When Judy Chang and Chris Gayomali first met at the University of California, Irvine, in 2004, there was nary a hint they'd wind up together. The Southern California natives were part of the same social circle, but their interactions involved so much playful antagonism that one pal assumed they didn't like each other at all. It wasn't until they both landed in New York City—Judy for grad school at Columbia University (she's now a city planner), Chris for the adventure of it (he's an editor at GQ)—that they met up for a friendly drink and realized, as they later wrote on their wedding website, that they didn't just like each other, "they ADORED each other." That was in June 2012. The summer brought more nights out, Google Chat messaging, and a memorable rendezvous at a Brooklyn park bench: Chris delivered homemade chicken soup and green juice to Judy, who was recovering from a cold. They moved in together a year later.
By 2017, the two were talking about marriage with the same relaxed attitude they take toward most endeavors. "It was like, 'We want a wedding,'" says Judy. "Our friends deserve to be fed and full of alcohol." That August, Chris lured her back to their special bench with a fake reservation for dinner at a hot new restaurant nearby. They arrived to find a man on his phone fighting with his girlfriend, but that didn't stop Chris from dropping to one knee. When he and Judy embraced, the stranger shouted, "Yes! Yes! That's love!" and ended up snapping a picture of the couple—an ad hoc, only-in-New-York proposal photo.
From the start, they knew they wanted to wed in Brooklyn, and keep the affair "low-key and easy," Chris says. They also wanted to celebrate their heritages; his family is Filipino-American, hers Chinese-American. So for their nuptials, on March 23, 2019, they mined their history for details and chose traditions that really resonated. They commissioned watercolor paintings of mandarin ducks, a Chinese symbol of love and fidelity, and reproduced the design on their invites, then framed and displayed the originals at their industrial-chic venue. Judy mingled with guests pre-ceremony, wearing a white Joseph coat over her gown. "It relaxed me tremendously," she says. In another modern twist, the friend who'd been ordained for the occasion paused mid-vows to take a selfie with the couple and the crowd. But they did stick to some conventions, including first-look photos. "I thought it was goofy," says Chris. "But when I turned around and saw how perfect Judy looked in her dress, all the cheesiness melted away. I was like, Oh, okay. I get it. I remember cupping my hand over my mouth and thinking, Damn, girl!"
