Our Story
Audrey:
My freshman year of college, I was in callbacks for a play just before the winter holiday. The callbacks ended late that night and a fellow actor offered to walk me home after he learned I lived off-campus. He had curly hair and glasses, and he was wearing a jacket with David Bowie on it that I learned his mom had made. On our walk home we clicked immediately, bonding over our shared love of Colm Wilkinson. Once we reached my house we received an email with the cast list, and we were both on it! “I will have a friend in the cast,” I thought. When rehearsals began in the spring, I did indeed have a friend. We joked together, spent time outside of rehearsals, and texted incessantly. Once the show ended, I decided to take the leap and move us from friendship to something more. I was fairly certain it would be well-received. But, nine years later, I can confidently say that I did not lose a friend, but that I secured a best friend.
Henry:
I certainly stumbled through my first meeting with Audrey. It was in a callback for what would be our first play together, and I mostly remember navigating how we should handle the uncomfortable beginning of the scene: “They kiss.” Obviously, we didn’t. I guess we did the callback after that, but my memory jumps to afterward, when I walked her home. We talked about acting, I think, but I couldn't specify much aside from the feeling of walking next to her. I walked her home a lot after rehearsals, or when she would call me to escort her after an evening with friends. We didn’t get together until the play was over and I’d spent a good two months convincing myself she wasn’t interested in me. But then she asked me to do homework together, lured me in with the promise of watching The West Wing, and asked me “do you want to kiss me?” as we sat together in her room. I did. She sent a photo of me kissing her on the cheek to her friends, and we have been Audrey & Henry ever since.
We then moved through the latter three years of college side by side, taking some of our classes together, performing in another play called The Velvet Sky, Audrey costume designing a production of Macbeth that Henry directed, and collaborating together on a D&D immersive theatre piece called Roll For…
We took trips to Big Bend National Park, New York City (which we now call home), San Francisco and Los Angeles. Our relationship went to the next level when we adopted a three-legged cat named Ringo, and then again when we moved in together with Ringo and Audrey’s family cat Klaus. Our college graduation fell at a time of particular uncertainty, as a global pandemic hit just six weeks before and we both felt exceptionally lucky to be at each other’s sides.
In August 2020, we moved together to New York City! This was where both of us had always dreamed of living, and even COVID-19 couldn’t dampen our excitement to get there. Henry began teaching middle school at Legacy College Prep in the South Bronx, and Audrey began doing childcare and administrative work and, once the theatre industry opened again, auditioning!
We have spent some summers apart when Audrey has had acting jobs, but we also took a trip to Europe together the summer of 2022! We are unbelievably grateful for our friendships and community we have built here in the city, which has given us a chosen family away from home. In New York some of our favorite things to do are see plays together, have powerpoint nights with our friends, and of course hang out with our cats who have no idea they live in NYC.
On our seven year anniversary, April 27th 2024, Henry took Audrey to the Met Cloisters, and on the side terrace of the museum got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. That night Audrey was performing in a show, and Henry surprised her with a group of friends who attended the show and joined us for drinks after. That summer, we embarked on our Engagement Tour of North America, where we stopped in various places where we have family living: Waynesboro VA, Kingston TN, Kansas City KS, Austin TX, and Albuquerque NM! It was so special to get to spend this time in our lives with our loved ones, and celebrate everything we have built together.
In November 2024, things took a turn. Audrey suddenly fell ill with the autoimmune condition Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which resulted in near paralysis through her whole body. She was hospitalized for five long weeks, and then we flew to Austin so that she could recover with family. This was without a doubt the hardest period of not only our relationship, but our lives. But after some weeks in Austin, Audrey began to recover with Henry by her side. In order for Henry to take the time from work and act as primary caretaker during this difficult time, we had to quickly get married in the backyard of Audrey’s family home. Audrey’s sister (and maid of honor) Helena got ordained, and we had a quiet ceremony with some close friends and family.
Coming into this wedding already legally married, we get to ask ourselves why this is still so important for us to do. We are already lucky enough to call each other husband and wife, but we haven’t had the chance to thank each of the people that have supported us for these past nine years. This wedding is an opportunity for us to do that, and to celebrate the love and gratitude we have not only for each other, but for each of the people attending both in person and in thought. We are thrilled to see you there :)
