** Tickets for Yay New York, APW’s Mass Reception for Marriage Equality, will be going on sale at 9:30 AM, PST today. So check back to buy tickets!**
Two weeks ago, we opened applications for couples to apply to legally wed with us on August 25th, followed by the Yay New York party. Over the last few weeks, we’ve decided to re-tool the event in keeping with the APW philosophy that less is almost always more. So instead of doing five quick civil services, we’ve decided to do two fabulous weddings. Each couple will have up to thirty guests, their own private reception, and then be honored by Team Practical, dancing like crazy, at a party that night. So without further ado, I’m delighted to introduce you to the two couples.
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{Leanne & Anne}
Our first couple is APW reader and So You’re EngGAYged blogger Leanne and her partner Anne (read her post about navigating the wedding industry as a non-traditional couple here; it’s a doozy). In some sort of magically synergy, Leanne and Anne are getting married on Sunday, September 25th, in Philadelphia, exactly one month after Yay New York. So one month before the celebration, they’ll be getting married legally married with us, a handful of loved ones, and piles of kindred spirits celebrating in their honor. Here is more about them:
Anne is from the eastern shore of Maryland and Leanne is from the Jersey shore, but we both call Philadelphia home. In December of 2005, we met online, had a spectacular first date, and the rest is history! We have been building our relationship for the past five years and have been engaged for about six months. When we are not busy at work (Anne is a surgical nurse and Leanne is a pediatric psychologist), we can be found relaxing on the roof deck at our new home, chatting over a good meal and a glass of wine, geeking out with NPR, or at a concert listening to our favorite music. We are getting married in front of 150 friends and family at the end of September, and so we are thrilled to make it legal next month in New York. Yay NY!
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{Cory & Aaron}
The second couple is Cory and Aaron, and this will be their one and only wedding. Saying we’re honored to be a part of it is a little bit of an understatement. When they applied, Aaron told me, “Now, in our third year together we’ve moved to Chicago for new jobs, and about two months ago I proposed to Cory. We’ve been debating where to have our marriage, but even here in Chicago they don’t say the word ‘Marriage,’ which makes us cry a little bit. After hearing the news about New York, we’ve talked about going there. Cory and I both agree small weddings are best to make them more meaningful to us. You don’t need 100 people, just family and close friends to cheer you on as you tie the knot.” So on August 25th, Cory and Aaron will be tying the knot with a close band of loved ones, on a terrace in midtown Manhattan. Tying the legal knot, may I add. Here is more about them:
Cory and Aaron are a geeky couple with skills and hobbies in computers and technology. That’s also how they met, via an online site built with a programming language they were both interested in learning. It was love at first date and three years later, Aaron proposed to Cory, leaving him speechless. Aaron is the one with red hair and matching shirt on the right.
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We can’t wait to celebrate with Leanne & Anne and Cory & Aaron (and you!) in just one month. Jane Austen may have put it best when she said:
“The wedding was very much like other weddings, where the parties have no taste for finery or parade, and Mrs. Elton, from the particulars detailed by her husband thought it all extremely shabby, and very inferior to her own. ‘Very little white satin, very few lace veils; a most pitiful business.’ But, in spite of these deficiencies, the wishes, the hopes, the predictions, the confidences of the small band of true friends who witnessed the ceremony were fully answered in the perfect happiness of the union.” – Jane Austen, Emma
Here is to Leanne & Anne and Cory & Aaron! We’re so honored to witness your legal union. We will be spending the next month making this the most fabulous pair of small weddings we can possibly throw. Now Team Practical, can I have a cheer?
On Monday, we announced the two events that APW and Lowe House Events are throwing in New York City on August 25th. During the first of these events, we’ll be facilitating five marriages to celebrate New York’s recent passage of same sex marriages. The (legal!) weddings will take place on a terrace overlooking the city. We’ll also be hosting a cake & punch & bubbly reception indoors, throughout the day. We’ll provide each couple with flowers, an officiant, invitations, a guest list of up to 15(ish) people, and a photographer. Needless to say, it will be excellent.
