Wedding Date on Aug 6, 2016

From The Bride: Becca and Melina used to tell people that they just ran into each other in their former neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn, and that it was love at first sight. The truth is, they met online in 2011, when they both had flip phones and meeting online was not yet the norm. Becca had just graduated from college and was new to the city. She was living with two friends in Park Slope and working part time as a hostess at a swanky downtown Manhattan restaurant. Melina had been living in the city for almost three years, and she was working in real estate management. Becca found Melina on OkCupid, and she was immediately drawn to her. She scoured Melina's profile and absorbed all the details, planning to craft the perfect message, but in the end, she decided that less is more, and simply wrote: "Girl, you're cute." Apparently this was enough for Melina, who immediately started up a conversation with Becca. They talked back and forth for months, until finally deciding to meet for brunch. On their first date, a freezing January morning, they stayed inside at a cozy Park Slope cafe, just talking and smiling. Once it became clear that they couldn't loiter any longer, they made up excuses to keep hanging out. Melina said that she needed to get lightbulbs for her bathroom vanity, and Becca volunteered to help her. Then they went searching for puppies to cuddle. They walked around for hours, despite the freezing cold. Once it was time for Becca to go get ready for work at her restaurant job, they hugged goodbye and said they'd add each other on Facebook. After their date, they didn't wait a calculated amount of time to contact each other. Becca texted Melina that night, saying that she had a great time, and Melina, who was at an underground concert with poor cell reception, climbed up the stairs to text Becca the same. Melina later told Becca that she just liked her so much, and that she didn't want to downplay it or hide it for the sake of adhering to the widely agreed upon rules of dating. Becca has always appreciated this. In the weeks that followed, Becca and Melina spent nearly every day together, exploring Brooklyn in the freezing January weather. On Valentine's day, a month after they met, Becca sent Melina a note that read, "Will you be my Valentine? Check yes or no." Melina checked yes. Over the next few months, Melina and Becca, now officially "girlfriends," were inseparable. They stayed up late eating pancakes and watching Square Pegs, they produced a film together, and they traveled around the country to visit each other's families. In 2012, they traveled to North Carolina for three months to produce a film about the personal stories of people whose fates were being put to a public vote on marriage equality. It was there that they discovered their love of creating social justice films, of working together as a team, and of exploring the country together. In 2013, they moved with their two kittens to their first apartment together in Gowanus, and in 2015, they moved to a co-op in Bay Ridge. Melina had always idealized the movie trope of people moving into a new apartment that's not yet furnished, and having to eat Chinese food on the floor. The first time they moved, the furniture moved with them, so they were not able to do this. But when they moved to Bay Ridge, they still had access to their old apartment, so the first night in the new place was without furniture. Becca took this as an opportunity to surprise Melina with what she'd always dreamed of: Chinese food on the floor of an empty apartment. And Becca decided to add in a little something else. When Melina texted Becca that she was almost home, Becca lit a path of candles, turned off all the lights, and hid behind the door. When Melina entered the apartment, she curiously followed the lighted path, and came to a makeshift bed with Chinese food boxes, and one extra box. She knelt down and opened the box, and soon started sobbing. There was a beautiful ring inside, with a note that said, "Will you marry me? Check yes or no," just like Becca had done on their first Valentine's day. As Melina recalls it, Becca somehow appeared out of thin air after Melina opened the ring box. As they both sobbed, Becca asked Melina to marry her, and Melina said yes. A few days later, Melina proposed to Becca. Of course, she said yes.