We're getting Married!

Back in June 2022, if you had been looking to place a bet on the marriage of Kathryn DiBenedetto and Christopher van Tienhoven, not only would you have had a hard time finding a bookie to take your action, you would have needed a psychiatrist to question your mental state. Chris was an exhausted insurance defense lawyer in Boston, while Kathryn was just starting a brand-new career in the insurance business in New Orleans. The likelihood of these two meeting, let alone getting married was slim to none. Chris, having just embarked on seeing all three Triple Crown horse races live that year, needed a break from work, and having fond memories of New Orleans during his one prior visit, decided to cash in some airline points and jet down to New Orleans for a mid-week visit. Kathryn, still adjusting to her new job, was idly swiping on Bumble, with fingernails that needed a new coat of varnish, when she came upon Chris’s profile, which was now circulating in the New Orleans area. She fortuitously swiped right, after Chris had also been using the same app, and they matched. Messages were exchanged, and Kathryn, despite concern that Chris would notice her nails, decided to join Chris out for a drink. They met at the world-famous Carousel Bar at the Monteleone Hotel, and Chris embracing the “when in Rome do as the Romans” ethos, ordered a Sazerac. The rest is, as they say, history. After over a year of trying to date halfway across the country, Kathryn decided to make another big move by leaving Louisiana for Rhode Island, Chris’s home state. Now it is home for both, but at the time they were both moving as Chris left Boston, where he had lived for the past decade. Now they call Rhode Island, and the town of Bristol, home, and couldn’t think of a place they’d rather live. Joined by Margot, they have spent the last year building a life together, and on May 30, 2025, they will continue on that life journey by returning to New Orleans to marry. They cannot wait to share their special day with their friends and family in the city where their love first blossomed.