It's been four years since Former President Barack Obama and Former First Lady Michelle Obama moved out of the White House, but their epic love story will forever be the stuff of legend. The power couple has been married for nearly 28 years now — having tied the knot on Oct. 3, 1992, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago — and details about Barack and Michelle Obama's wedding are just as romantic as you'd expect. Though the big day followed a tragic event, everything from their vows to their first dance song reflected their beautiful journey together.
The two first met in 1989, when Michelle was assigned to be Barack's mentor at Sidley Austin LLP, the law firm where they both worked. Just a month later, Barack convinced a reluctant Michelle to let him take her on a date, and two years after that, the future president proposed to Michelle at a dinner intended to celebrate Barack passing the bar exam. Since marrying in 1992, they've welcomed two daughters and spent eight years side-by-side in the White House, and they only seem to fall more in love every day. In honor of their upcoming anniversary, here are just a few sweet details from their wedding that you may not know.
Leading up to the publication of her 2018 memoir, Becoming, Michelle shared some fun throwbacks on Instagram, including a picture of Barack removing her garter belt at their 1992 wedding. In the caption, she included a story from the big day, revealing Barack hadn't been feeling so hot the morning of. "You can't tell it from this photo, but Barack woke up on our wedding day in October, 1992 with a nasty head cold," she wrote. "Somehow, by the time I met him at the altar, it had miraculously disappeared and we ended up dancing almost all night."
In early 1991, Fraser Robinson, Michelle's father, contracted what seemed like the flu. But then, just a few days later, Fraser — who'd by then lived with multiple sclerosis for more than two decades — was declared brain-dead, and his family made the difficult decision to take him off life support. On her wedding day, Craig Robinson, Michelle's older brother, took his father's place in walking her down the aisle.
While speaking at the Obama Foundation Summit in October 2019, Michelle admitted to host Isabel Wilkerson it was difficult not having her father there on the big day. "Yeah, it was a hard day," she said. "My dad wasn't there to walk me down the aisle. He had just passed. It was bittersweet and I was marrying the man that I loved — you know that guy, Barack Obama — but Dad had died."
Though Barack wore a tux for his nuptials, some of the guests wore traditional Kenyan attire in honor of Barack's Kenyan roots. One of those people included Barack's half-brother, Malik Obama, who served as his best man. In his 1995 memoir, Dreams of My Father, Barack recalled his wedding day, writing, "The person who made me proudest was Roy [the name he uses for Malik] ... At the wedding he looked so dignified in his black African gown with white trim and matching cap that some of our guests mistook him for my father." Barack's father, Barack Obama Sr., died in a fatal car accident in 1982 before he could see his son walk down the aisle.
For their wedding bands, Michelle chose a simple gold wedding band, while Barack went with something a little less traditional. In a 2009 New York Times cover story about the Obama's marriage, it was revealed that Barack's ring has "an intricate gold design from Indonesia, where he had lived as a boy." Barack lived in Indonesia with his mother, Ann Dunham, and his Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, from 1967 to 1971.
For their first dance song, Barack and Michelle played Stevie Wonder's hit song "You and I," and Barack even credits the legendary singer for bringing him and his wife together. "I think it's fair to say that had I not been a Stevie Wonder fan, Michelle might not have dated me. We might not have married," Barack joked at a White House concert before presenting the singer with the Gershwin Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2009. "The fact that we agreed on Stevie was part of the essence of our courtship." Barack later alluded to their song choice in an IG post celebrating their 21st wedding anniversary, writing, "'You and I' #21Years."
Though their wedding day vows have never been published, Michelle revealed in the Obama Foundation what made her husband's vows so special. "Barack didn't pledge riches, only a life that would be interesting. On that promise he delivered," she said.
Here's hoping these two have many more years of laughing, loving, and listening to Stevie Wonder together.
