Corey Seymour and Kathryn Huck
Met: Winter 1999 Engaged: January 28, 2005 Projected Wedding Date: June 18, 2005
The scene: A book party for Men’s Journal: The Great Life at the Half King bar in Chelsea-the one co-owned by bare-chest-favoring author Sebastian Junger (remember him? The Perfect Storm?). In attendance was Corey Seymour, a pouty-lipped former editor at the magazine and onetime New York–based assistant for the late Hunter S. Thompson. “It was a stroke of luck, or a curse-depending on how you look at it,” said Mr. Seymour, 38. Perhaps taking a page from his former mentor, he was “in a boisterous mood” and tried to relocate the party to Red Rock West, another bar nearby. But the only taker was Kathryn Huck, a senior editor at HarperCollins. With her curvy 5-foot-11 frame and wavy brown hair, Ms. Huck looked like she could have stepped off of a 1940’s movie set.
Over drinks, the duo discovered several mutual acquaintances and a shared fondness for Brit pop (she likes Blur; he’s more of an Oasis fan). Later that night, she visited his one-bedroom in the West Village, leaving her denim jacket behind as a sort of unwitting forget-me-not. “I was convinced she did it on purpose,” Mr. Seymour said. “Not that I was too adverse to that!” They began seeing each other a couple of times a week, supplementing the dates with marathon phone conversations-three and four hours at a time. “One month, my phone bill was like $100-it was crazy,” he said.
“He kept on saying he wanted to be with me for … a while,” said Ms. Huck, who is 37. “She kept trying to, in a very unobtrusive way, find out what I might be meaning by that,” Mr. Seymour said. “I think the definition of ‘a while’ slowly got bigger and bigger and bigger.” As did their need for living space: In 2003, they moved to a Boerum Hill floorthrough with a backyard.
When the big M-word finally came up, the couple first discussed eloping in Italy-“but the old-fashionedness in me was like, ‘I want the ring,'” Ms. Huck said. You go, sister girlfriend! The couple eventually settled on a ceremony at Mr. Seymour’s alma mater, Georgetown University, to be conducted by his former professor, Father Thomas King S.J., a leading Jesuit scholar. Since God is also in the details, they picked out an emerald-cut, single-carat diamond set in platinum from a private diamond dealer in the diamond district-a fellow who “deals with investment-grade-quality diamonds for people that need to travel with large amounts of liquid wealth,” Mr. Seymour said.
“Which is not us!” Ms. Huck hastened to add.
Derek Brown and Norah Forman
Met: January 2002 Engaged Oct. 3, 2004 Projected Wedding Date: Oct. 30, 2005
They’re bats for cats!
Derek Brown had spent a couple of weeks plowing through the Internet before he found Norah Forman, a catalog-and-solicitation manager at Scholastic Publishing, on naughty Nerve.com. They met at O’Connor’s, a bar in Park Slope. The prematurely silver-haired Mr. Brown, who is 33, took one look at the shy brunette with the awkward yet charming sideways smile and was thoroughly besotted. It didn’t hurt that Ms. Forman’s three sisters had multicultural marital tastes. “My oldest sister’s husband grew up in Israel, my next sister’s husband is Chinese-American, and my younger sister married a guy from Ireland,” she said. Mr. Brown is half-Finnish (his mother’s side). “I’m very proud of it,” he said. And why not?
After two and a half years of stately courtship, they moved together to a place in the Slope (another floorthrough), bringing along two kitties named Dennis and Nancy (names Mr. Brown picked out ages ago). “We’re obsessed with them,” he said.
“I don’t know if we should admit that,” fretted Ms. Forman, 31.
A senior developer for the software company eMata, Mr. Brown even set up a Web cam in the couple’s apartment so they can check in on their cats ( zzzz) while at work. “Once we caught Dennis sitting on top of Nancy,” Ms. Forman confided. The Web cam is also useful, of course, for broadcasting human love romps on the Internet-kidding!
One afternoon, via e-mail, Mr. Brown oh-so-casually suggested Sunday dinner at the River Café. “I thought something was up,” Ms. Forman said, “but I didn’t want to get too excited.”
When the appointed hour arrived, she watched amusedly as he took special pains with his appearance. During dinner, fireworks set off by an unknown source exploded helpfully across the river. When the check arrived, Mr. Brown discovered that he’d left his wallet at home (luckily, he had his credit-card information memorized).
After the bill was settled, the longtime lovebirds went for a walk down the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, during which Mr. Brown plunged to one knee and whipped out a half-carat round, brilliant-cut diamond set in 18-karat gold, surrounded by two carved diamond blossoms. The bauble proved too big, but Ms. Forman was so excited that she taped it to her finger until she could get it resized. “How did you know I would like it?” she asked.
“I’ve been studying you for the last three years,” Mr. Brown said.
Taking a stand against the recent Brooklyn backlash, they will wed at that borough’s Botanic Garden, possibly with a performance from Mr. Brown’s marching band, the Rude Mechanical Orchestra (he plays the trombone), which specializes in klezmer and Bollywood tunes. Sadly, the outdoor venue will preclude Dennis and Nancy’s attendance.
Born Yesterday
Aidan Myles Murphy
April 16, 2005 12:45 p.m. 7 pounds, 8 ounces New York Presbyterian Hospital
It’s only fitting that the blue-eyed progeny of Irish-born Conor Murphy, vice president of Met Life, arrived at lunchtime: “He hasn’t missed a meal since he appeared,” marveled the new dad, 36. “He’s like a little horse.” The babe also came out smiling; Mr. Murphy attributes this “gentle soul” to his Irish genes. Mom is Ani Murphy, 33, an Armenian-American and former employee of Revlon. Young Aidan will be baptized at St. Gregory the Enlightener Armenian Church in September, clad in a Donegal christening robe from Murphy of Ireland. The couple has been married three years and this is their second child; Jack Gregory Murphy is 22 months old.
