[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/a-south-carolina-kentucky-derby-love-story\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/a-south-carolina-kentucky-derby-love-story\/","headline":"A South Carolina Kentucky Derby Love Story","name":"A South Carolina Kentucky Derby Love Story","description":"A South Carolina Kentucky Derby Love Story","datePublished":"2016-06-09","dateModified":"2016-06-09","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/eribar\/#Person","name":"Elizabeth Tsung","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/eribar\/","identifier":5387,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/784a47fe95ff14868fe72a1335594b87fa76e8058fcd4f4ab457f4b179e14f93?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/784a47fe95ff14868fe72a1335594b87fa76e8058fcd4f4ab457f4b179e14f93?s=96&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Equally Wed","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","url":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","width":218,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Celeste_Seymore-Seymour_SavetheDate_051516-47.jpg","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Celeste_Seymore-Seymour_SavetheDate_051516-47.jpg","height":2000,"width":3000},"url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/a-south-carolina-kentucky-derby-love-story\/","about":["Community"],"wordCount":512,"keywords":[" lesbian","Kentucky Derby","personal essay","same sex","South Carolina"],"articleBody":"Kaytlyn and Celeste had their\u00a0engagement session near a lake in Charleston, South Carolina. They first met at a bar, and had their first date after winning a bet. The two have traveled all over the country, and are tying the knot this coming November.\u00a0 #ftg-5353 .tile .icon { color:#ffffff; }#ftg-5353 .ftg-items .loading-bar i { background:#fff; }#ftg-5353 .ftg-items .loading-bar { background:#fff; }#ftg-5353 .tile .icon { font-size:12px; }#ftg-5353 .tile .icon { margin: -6px 0 0 -6px; }#ftg-5353 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { font-size:12px; }#ftg-5353 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { font-size:14px; }#ftg-5353 .tile { background-color: transparent; }#ftg-5353 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.text { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-5353 .tile .caption-block .text-wrapper span.title { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-5353 .tile .ftg-social a { color: #ffffff; }#ftg-5353 .tile .caption-block { transition-timing-function:linear; }#ftg-5353 .tile .caption-block { transition-duration:0.25s; }#ftg-5353 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: #000000; }#ftg-5353 .tile .tile-inner:before { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); }#ftg-5353 .tile.ftg-preload { transform: scaleY(1) scaleX(1) translate(0px,0px) rotateX(0deg) rotateY(0deg); }#ftg-5353 .tile.ftg-preload { transition: all ease-out 0.5s, opacity linear 0.5s; }#ftg-5353 .tile img.item { transition-duration: 0.25s; }jQuery('#ftg-5353 img.item').removeAttr('src');jQuery(document).ready(function () {setTimeout(function () {jQuery('#ftg-5353').finalTilesGallery({minTileWidth: 250,margin: 10,loadMethod: 'sequential',nonce: 'f343d8253b',galleryId: '53',setupFilters: true,layout: 'final',debug: false,gridSize: 25,disableGridSizeBelow: 800,allowEnlargement: true,imageSizeFactor: [ [4000, 0.9],[1024, 0.8],[768, 0.7],[640, 0.6],[320, 0.5]],selectedFilter: 'n-a'});jQuery(function () {(function () {var rel = '';jQuery('#ftg-5353 .ftg-lightbox').click(function (e) {rel = jQuery(this).attr('rel');jQuery('#ftg-5353 .ftg-current').removeClass('ftg-current');jQuery('#ftg-5353 [rel=\"'+rel+'\"]').addClass('ftg-current');});})();jQuery('#ftg-5353 .tile a.ftg-lightbox').prettyPhoto({});});}, 0);});\u00a0FROM THE BRIDE TO BE\u00a0Have you ever shaken someone\u2019s hand, and in those first five seconds, felt like you\u2019ve known them your entire life? That\u2019s how I felt when I met Kaytlyn. \u00a0I\u2019d always thought that our meeting was based on a sequence of fated events. After all, Kaytlyn is originally from Maine, but moved to South Carolina on a whim. Once she got here, we spent two years in the same city without ever meeting. The serendipitous event that did bring us together was the Kentucky Derby, which we both watched at the same bar. Kaytlyn (being her extroverted and daring self) bought me a drink, and told me if I picked the winning horse she\u2019d buy me dinner too. I picked the horse that I thought had the coolest name: California Chrome. Low and behold, this was the horse that won the Kentucky Derby! I think Kaytlyn was momentarily shocked, but stayed true to her word and bought me dinner. From that day forward, we\u2019ve been inseparable. The funniest part about our engagement is that we each proposed a week apart from one another without the other\u2019s knowledge. My plan was to propose to Kaytlyn while we were in Maine for her birthday. I enlisted her Godmother\u2019s help to set up a beautiful display on Higgins Beach (near Portland, Maine), which was the beach Kaytlyn often visited growing up. Kaytlyn knows me too well, and picked up on my secrecy. She put the puzzle pieces together, and concocted a plan of her own. I came home the Monday before we were to leave for Maine to find our house covered in roses. Kaytlyn, with all three of our animals in tow, asked me to marry her and I agreed. We then shared\u00a0a lovely dinner together (slightly burnt due to Kaytlyn\u2019s nerves), then told our family and friends. The hardest part after this was keeping Kaytlyn\u2019s proposal a secret, but somehow we managed it. On Kaytlyn\u2019s birthday, we took a \u201cspontaneous\u201d trip to Higgins Beach, and stumbled upon our beautiful proposal display. Though it was freezing that day, I got down on one knee and asked her\u00a0to marry me. Thankfully she said yes. We spent the rest of the trip celebrating with all of our family and friends. It\u2019s a strange experience to go somewhere you\u2019ve never been, to a place so different from what you know, and still feel at home. I suppose that when you\u2019re in love, home isn\u2019t so much a place, but a person. Kaytlyn and I will marry on November 12, 2016 at Harborside East in Charleston, South Carolina, and we can’t wait for the day to come. VENDORSPhotography: Marie Rodriguez Photography. "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"A South Carolina Kentucky Derby Love Story","item":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/a-south-carolina-kentucky-derby-love-story\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]