ULC - IN THE NEWS
Her Famous Dog Helped Them Meet. They Went on to Foster 31 More.
Isabel Dixon Klee and Jacob David Zerhusen matched on Hinge in 2020, weeks after he had unknowingly run through the background of a sunset photo she snapped in their Brooklyn neighborhood. For their first date, he prepared two charcuterie boards — one for Klee, and a dog-friendly one for her dog, Simon. The couple's dog-friendly wedding at Forest Lake Camp in Chestertown, N.Y., was themed Camp Simon in honor of Simon, who had died two months prior, with Klee walking the aisle carrying a bouquet with his name tag attached. Megan Amsterdam, Klee's best friend and a Universal Life Church minister, officiated before 110 guests and 12 dogs.
Source: The NY Times
Theirs Was a Hollywood Beginning
Thomas Eric Dolby and Spencer Enright Alcorn arrived at their Lake Tahoe wedding by Grand Craft speedboat to the strains of Handel's coronation anthem, setting the tone for a ceremony held on the lawn of the Dolby family vacation home — a property with its own Hollywood history. The reception followed inside a Raj Tent styled after designer Tony Duquette's Camelot aesthetic, with sitar players, opera singers and Broadway tunes. Ali Goldstein, a close friend and Universal Life Church minister, officiated before 80 guests.
Source: The NY Times
One Hour Late for the First Date, but Glad He Didn’t Bail
Zachary John Martellucci nearly walked out when Jordan Alan Shavarebi showed up over an hour late to their first date — held up picking out a suit for a queer history pop-up he had helped produce. He stayed, and the two talked so long they ended up kissing in line at a Peruvian restaurant. The couple married at Garibaldi Plaza in Washington Square Park before 130 guests, with a reception at Judson Memorial Church. Chelsy Mitchell, a close friend ordained by the Universal Life Church, officiated.
Source: The NY Times
They Met at a Corner Store. Their Love Story Took a Few Detours.
Graylen Rose Gatewood and Charles William McFarlane met at a corner store in Tivoli, N.Y., when he comped her Oreos because her purchase didn't meet the credit card minimum. After briefly dating in college, then reuniting at a party years later, they married at the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum — the same venue where her parents wed in 1994 — in a ceremony so community-built that a 91-year-old relative sewed all the tablecloths on a 1910s treadle machine. Their friend Eleanor Robb, ordained through the Universal Life Church for the occasion, officiated before 142 guests.
Source: The NY Times
Meeting in Midlife and Making a Dream Come True
Anna Louise Kashner and Ronald Lee Clark Jr., both Seattle-area natives who matched on Hinge in 2019, spent years in what Clark described as a relay race of cold feet before he proposed in New Orleans with a poem commissioned from a street poet. The couple married at the Barn at Wilson Farm in Lake Tapps, Wash., before a small group of family and close friends, with a reception that included a salsa lesson and goat feeding. Chava Mirel, ordained through the Universal Life Church, officiated.
Source: The NY Times
A Light-Up Prosthetic Arm Piqued His Interest
Colin Andrew Pitt and Alexandra Marion Glasser met on a Hinge date in April 2022, where conversation turned to a light-up silicone arm Glasser was building for a music video — a detail that broke the ice for Pitt, a director of photography who saw immediately how he could help. They married in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., before 100 guests encouraged to dress "beautiful, interesting, magical, weird, elegant or fully yourself." Benjamin Glasser, the bride's brother, was ordained by the Universal Life Church for the occasion and officiated alongside the groom's brother.
Source: The NY Times
Forget the Warning Against Dating People in Your Dorm
Madeleine Elizabeth Pizzarelli and Alexander Clark Randaccio met on their first night at Brown University in 2016, when Pizzarelli said seeing him was like the "Dream Weaver" scene in "Wayne's World." After years of friendship, a false start, and a senior year upended by the pandemic, they married at the Buffalo History Museum in Buffalo. Brooks Ashmanskas, an actor and close friend of the bride's family, was ordained by the Universal Life Church for the occasion and officiated.
