LESBIAN WEDDING FEATURING CHELY WRIGHT

22 August, 2018 LESBIAN WEDDING FEATURING CHELY WRIGHT

How long have you been together?

12 ½ years

Where do you two live? Tell us a little bit about what you both spend a majority of your time doing.

Both of us have lived all over the country…Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Birmingham, Detroit, Orlando, Richmond, Baltimore, Princeton, and the list goes on but we’ve settled in Ponte Vedra, FL. We spend a good bit of our time working. Connie is an airline pilot for United Airlines and has the fun of flying all over the world. Deb is an executive with Southeastern Grocers. We believe in “work hard,play hard”, so when the work is done for the day, we love hanging with our two Bernese Mountain dogs, family and friends. One of our favorite things to do is to plan last minute parties at the house for friends and family…there’s nothing like good food (especially our own back yard Bar-b-Q), music, wine and great conversation.

We both have the travel bug and love to combine that with our love of photography and the arts. We’ve been fortunate to be able to go on some fun adventures, from Broadway marathons in NYC to hanging with the penguins in Antarctica, getting rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard on our cruise ship in the arctic circle, exploring some of the greatest places in the World like Russia, South Korea, Beijing, London, Vancouver, Germany, the Greek Isles, Athens, Venice, Turkey, Iceland, Greenland, Switzerland, Amsterdam, and relaxing on Cayo Espanto (an amazing private island off the coast of Belize). We also love to follow some of our favorite musical artists on their concert tours…Pink is always a favorite. We have enormous respect for strong women in business and the arts and follow examples like Chely Wright and Steph Grant, both women who have had the courage to be their authentic selves has been an inspiration and we always lead with that strength in mind.

What is the first thing you remember about the other when you first met?

Deb was moving from Orlando to Richmond. Connie lived outside of Philadelphia. We’d been talking on the phone for 3 weeks, but had not yet met in person.

Deb: Connie sure talked a lot…I could hardly get a word in.
Connie: Deb took me up on my offer to call any time, but we forgot about the time zone difference. For example, when the phone rang at 3:00 am in Tokyo.

On January 23rd a moving truck unloaded all of Deb’s stuff at her new house. Connie landed in NYC from a flight and drove all night to get to Richmond. Sweet talking her way out of a speeding ticket, she showed up at Deb’s to help unpack.

Connie: I rang the door bell and a very old, short stocky woman answered the door. Before I could react, the woman said “hello” in a British accent. I realized that wasn’t Deb…and was escorted into the house. Deb was on a ladder putting stuff away in her kitchen. All I can remember is staring at her butt…and I was hooked.

Deb: I turned around and almost fell off the ladder when I saw Connie. I couldn’t help but laugh at what she must be thinking when my friend answered the doorbell. Once I saw Connie, I knew that this move wasn’t going to be like any of my previous moves.

A week later Connie was still at the house helping to finish the unpacking. Deb figured if after going through all of her personal stuff she hadn’t run away, she was a keeper.

How did the proposal go down?

We’d talked about getting married for years. But for the first 10 years we were together, it wasn’t legal. Once it became legal, we had so many things going on in our lives, we just put it on the back burner. Deb was trying to plan a surprise for Connie’s birthday, but true to form, couldn’t keep the surprise from her. At first, she was trying to book Chely Wright for a private house concert. Once she confirmed the date with Chely, she thought it would be cool if Steph was available to take pics. Deb shared the idea with Connie and at some point the two of us decided the concert would be a great way to start a wedding weekend. In typical fashion it was a joint decision.

Was there a memory from your wedding that sticks out more than others? Maybe a serious one and a funny one.

The one serious memory for both of us was exchanging our vows in front of our family and friends. Following the ceremony, we heard from everyone how special that was.

Connie’s funny one : Trying to pee by myself! That dress was beautiful, but not user friendly.

Deb’s funny one: Nipple covers…need I say more.

What is one piece of advice that you would give to other couples planning their wedding?

Take time to enjoy it.

Why did you choose the wedding venue you did?

So, we decided to plan this wedding with less than 7 weeks. Our first choice was to have the wedding in our back yard, but we realized quickly that a backyard wedding in Florida in June was a BAD idea.

So we found a great venue with the help of our wedding planner…it was intimate but offered an industrial feel and had great catering services. Unfortunately, with 3 weeks until the wedding, we found out the entire block of buildings where our venue was located, was infested with termites. Needless to say, we had to find an alternate location.

Lucky for us, within 2 days we found out that our second choice was available. It turned out to be a great venue, with the best caterers in town. We transformed the space into exactly what we wanted for the evening.

Top 3 things that make a marriage last?

We have more than three, and they are in no particular order:
Always challenge each other to be the best version of themselves.
Never judge each other.
Open and Honest Communication…even if, at times, some of it gets a little loud.
Always take time for each other, no matter how busy life gets.
Intimacy and phenomenal sex…and lots of it.

Why’d you choose Steph to document your wedding day?

Love her work, love what she stands for, love working with other strong women, her positive energy and outlook are infectious. And Connie says she’s not bad to look at.

LESBIAN WEDDING FEATURING CHELY WRIGHT