Beets Hospitality Group Archives - Bridal Couture Magazine

Married March 22, 2013
Six months after meeting through mutual friends, Carissa and Brittney’s romantic love story began-over a bowl of fried ice cream. “The story changes depending on whose telling it,” revealed Carissa. Brittney recalls Carissa showing up to a friendly lunch and ordering dessert rather than an entrée suggesting that what Carissa really wanted was to spend time with Brittney. Carissa playfully contests that she just really likes the dish. Regardless of how their relationship began, the couple say that they fell in love soon after.
After becoming engaged, the couple faced unique obstacles to their marriage because of the issue of marriage equality in California. “When you become engaged, there are sad, uncomfortable, and unavoidable questions like, are you engaged indefinitely until same-sex marriage is legally recognized?” the couple noted. According to the couple, “becoming domestic partners… definitely [felt] like settling for second-class status.” Despite the legal barriers, Carissa and Brittney knew they wanted to make a life-long commitment to each other and so they began planning their dream wedding.
Brittney always dreamed of having a large wedding. She valued more traditional wedding practices, such as not seeing Carissa’s dress before the wedding. On the other hand, Carissa wanted a more intimate ceremony. Her vision was a more modern approach to the affair as evidenced by her feather-bodice dress. The two met a happy compromise with a medium sized wedding and a co-ed wedding party.
The wedding décor was in black and white with deep red accents which the florist described as a combination of drama and romance. Guests enjoyed several personal touches created by the couple such as the cigar bar accompanied by custom matchbooks and mini Gallo Cabernet wine bottles personalized by Carissa and Brittney with some of their favorite pictures. Carissa and her son, Ethan, walked down the aisle to the sounds of a harpist. With their hands bound together, Brittney and Carissa exchanged individually-written vows of love and devotion. Brittney also exchanged vows and a gift with Carissa’s son.
Though their wedding took place in March, Carissa and Brittney participated in their official ceremony on July 1st, after proposition 8 was overturned in California, thus allowing the state of California to recognize their love and commitment to each other as equal and legal.