Kira and Noel celebrated their marriage and love at a Baltimore brunch soiree that brought together the community that has always supported their love.
Words by Kira
THE ENGAGEMENT
We met in Portland, OR on the Lewis & Clark College campus at orientation for the FoodCorps program we both applied to, back in 2014. I had just gotten my degree in Foods and Nutrition from San Diego State, and Noel had recently graduated from a Master Gardener program in Baltimore.
A match made in food justice heaven.
Noel planned a surprise engagement. Since Noel is into photography and I am often her model, I did not think anything of the fact that we were meeting with our friend and professional photographer Margarita at the park to take some shots.
Halfway through the shoot, Noel realized she ‘forgot her shoes’ in the car, and we agreed to link back up at the pagoda at the top of the park. Noel had lined the path leading to the pagoda with twinkling lights and proposed at sunset exactly five years from the first day we met. She set up a speaker and played ‘Best Part’ by H.E.R. and Daniel Caesar while she got down on one knee. That ended up being the song for our first dance!
THE WEDDING
We got married at a nature reserve, and my amazing wife embraced the idea of compromising, so we were able to have the ceremony and a brunch style soiree (she is not a morning nor breakfast person!) outside on the deck. We streamed the ceremony so our friends and family from afar could join, and our officiant was Noel’s best friend (and hopefully our future doula), Desiree.
It is fitting that she included our community in the ceremony, asking them to surround us in love and support because community made the day such a success. Our amazing florist, Alyssa from The Greenhouse at Good Neighbor, allowed us to rent our flowers in order to stay within budget, and my friend’s from back home (that I lovingly nicknamed the pit crew) ran all around town crossing T’s and dotting I’s.
Our dope neighbor/friend/artist Dave made an entire three-panel plywood backdrop for the ceremony from scratch as a wedding gift, and our families put in work on the weekends to help us finish the many DIY projects we started. It was such a beautiful experience to witness everyone coming together in the name of love.
Our wedding has been the biggest project that Noel and I have worked on together, and I am still so overjoyed about the day.
THE FUTURE
In the short-term, we plan to enjoy not wedding planning at every spare moment and just chilling on the weekends.
We do plan to have children but we definitely want to enjoy each other’s company as a family of two before we become three+.
We might even make a YouTube channel – because representation matters and we love watching other LGBTQIA+ couples share their journey through life. Together, we are looking forward to making our new house a home, painting the walls, planting a garden, and hosting our loved ones, once it is safe to do so.
Other than that, the sky is the limit!
Photography by Margarita Photography
Catering Milk and Honey
Floral The Greenhouse at Good Neighbor
Hair The Black Becky
Lovers Kira & Noel
Makeup Torr Michelle Makeup Artistry + Beauty
Tailor Baltimore Custom Clothiers
Venue Howard County Conservancy
