For Liz Lopez, networking is a way of life. The Keystone Mastermind Alliance co-founder and CEO loves to connect with new people.
That’s why when Arizona native Ruth George moved to St. Petersburg in Sept. 2011 and joined the Good Old Girl Network, a meet-up group geared toward professional lesbians, she was the first to reach out to her. “Naturally, I’m the welcome wagon,” Lopez says.
The two met face-to-face a few weeks after an initial message. Sparks didn’t initially fly between the pair but they parted on friendly terms and kept in touch. George began regularly joining her group of friends for outings.
When George’s company Feld Entertainment presented “Disney on Ice,” Lopez joined her. “Usually, we were out with a mixed group,” Lopez says. “We had a really nice dinner, great conversation … That night was a deepening of our friendship.”
A few weeks later, the pair met for dinner at Queens Head. “I don’t think either of us called it a date, but it was a date,” Lopez recalls.
“That night changed things,” George adds. “When you’re with someone you really want to be with, it feels right. It felt like I was standing there at home.”
By Nov. 2011, they were dating exclusively and moved in together in Jan. 2012. “It was not quite a U-Haul,” George says.
“But close,” Lopez muses.
On Aug. 7, 2012, they became legal domestic partners in St. Petersburg, donning rings and celebrating over breakfast at the Hangar Restaurant. As more and more states began legalizing same-sex marriage, they knew they would eventually wed.
“We always craved that deeper commitment and, of course, the protections that come with it,” Lopez says.
Initially, they thought they would elope to Vermont. “Then, my very not mainstream, eclectic wife was like, ‘I want a traditional wedding with all of our family,’” Lopez says.
When same-sex marraige was legalized federally, they aimed for an Oct. 2015 wedding. Oct. 31 was the only available date at their venue, the Heartwood Retreat Center in Bradenton, and a Halloween wedding sounded fun to the couple, who enjoyed the holiday in different ways.
“I was more fall, witches, pumpkins and cats,” Lopez notes. “She’s more skeletons, scary movies and Day of the Dead.”
Halloween had also been important to George since she was a child. “I grew up in a family where we were the house on the street that put speakers in the upstairs window and blasted scary music, and kids trick-or-treating would cry, ‘No, mommy, I don’t want to go to that house,’” she says.
They decided to plan an elegant wedding, allowing the children attending to dress in costume and set up trick-or-treating in the venue’s chakra garden.
The couple opted for fall colors, with lots of purple and orange. George also designed and created the centerpieces for each table, which were given different Halloween themes: Disney villains, “The Addams Family,” “Harry Potter” and “Hocus Pocus.”
Since this was also a rare occasion where both of their large families would be in one place, they also served a Thanksgiving dinner.
“It was a beautiful evening,” Lopez says. “Everything I’ve ever wanted.”
Wedding Date: Oct. 31, 2015
Officiant: David Shaddock
Photographer: A Stunning Match Photography
Venue: Heartwood Retreat Center
Caterer: Seven Continents Catering
Wedding Cake: Red Velvet from Wright’s Gourmet House
Florist: Redman Steele Floral Design Studio
Music: DJ Dutch
Wedding Songs: “Turning Page” by Sleeping at Last; “When You Wish Upon a Star” by Mary J. Blige (featuring Barbara Streisand); “I Loved Her First” by Heartland
Honeymoon: Walt Disney World Orlando
