RELEASE: City of Saint Paul hosts first same sex wedding at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory

For Immediate Release
August 1, 2013
Contact: Dan Undem
(O) 651-266-6367 (C) 612-270-8280

Dan.undem@ci.stpaul.mn.us

 

 

City of Saint Paul hosts first same sex wedding at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory

 

Saint Paul- The City of Saint Paul and the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory hosted the wedding of Paul Nolle and Reid Bordson at midnight on August 1. Their August 1 wedding was one of the first legal same sex weddings celebrated in the State of Minnesota and kicked off a record setting day for the number of weddings taking place in Saint Paul.

Paul Nolle, a native of Green Bay Wisconsin, and Reid Bordson, a native from Duluth, have been together for 13 years. Ten years ago the couple held a commitment ceremony, but their wedding on August 1 marks the first day their marriage is legally recognized by the state of Minnesota.

“This is the most beautiful place for a wedding we have ever seen,” Bordson said. “It is also thrilling to have been married in the very city, the capital, where all the political action occurred just a few months ago.”

Immediately following the ceremony, a private reception was held in the Covered Porch of the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory Visitor Center where Lancer Catering provided the couple with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and Betty Crocker donated the wedding cake.

In celebration of the Freedom to Marry Act, the City of Saint Paul waived rental fees for anyone wishing to get married and offered expanded hours on August 1 at its most popular wedding facilities including the Sunken Gardens, North Garden and Excedra at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory as well as Irvine Park. A total of 11 couples took advantage of the waived fees at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory while three couples booked at Irvine Park.

Additionally, the photo permit requirements for Mears and Rice Park were also waived on August 1 for anyone wanting to take photographs at these popular wedding photography locations.

Photos of the ceremony are attached.

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