We're Getting Married! Again!

It may be safe to suggest that 2020 has been a year of unprecedented challenge and a bellwether year for social norms: we find ourselves adjusting to new routines, finding novel ways of inviting one another into our lives and resorting to other plans when beloved traditions have been upended. The latter, for us, meant eschewing traditional wedding plans and eloping in Joshua Tree. If we are allowed to give ourselves some credit, we must say that we've cleared every concurrent obstacle this year has presented to us with a deft grace similar to that of an Olympic hurdler. Our reward was the elopement at a Joshua Tree Airbnb, a ranch style casita adorned with the heat of the desert sun and an assemblage of prehistoric rock formations. The ceremony was starved of pomp and circumstance, attended by only our officiant and her husband with our families watching via Zoom. The inevitability of the new nature of things reinforced the elopement as a testament to what is important at the very core of Kevin and I's fated partnership: each other. A private and quiet elopement was maybe what the doctor ordered for Pandemic Summer. But make no mistake--we like to party. June 26, 2021 is not meant to simply be a celebration of our marriage; it will also be a celebration of reengaging in the kind of communal intimacy sacrosanct ritual and ceremony offer us as we gather with all of you. So we invite you, our esteemed guests, to further solidify the sacredness of this union with your presence at our vow and ring ceremony.

August 4th, 2019 was just another day. Brittany and Kevin were sitting on the couch, ignoring the howls of Gregzina the cat asking to be fed 90 minutes after she had already eaten. Brittany suggested they go on a sunset hike at Runyon Canyon to get out of the apartment. Since the Los Angeles sky was a magnificent array of colors, Brittany was taking pictures but thinking how silly it was that she was capturing moments of a day she would never remember. On the ridge at the top of the hill, after the French tourists taking selfies finally departed, Kevin told Brittany that he loved her, which she knew, so old news. He then got down on one knee. “What are you doing?” she asked. “You know what I’m doing,” he replied. “I really don’t. What’s going on?” she responded. Kevin took out a small box. Inside was the 100-year-old ring that his great-grandfather gave his great-grandmother to ask for her hand. Their names were still engraved inside the ring along with the date: "Peter to Byrdie 2/22/19." Kevin affixed a ruby to the band because it was Brittany's favorite color. At that point Brittany knew what was actually happening and began to cry. She said yes and the rest is now history. Shea, the dog, was there too. Brittany and Kevin are so excited to share with everyone the beginning of a lifelong journey of love, good times, mutual support and splitting the vet bills for their incredibly spoiled animal companions Shea and Gregzina.