“Always.” Colton smiled.
The common area on the second floor buzzed with activity.
A central walkway separated the space. On the left side, a dance floor and small stage along the side wall, and on the right, rows of circular tables for guests. Decorators placed colorful flower arrangements in the center of each table and adorned the walkway columns, archways, and windows with large sprays of flowers. Wait staff scurried around preparing the tables for food service, placing votive candles, chargers, plates, and silverwarefor each guest while the band went through their sound check on the small stage. Across the back, the accordion wall of windows leading to the balcony were fully open, creating an open-air setting for the ceremony. A white archway covered in flowers stood at the edge of the balcony, overlooking the bay, with rows of white chairs filling the balcony for the ceremony.
What was normally the meeting and social space for Harris Entertainment had been transformed into a beautifully decorated wedding venue.
Traditionally, the bride’s family and friends were seated on one side of the aisle, and the groom’s were on the other side, but Dean and Colton decided to buck tradition and allow their guests to sit wherever they wanted. The guest list included Dean’s dancers and staff and friends from the music industry, which, of course, included Taylor. And anywhere Taylor went, Travis wasn’t far behind. Colton’s teammates, coaches, friends and family intermingled with the other guests, enjoying champagne before the ceremony began…a lovely mixture of music and sports.
As the music began, everyone eagerly took their seats. Dean and Colton stood arm in arm at the back of the room, another snub to tradition as they decided to walk down the aisle together, as equals.
Aiden strutted down the aisle in his cute little tux, flashing his winning smile and bright blue eyes to everyone as he dropped flower petals in his wake, with Miss Cocoa happily trotting by his side.
‘Make You Feel My Love’ by Adele played as they walked down the aisle. Dean chose the song because, “Ain’t no brides here, so we’re not walking down the aisle to ‘Here Comes the Bride’.”
They took their places at the arch and the officiant began the ceremony.
“The grooms will recite their own vows to one another.” The officiant turned to Colton, who smiled and took a deep breath.
“Dean, for as far back as I can remember, I thought I was pretty put together, had it all figured out. Then you came into the picture and showed me that I didn’t know shit.”
The guests chuckled, and Greg shouted, “You got that right!”
“You turned my world upside down in the best way possible. I can’t imagine a day without you, and I wouldn’t want to. I promise to love you, honor and respect you, for the rest of my days.”
The officiant turned to Dean with a nod.
“Colton, from the moment I saw you on that practice field, you took my breath away. And when our hands touched, we both felt a spark of something bigger. We just didn’t realize what it was at the time. You’ve become my best friend, and I’m honored to call you my husband. I promise to love you and make you the happiest man in the whole damn world, for the rest of my days.”
The officiant turned to the guests. “By the power vested in me by the State of California and the City of San Francisco, I now pronounce you married. You may kiss your husband.”
They brought their lips together in the gentlest of kisses as the guests clapped, cheered, hooted, and whistled.
They turned to face their guests hand in hand and made their way down the aisle.
After a delicious dinner, the party kicked into high gear with drinks and a live band. As the band finished their first set, Dean stepped onto the stage and tapped the microphone.
“Hello, everyone. Before we have the first dance, I have something to share with you.” As Dean spoke, a video screen lowered behind him.
“I think everyone knows the story…I reached out to the Niners and asked if they would be in my music video. Little did I know that I’d find the love of my life on that video shoot. Afterthe shoot, Colton and I began hanging out, working on music, working out and playing sports. It’s no secret that we’re both fiercely competitive, and we posted most of our shenanigans on social media. Music is my life. It’s how I express myself. And one song that’s kind of become our song is ‘Magic’ by Kylie Minogue. So I created a little video montage of all our silly competitive moments and set it to my remix of Kylie’s song. I hope you enjoy.”
Dean stepped off the stage as the song began, with video footage documenting their journey playing on the screen. The first image on the screen was the black and white photo of their first handshake. Many of the videos and images were silly and light-hearted, and the guests laughed and cheered along with the video. The montage ended with hearty applause and laughter.
Colton leaned in and whispered to Dean. “My turn.” He winked and trotted onto the stage.
“Hey, folks. Thank you all for coming today. We are both so happy that you’re here to celebrate with us. It’s funny, neither of us knew what the other was planning, so this is a little bit redundant. As Dean mentioned, music is his lifeblood. When we met, I didn’t think much about music, and I knew nothing about dance music. Dean taught me a lot and shared a lot of music with me. Dean likes to leave little hand-written notes around the loft. Most often the notes are lyrics to songs that express his feelings. The first note he gave me —well, he actually snuck it into my gym bag and I found it hours later— contained the lyrics to the song ‘Magic’ by Kylie Minogue, and it became our song.”
Colton looked around the room with a smile.
“You can relax, I didn’t create a video montage like Dean did.” The guests chuckled.
“But I did want to do something special for Dean, because he’s taught me so much and opened my eyes to how wonderful lifecan be. So I thought…what better gift than to have the actual artist sing the song for our first dance.”
Dean gasped loudly and covered his mouth.
“So, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, please welcome Miss Kylie Minogue.” Kylie stepped out from behind a curtain and hugged Colton. She blew a kiss to Dean as he sobbed on the dance floor.
Colton joined Dean for their first dance as Kylie started to sing.
