It didn’t take long for Stephanie Yue Duhem and Brad Abrahams to decide they liked each other when they met while doting over a mutual friend’s pet pig.
They were both at a house party in May 2022 when “Brad introduced himself, and we got to talking,” Ms. Duhem said. “He told me about his work as a documentary filmmaker and was funny and warm.”
“Stephanie was beautiful and kept asking me questions about my movies,” Mr. Abrahams said. “I loved how curious she was.”
They exchanged phone numbers and started texting in the days following. They had their first date a week later, after Mr. Abrahams, 44, asked Ms. Duhem, 36, to see an artwork exhibit by graduate students at the Visual Arts Center at the University of Texas at Austin. “Brad had an incredible eye for detail and made really astute comments about the pieces,” she said. “It was surprising and attractive.”
Their date continued at a shopping mall, Barton Creek Square, where they sought cool respite on a sweltering day. “We walked around aimlessly for four hours chatting about everything and nothing,” Mr. Abrahams said. “Our chemistry was electric.”
As he drove Ms. Duhem home late that afternoon, they made plans to see each other again a few days later. “I wanted to kiss Brad before getting out of the car, but I wasn’t sure if he would feel the same way, so I held off,” she said.
[Click here to binge read this week’s featured couples.]
They had a late night second date at Adams-Hemphill Neighborhood Park, near Ms. Duhem’s studio apartment. The evening was cool, and they jumped at the chance to stroll outdoors under the moonlight. Along the way, they discussed their professions and their inspirations. “Steff is a poet, which impressed me,” Mr. Abrahams said. “I was also entranced by her poetic way of seeing the world.”
When they stopped to rest on a stone wall, Ms. Duhem leaned over to kiss Mr. Abrahams.
“It was such a sweet moment,” she said. “I had butterflies in my stomach.”
“We were illuminated by the moon, and Steff was glowing under it,” Mr. Abrahams said. “I was melting into the moment.”
Following that night, they texted daily and met several times a week. “Steff took me to lots of literary events around Austin, and I took her to film screenings,” Mr. Abrahams said. “One night, we went to a poetry reading where she performed one of her poems. Everyone in the room, including me, was captivated. I was overcome with love.”
After dating for about a year, they moved in together in July 2023 to a rental home in East Austin, where they continue to live. “I had never been in a relationship that felt so easy,” Ms. Duhem said. “Our worlds blended seamlessly, and it wasn’t long before we were talking marriage.”
Ms. Duhem was born in Sichuan, China, and immigrated with her family to Binghamton, N.Y., when she was 6. She grew up in Acton, Mass., and works remotely as a content writer for the legal marketing agency cj Advertising in Nashville. Her debut book of poems, “Cataclysm Moves Me I Regret to Say,” will be published in June by House of Vlad Press.
She has a bachelor’s degree in French literature from Cornell and a master’s degree in creative writing and poetry from the University of Texas at Austin. Her previous marriage ended in divorce.
Mr. Abrahams was born and raised in Toronto and moved to the United States in 2007. His documentary film work focuses on paranormal beliefs, as in his 2017 film “Love and Saucers,” about a 72-year-old man who claims to have had a romantic relationship with an alien woman.
Mr. Abrahams is also a film programmer for Fantastic Fest, an annual film festival in Austin featuring science fiction, horror and other genre movies, and a host of QAA Podcast, which covers conspiracy culture. His previous marriage ended in divorce.
The couple became engaged last spring during a road trip through West Texas. On April 12, they wed before 85 guests at Tiny T Ranch, an events space in Garfield, Texas. August Smith, a close friend of the couple who was ordained by Universal Life Church for the occasion, officiated.
During the ceremony, Ms. Duhem read Mr. Abrahams a Rainer Maria Rilke poem titled “Again and again, even though we know love’s landscape,” which she interprets as the story of a couple reincarnated across centuries.
The evening also included a performance by a magician, and, speaking to Mr. Abrahams’s interest in the paranormal, guests broke a piñata shaped like a U.F.O. adorned with LED lights.
“Our wedding was magical, eclectic and filled with lots of laughter,” Mr. Abrahams said. “It was a perfect blend of both of us.”
Shivani Vora is a New York City-based travel writer who considers herself a very savvy packer.
The post For Two Artists, Learning About Each Other Was Their Greatest Project appeared first on New York Times.
