A love story, Primanti style: How a Spring Grove couple tied the knot in a free wedding
Kim StrongBrianne Strayer married Austin Wright July 13, but it won’t be until Aug. 5, 2019, that they’ll actually have their first date.
Their first real date, as Brianne defines it, will be out West, where the day morphs into night without anyone noticing: Vegas, baby.
The two met at The Rink – as the cool kids called the Magic Elm in Hanover - when he was 12 and she was 13. After a week of being “a couple,” he stopped speaking to her for reasons she didn’t know then and he can’t seem to remember now.
The next time they saw each other, she was 18. Brianne was in Austin's sister’s wedding, and he yelled across the church at her, something about her dress.
She wasn’t particularly impressed that day. She had a date; he had a date. But a couple of months later, he called, and they started being a couple again and moved in soon after. They now have 1-year-old Bently.
Before Valentine’s Day this year, they had both heard about a promotion Primanti Bros. was offering: Couples who got engaged on Feb. 14 would have a chance to be married in Pittsburgh at the chain’s original restaurant - all for free.
“I didn’t know if he was gonna do it or not,” she said.
He did - at the Primanti Bros. on Queen Street. On one knee, he pulled out the ring and popped the question. As she said yes, customers put down their sandwiches and pulled out their phones to take photos.
On July 13, Brianne, 22, and Austin, 21, joined 10 other couples for one big wedding.
In attendance were: their son; Brianne’s mother, Brenda Strayer of Spring Grove; Austin’s parents, Jane and Nevin Wright of Hanover; and the couple’s siblings.
Adam Golomb, chief marketing officer for Primanti Bros., said, “We are honored these couples chose to take us up on our offer back on Valentine’s Day and are now allowing us to help them begin their new lives together.”
For the Wrights, that life started already.
In Vegas, they’ll be staying at the Stratosphere, and they’re considering a try on the hotel's tower ride.
“We plan to jump off, but we don’t know for sure yet,” she said.
Baby, wedding, first date, then leap. Why not? The order doesn’t matter.
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