QUEER MARRIAGE
PICTURE-PERFECT:
Katie and Christine’s storybook wedding By Robyn Vie-Carpenter IT’S FUNNY – MOST PEOPLE THINK NOTHING OF IT WHEN TWO RIDICULOUSLY–HANDSOME GUYS FIND THEMSELVES IN LOVE, BUT WHEN TWO LESBIANS BOTH LOOK LIKE THEY COME FROM A BRIDAL MAGAZINE, THE WEDDING PHOTOS SEEM TO BE MET WITH SURPRISE. This is the story of two souls, Katie Andelman– Garner and Christine Garner, united June 9, 2013 in San Diego surrounded by family and close friends under a beautiful white tent and crystal chandeliers. ROBYN VIE-CARPENTER: Your destination wedding must have been a challenge to plan. CHRISTINE GARNER: Katie did tons of research, not just our location but every detail of our wedding. KATIE ANDELMAN: It’s hard planning a wedding from a different state. I’m a wedding photographer and I’m glad I’ve had the experience of seeing so many weddings – I definitely knew what worked and what didn’t and what I really wanted. It was a lot of work, but it was magical and ethereal and just what we wanted. RVC: Tell me about how you met. CHRISTINE: We actually met through some good friends who’d recently gotten engaged themselves. They introduced us at another friend’s birthday party. And we met that first night and it’s pretty much been… KATIE: Well it was pretty cute. They wanted to set us up – they were like, there’s this amazing 46
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SOCIAL
girl we want you to meet, you guys would get along really well. I was hesitant, so they were like, then we won’t tell her. RVC: How long ago was that, and how long did you date before you knew it was something special? KATIE: It’s been three years. We actually dated a year before we moved in together – no U-Haul. We lived together another year and then Christine proposed. CHRISTINE: It’s the inner beauty where you build a relationship. People hold those walls up for a couple months. I say after six to eight months you’re going to see, it’s either a good thing or a bad thing. KATIE: I’ll put it this way: Nobody’s perfect, we all have our strengths and our faults. Christine and I compliment each other – we take up each other’s slack. We’re really great at supporting each other through things that are hard for us, and enjoying things that are good for us. RVC: How did Christine propose? KATIE: It was a super sweet proposal. I knew it was going to happen, I just didn’t know when. She totally surprised me. She took me to the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. She was a nervous wreck; the whole day I’m like, baby are you OK?. CHRISTINE: Right before we were going down to dinner, obviously, I knew what was going to happen and she didn’t. We were just lying in the bed and laughing, and she put her hand OUTFRONTONLINE.COM
over the top of my chest, my heart was beating through my chest. KATIE: And I was like, ‘oh my goodness, are you alright?’ CHRISTINE: And I’m like, ‘yeah, I’m just thinking about work. I’m a little stressed out.’ I just made up some story and then got up to get ready. All day I kept scooping out areas where I could potentially do it. Once I decided I handed off the camera, bolted over to her and took out the ring. KATIE: She actually handed the camera to the doorman. She was like ‘I’m going to propose to my girlfriend, can you record this?’ CHRISTINE: I was not ‘Rico Suave’ at all. I immediately got down on my knee and said the things I wanted to say. KATIE: She did a good job, because she opened the box and once I saw the ring it all went mute – it was very romantic. For my ring, we were walking in a mall in California. I saw this ring and I said, ‘oh my god baby, if we ever get married, that’s the ring I want.’ And that’s what I got. I’m obsessed with my ring. CHRISTINE: The ring that Katie gave me is actually her great, great grandmother’s ring. I feel pretty awesome. It means so much. KATIE: It’s a family heirloom – really special to our family. I talked to my mother and I talked to my grandmother. I told them that I found the girl of my dreams and I want to give her this ring and they gave their blessing. So, I gave it to Christine and it actually fit her finger perfectly. It was meant to be.