Will (foreground) & Jeff cutting the cake
We met for the first time in September
1993. Jeff had been in California for barely three months and
had been encouraged by a co-worker to get involved in community
theatre. The first thing was to usher several performances of
"Jesus Christ Superstar". The next was to have a walk-on
in "Lettice and Lovage". This is where we first encountered
each other as Will was the light board operator.
After that there were many "hellos" and "nice to
see you agains" at theatre events over the next two years.
In March 1995 we got cast together in "It Runs in The Family".
Jeff played a ditzy doctor and Will played a rebellious 20-something
in this farce set Will took it upon himself to find out more about
Jeff by asking our mutual friend, Clint, for details. Meanwhile
Jeff was doing the same thing, except he didn't know that Will
was going to make a move first.
On May 1, 1995, we met up to take in a showing of the remake of
"Village of the Damned" at the Eureka Theater. Afterwards
we walked back to Jeff's car, parked at the corner of 7th and
F streets and talked for hours (sometime after midnight). Finally
Jeff said he had to go because he had to work the next morning
and even had things to do before bed to prepare for the next day.
It was then that Will finally said what had been on his mind:
"Will you go out with me?"
That led to another flurry of talk and we became a couple -- albeit
a quiet one. We spent tons of time together after that night talking
and getting to know each other more. Clint was thrilled that we'd
decided to go out and we were quickly becoming the talk of our
friends as we were seen everywhere together.
We finally went public sometime around late May/early June with
our relationship and we've been inseparable ever since.
After more than six months of getting to know one another and
"going out," we decided to move in together. We signed
the lease for our present home on Valentine's Day 1996.
On May 1, 1996, Jeff brought Will back to the corner of 7th and
F and proposed marriage and put a ring on his finger. In late
October 1996 we decided to get married in September of the following
year. After messing around with dates for a few months we decided
on Saturday, September 6. Next came the decision of where to get
married. After many decisions and changed minds, we settled on
the Ferndale Rep because it was where we met and beyond that,
it was free. With the Rep set came a date change because a show
was closing on September 6. Hence, hasty calls were made to all
involved thus far to get the date changed to September 7. Now
everything was full steam ahead. When our friends Chris and Peggy
got married in May 1997, they passed on to us a wonderful book,
The Essential Guide to Lesbian and Gay Weddings. We read that
book front to back sometimes in the car to each other during
road trips. It helped us get things lined up, a caterer, a place
for the reception, when to mail invitations, etc. It also helped
us with the basic things like a guest list.
We were pretty calm during the whole planning, no fights (maybe
a few snippy comments here and there, but nothing major), no disagreements
over food or who to invite. It was a fairly smooth undertaking.
About a month before our ceremony, our friend and wedding coordinator,
Bonnie, threw us a bachelor-bachelor party (following on the heels
of her highly successful bridal-bridal shower for Peggy and Chris).
Our shower had a Hawaii theme since that's a progressive state
where we might actually be able to get married some day. We got
many excellent gifts, including some 100 small bottles of bubbles
(a gift from Bonnie) that would be used in our ceremony instead
of rice.
It was also this time we got to learn first hand about the kindness
of strangers. Even in late July we were still struggling on where
to have the reception. We'd finally settled on our caterer's house
(we know him very well). But then the caterer was visiting a friend
who ran the shop next door to the theatre. Here was a perfect
place -- trees, flowers, close proximity and lots of space. The
shop owner let us use his backyard for an extremely reasonable
fee.
The only
other major trauma we had came with the cake top. It's hard to
find something that is "just right" for a cake that
involves two grooms. So Jeff hit the Internet one night, just
10 days before the ceremony, in hopes of finding a miracle. And
there it was: Family Celebrations. The company specializes in
wedding stuff for gay and lesbian couples. After an e-mail and
a couple of phone calls, a personalized, cut glass cake top was
in the works. It was (and still is) gorgeous.
Now all we had to do was sit back, keep count of the RSVPs and
wait for the out-of-town guests to arrive (including Jeff's mom
from Alabama, Will's parents from Oregon and friends from as far
away as Idaho, Palm Springs and South Florida). By our count,
80 or so people attended the ceremony and reception. §
To contact us by E-Mail ©2001 kp media group