Jules and Bree, the latest in a long line of ladies coming up from Florida to wed.
Our plan (after some unintended gender confusion on my part), was to meet in Essex, NY at the ferry dock for the ceremony.
However, in early November, it can be – and yesterday absolutely was – rather brisk at the ferry dock! Not only was I concerned for these gals who’d just left 80 degrees and sunny behind them, but for ME. Even with climate change, in my personal experience, the winters somehow just keep getting colder!
Fortunately, I’d arrived in Essex a little early and found myself getting tea at an adorable coffee shop and Cool Stuff Store called The Pink Pig.
Deb, the proprietress extraordinaire (and Manhattan expat), was incredibly friendly and welcoming. When I told her I was in town for a wedding at the ferry dock, she said she wanted to come and take photos for her blog. So, I suspected that if we showed up on her doorstep, she would welcome our little wedding party with open arms.
And so she did!
She rearranged some of her nifty antiques and other lifestyle ornaments to make room for us to do the ceremony, changed the music playing in the store, and took a heap of photos – including the entire wedding party with their friends Lee Ann and Courtney from Plattsburgh. Deb also gave them a couple of coffee mugs as impromptu wedding gifts!
If you, dear reader, are ever in Essex, NY, go visit Deb at The Pink Pig. She’s open year round. Be sure to show her some gleeful and abundant love!
I also got to learn more about Jules and Bree, who met playing pool. Apparently, Bree’s parents didn’t like the woman she’d been seeing, and so suggested she get out more and join a lesbian pool league. Definitely a guaranteed bastion of fine, upstanding citizens!
Apparently, Bree’s Dad is also THE biggest redneck in town, and approached Jules at one point, asking if she was dating his daughter. Fearing getting her butt kicked, but determined to stand up for herself, she acknowledged that she was. Dad gave a nod and a grunt and walked away. And all their parents have been on board with the relationship ever since!
This morning, I got the most beautiful email from Jules and Bree which, though a little long for a blog post, I want to share in its entirety because it was so moving:
Kathryn, Bree and I just wanted to take a few moments to thank you so much for making today a very special day for us. Bree and I have said for the last couple of years that if and or when getting married would have a legal effect on our lives we would jump at the opportunity. When the federal government, namely the IRS, made the decision, to recognize same sex couples as married any where in the country as long as you were married in a State where it was legal we could not pass up the opportunity to get married. Then the enormity of the task at hand began to take shape…what state, how do the laws work, who will marry us, will they marry us? How long will we have to be gone. As we had discussed today we have been together for almost 5 years we own a home, have a few pets. Bree is self employed runs a very successful landscaping business and I am a classically and formally trained Chef who five years ago redirected my career and sought some more education in Clinical Nutrition and I now am a Regional Food Service Director for one of the largest Behavioral Healthcare Organizations in the United States and being away from our jobs is not easy for either of us. Honestly, it was not until we found you on line that, marry each other became a realistic and reachable goal. On the outside looking in today may have appeared to be a nice ceremony for two women in a quaint little cafe, called the Pink Pig, by the water in Essex. Please know, that for Bree, and I, today was a true commitment to each other, based on a culmination events in the last year, that reaffirmed our almost 5 year love affair. Our Marriage today also provides Bree and I with some basic rights and privileges that without your help, and the State of New York, we would not have, and for that we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. With Warmest Regards, Jules and Bree SmithI love my job!
Nine years in and a 4 1/2 year old son we are forever grateful for you.
With Kindness,
Jules and Bree