Long before they ever started dating, Steph and Kim Savage-Fleming were coworkers at a Pasco County medical office. There, Steph was the office manager while Kim worked as a physical therapy assistant.
The two were “fast friends,” Kim says. “Sometimes you meet someone and you just know you’re going to be friends.”
Steph says there was “no inkling” of what was to come, though, and they both eventually moved on to other jobs and lost touch. Though they remained connected on Facebook, they never chatted other than the occasional “like” of a post.
It took eight years for the social media algorithms to align. In 2017, they reconnected and the conversation never stopped. “It was just easy,” Kim says. “It felt natural.”
They were both dealing with major life changes. Steph was in the middle of a difficult divorce and Kim was also going through a bad breakup. They were also both looking to move out and find a new place to live on their own. As they rekindled their friendship, they thought it would be smart to rent as roommates.
“We thought it would be easier to have somebody to be around,” Steph recalls. “We decided to move in together to help each other out … we bonded over difficult situations.”
Their relationship evolved from there. “We like the same things,” she explains. “There was easy conversation and a lot of laughter. It naturally progressed to the point where there was no denying there was more than just friendship.”
Their relationship felt right from the start, but they did face some “social obstacles” along the way, Steph says. She had never dated a woman before, and her family, including her two teenage children, wasn’t immediately accepting.
“It was a little bit of a shock to them,” she says. “It took them some time to come around.”
But they were largely surrounded by supportive friends and coworkers who encouraged their relationship, allowing their love to grow. It wasn’t long before they began talking about marriage. It was a mutual decision, but Steph wanted to make it special for Kim, who had never been married before.
“I wanted to make sure that she knew that my intent was serious, and I was wholeheartedly in the decision,” Steph says.
She began the “nerve wracking” experience of shopping for a ring. Then, she planned an overnight trip to Sarasota on June 4, 2019. She told Kim she hired a photographer for a couple’s photoshoot on the beach.
Though Kim knew at some point they’d get formally engaged, she didn’t see the proposal coming. She looked around the beach for the photographer and when she turned around, Steph was on one knee with the engagement ring. Kim immediately said yes.
Before the engagement, Steph had been laid off from her job. She had concerns this happened because she was in a relationship with another woman but felt it wasn’t worth pursuing.
As they began planning their wedding, they also heard horror stories from other LGBTQ couples about discrimination from different vendors. Though it was uncomfortable, as they sought vendors for their own big day, Steph says they found themselves asking, “Do you accept people like us?”
Kim adds, “You shouldn’t have to ask that on what’s the happiest occasion of your life with your tail between your legs, worrying whether they’d say yes or no.”
Steph had already been trying to figure out a fulfilling career path after losing her job. Wanting to prevent others from facing discrimination and at Kim’s urging, the couple launched their own wedding planning company last summer: Pride Wedding Ceremonies. Kim, still a physical therapy assistant, helps Steph run the company, which has grown significantly over the past year.
“It gave me insight and it helped me to understand what so many people have faced and what the world is really like out there,” Steph says. “A lot of time you’re not aware of things because you’re not part of it.”
As for their own wedding, they wanted a small event. Most of their family doesn’t live in Florida and they didn’t want to place the financial burden of travel on them.
The pandemic ruined any plans of having even friends join them at their wedding. Ultimately, they married at Plaza Beach Resorts in St. Pete Beach in April with only Steph’s son, who lives nearby, in attendance.
Kim also had a broken leg at the time of their wedding, which didn’t make walking on the beach easy. And knowing that she has “the luck of the Irish” she had a feeling it might rain during the event – which it did, torrentially. Luckily, she thought ahead and purchased a large white wedding umbrella.
“Nothing was going to stop that wedding,” Kim says, not even the photographer’s cancellation. Fearing they had been exposed to COVID-19, they were unable to attend and sent a staff member in their place.
“I think the beauty of it is the fact that everything [bad] you could think of – raining, being injured, the photographer didn’t show up – all those things happened and neither of us cared. Nothing slowed us down or killed the joy,” Kim says.
Steph adds, “Everything we originally planned went out the window, but we worked around it all and did the best we could. It was still an amazing ceremony and experience. We wouldn’t go back and change a thing.”
Engagement Date: June 4, 2019
Wedding Date: April 24, 2020
Wedding Venue: Plaza Beach Resorts, St. Petersburg
Wedding Song: “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perr
Florist: SK Florals
Officiant: Laurie Cuffe Bahrakis
Cake Bakery: Publix
Photographer: Melissa Lauren Images
Do you have an interesting wedding or engagement story you’d like to share with Watermark readers? If so, email the details to Jeremy@WatermarkOnline.com if you live in the Central Florida or Space Coast area and Ryan@WatermarkOnline.com if you live in the Tampa Bay or Sarasota area for consideration as a future feature on this page.
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