Source: The NY Times
They divorced. Years later, they married each other again.
Melanie Miguel and Michael Shiloh married for the second time on July 26 in the San Francisco garden of a friend's home, 35 years after their first wedding and more than a decade after their divorce. The couple, both in their 70s, exchanged vows under a cream-colored satin huppah surrounded by their three daughters and four grandchildren. Their youngest daughter, Yasmine Shiloh, officiated after being ordained through the Universal Life Church for the occasion.
Source: The NY Times
As They Read Their Vows, Orange Ash Dusted Their Hair
Blake Barclay Hogge and Trystan Michael Nickovich, who met on Tinder in 2021 and planned to marry in Utah's Beaver Canyon, where Hogge's family had gathered for generations, relocated their wedding to his parents' Alpine backyard just 72 hours before the ceremony after a wildfire consumed 59,000 acres near the family cabin. As the couple exchanged handwritten vows, orange ash from the still-burning fire drifted through the air, dusting their hair and clothing. Nickovich's brother Kyle Nickovich, ordained by the Universal Life Church for the occasion, officiated.
Source: The NY Times
A New York City Council Member Helped Play Cupid
Senti Sojwal and Ben Patrick Fuller-Googins, set up by a mutual friend and New York City Council member who told Fuller-Googins that Sojwal was a diamond, married at Black Walnut Farm in Saugerties, N.Y., before 136 guests. Their ceremony honored Sojwal's Indian roots through an exchange of rose garlands and her walk down the aisle to a beloved Bollywood song, while Fuller-Googins's father offered an Irish wedding blessing. Nicholas McKenna, a close friend ordained by the Universal Life Church for the occasion, officiated.
Source: The NY Times
Their ‘Neurospiciness’ Integrated Well
Marjorie Lynne Kase and Daniel Paul Rubin, who met on OkCupid in 2018 after he won her over with a tardigrade-themed haiku, married at the San Francisco Elks Lodge No. 3 — the same spot where Kase had secretly decided on their first kiss that it would make the perfect wedding venue. Their sci-fi-meets-enchanted-forest ceremony featured a stuffed pigeon bearing the rings and closed with a breaking of the glass and a Vulcan salute, with guests departing via a 7-Eleven-style kiosk of snacks in honor of their 7/11 wedding date. Molly Cahen, a comedian and Universal Life Church minister, officiated.
Source: The NY Times
It Was Love at First Saxophone Note
Aubrey Jane Dela Cruz and Rylan Scott Nordbeck met at a backyard concert in Glendora, Calif., where she watched him play a saxophone solo to Taylor Swift's "Love Story" and told a friend she thought she was in love. Nordbeck, spotting her across the room, thought she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. The self-described Swiftie and the musician made their union official in a ceremony officiated by their close friend Ryan Bartlett, who was ordained by the Universal Life Church for the occasion.
Source: The NY Times
She Was Warned About Rock 'n' Roll Marriages. She Didn’t Listen.
Raquel Ivonne Figlo and Brian Edward Bell, who met while organizing a bon voyage party for Kiss fans in 2019, lost touch for six years before reconnecting and marrying at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel, Calif. Their rock-themed reception featured tables named for bands and a live performance of "November Rain" accompanying the bride down an aisle overlooking the Pacific Ocean, with guests throwing up "rock on" hand signs as the couple kissed. David Ellefson, a founder of Megadeth and a longtime friend of the bride who had once warned her to marry someone more conventional, officiated after having been ordained by the Universal Life Church.
