by the same river where George Washington built his home, she said ‘yes.’

They both loved D.C., so it was natural that they chose to host their wedding in Washington. The celebration was a cultural fusion of both Nésa’s Iranian heritage and Joe’s Alaskan background from Irish descent. They highlighted and celebrated these differences, to the joy and delight of their guests.

The traditional Persian “Adhg” ceremony, officiated by Nésa’s aunt, included readings of Rumi’s poetry and other symbolic traditions. A bountiful seafood feast was sourced directly from Alaska, the salmon being a particular hit with their crowd. 

All the festivities took place at the Anderson House, a Gilded Age mansion set in the heart of the capitol. The 50-room home of Larz and Isabel Anderson was known as a “Florentine villa in the midst of American independence.” When they inhabited it in the early 20th century, it was used as a home-base from which to explore what they called “the most beautiful of American cities.”

As described by the Society of the Cincinnati,

To the Andersons, their Washington home represented the culmination of what America’s founders, including George Washington, hoped their capital city would become—a grand, modern city to rival European capitals, but with a patriotic identity and a sense of history that would make it distinctly American.

I believe it is still that grand city, beautifully honored in Nésa and Joe’s wedding in Washington. As we celebrate one of our most sacred of democratic ceremonies this coming week, may we continue to honor its beauty, history and the myriad of cultures that it represents.

See Nésa and Joe’s wedding featured on Geraldine Magazine here.

“He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

—Emily Bronte

More from Geraldine Magazine:

Nésa and Joe are avid readers who share love for poetry. Instead of providing traditional wedding favors, the couple included a short quote from the classic poems of literary figures such as William Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, Pablo Neruda, and Earnest Hemingway on the back of each guest’s place card. “We hoped everyone would take [the place cards] home with them and they did; that meant a lot to us,” Joe reminisces.