LEXINGTON, Va. – Some weddings don’t need to include a big dress, hundreds of people and a breath-taking venue. All that matters is the person standing next to you.
“We just sort of walked right in through those side doors there. Our officiant was already here as well as our little wedding party and about two minutes later, that is when we got married,” said Molly Ryan.
A short moment that will last a lifetime between two women, Molly Ryan and Katherine Abrams, who have been together for more than a decade.
“We have lived together for a long time we have seen each other through like every single stage of growing up,” said Ryan.
12 years to be exact. The spark between Abrams and Ryan happened when they were children.
“When I was in middle school, early high school, I started getting really into Dressage, which is the sport that we do,” Ryan said. “Katherine was really the only other kid at the farm who was interested in Dressage. Everyone else wanted to do a different sport, so that is when we started spending a lot of time together.”
Which makes it even more fitting that they got married at the Dressage at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington by their friend and fellow trainer, Lauren. Lauren is an ordained minister and a huge supporter of Abrams and Ryan’s relationship.
“I was teaching lessons about a week before the summer show here, and she [Ryan] texted me and was like, ‘Do you think Lauren will be there?’ and I said ‘probably’ and she was like, ‘Do you think she would legitimately marry us?’ So, I texted Lauren about that, and she immediately said, ‘I will definitely marry you.’”
But never did the couple imagine their wedding ceremony would play out like it did, among the horses and the stalls.
Abrams and Ryan said it was extra special to have their friend Lauren marry them.
“She asked if we were ready, we said we were, and then she did the ceremony and that was it — about two minutes,” she said.
They said something that was funny about their wedding is that there were complete strangers who were there who just happened to be walking in the barn at that time.
The couple got engaged in April. Originally, they were planning on a longer engagement, but with the fear of possible changes being made in the Supreme Court, Abrams and Ryan decided it would be better to get married sooner, rather than later. So, they had a total of nine days to plan their wedding.
“Shortly after Roe fell, I texted Katherine and I said, ‘What do you think about next week?’ And I didn’t know what she was going to say,” Ryan said. “I thought she would be like ‘you’re crazy there is no way we can do that,’ but she agreed and so that is how it started to come into motion.”
Even though nothing has been determined yet, like so many others in the LGBTQ+ community, the newlyweds were worried.
“Obviously, with the political climate sort of breaking down a little bit, we were feeling like things were getting more polarized,” said Abrams. “Then with the end of the Supreme Court term, we got a little bit concerned about the future.”
However, just as quickly as things started to change in the Supreme Court, the decision to get married was just as quick, but just as special.
“I was thinking about the anniversary, like that is kind of fun, it is always going to be at the show too,” said Abrams.
Even though they didn’t have much time to plan their wedding, both of their parents were able to attend. Ryan said that her mom even showed up with her grandmother’s opal jewelry for the girls to wear. This way they had something old and borrowed at their wedding.
Katherine and Molly wanted to share their story because they wanted to show that queer people can have a happy ending too
“We are just two people who fell in love and are lucky to have a very beautiful love story,” Ryan said.