Source: The NY Times
As Soon as He Stopped Looking, There She Was
Henry Fogler Stevenson and Nadya Teresa Okamoto, who met in 2019 at an after-party in Los Angeles despite having little in common — he loathes social media while she has over four million followers — married at La Luna Farm in New Paltz, N.Y., on a property owned by Stevenson's aunt and uncle with views of the Shawangunk Mountains. David Kahl, one of the family friends who helped raise the bride, walked her down the aisle, while Mark Holloway, another of those friends and a Universal Life Church minister, officiated.
Source: The NY Times
Hippy Hippy Shake
In the summer of 1971, the Universal Life Church requested permission to hold a picnic for "at least 200 people" at Farragut State Park in Idaho. What followed was anything but a quiet afternoon in the park. An estimated 15,000 hippies, Jesus Freaks, and festivalgoers descended on the grounds over Fourth of July weekend in what North Idaho came to call its own Woodstock — complete with open-air revelry that sent state officials into a panic. Governor Cecil Andrus welcomed the crowd anyway, and when it was all over, the park manager noted that the picnickers left the grounds cleaner than the Boy Scouts had two years prior.
Source: Coeur d'Alene Press
A Rough Introduction, a Fast Friendship and One Very Cozy Cat
Nadia Tiffany Gakou and Jonathan Samuel Masci met at a graduate school networking event at N.Y.U. Wagner in 2018, where he famously refused to exchange contact information before quickly thinking better of it. After years of friendship deepened by shared loss — she lost her mother in 2019, he lost his father in 2022 — they began dating and married on June 27 in a ceremony at the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center. Tanya Pushkine, a civil minister ordained through the Universal Life Church, officiated.
Source: The NY Times
Amateurs Now Conduct Most Weddings. Here is Some Basic Advice.
Friend-officiated weddings have surged from 27% to 67% since 2009, according to The Knot, as couples favor personalized ceremonies over traditional clergy. It's a chance to share hope and faith in a couple's relationship, and make a special day even more intimate. Wedding experts Esther Lee and Shelby Wax advise officiants to prepare thoroughly rather than improvise. The Universal Life Church, which ordains ministers online for free, has ordained 20 million people to date, making it a popular choice for couples seeking a friend or family member to officiate.
Source: NPR
Years After High School, Their Love Story Began
Eleftherios Pericles Alexander Ipiotis and Cailin Sullivan Cook, who reconnected at a sports bar in 2019 after attending the same Long Island high school years apart, fell in love over weekends at his family's home in Montauk, where Cook said their relationship felt less like a getaway and more like home. The couple married at Montauk Lake Club and Marina, with a reception honoring Ipiotis's Greek heritage through dancing and plate smashing, and Cook's late father through a signature cocktail named for his favorite beer. Cook's uncle, Victor Cook, ordained by the Universal Life Church for the occasion, officiated.
Source: The NY Times
They Wanted a New York Wedding. They Got a Very New York Ending.
Lauren Patterson Birkhold and Devin Thomas McGinley, who met on OkCupid in 2019 and bonded over their love of entertaining and Birkhold's dog, Stella, married at Syndicated Bar Theater Kitchen in Brooklyn, a movie theater they frequent monthly. The June 13 ceremony coincided with Game 5 of the N.B.A. Finals, with the Knicks game playing silently above the dance floor until the final 20 seconds, when guests erupted as the team won. The couple's friend Kate Napolitano, ordained by the Universal Life Church for the occasion, officiated.
Source: The NY Times
The Wedding Was Part of a Show, and the Show Was Part of the Wedding
Pietro Brooke Robert Alexander and Sara Apple Maliki, who met in 2022 when Maliki inquired about purchasing artwork from Alexander's Los Angeles gallery, married inside the SoHo art gallery they now co-run, with the wedding platform remaining in place as an installation for the space's inaugural exhibition. Guests roamed lounge areas and a grazing table while a DJ played from the altar where the couple wed, and the pair skipped cake for Key lime pie in a nod to the bride's Florida roots. Their friend Jacob Greenberg, ordained by the Universal Life Church for the occasion, officiated.
Source: The NY Times
