Watermark’s own Dylan and Rick Todd hit it off as soon as they met at the Tampa Bay WAVE Awards celebration at Hamburger Mary’s in Ybor March 2018.
Dylan was receiving an award for his business, Dylan Todd Photography, and Rick, as Watermark’s publisher, was working the event. Dylan offered to buy Rick a drink, then gave him his business card, noting that his cell phone number was on it.
A few weeks later they went on a date to downtown St. Petersburg and spent the night walking around Old Northeast, talking and getting to know each other.
“Dylan cracks me up,” Rick says. “It’s like he goes out of his way to make me laugh. Sometimes, when he tells a really good joke he laughs so hard and it makes my world complete. It was one of these moments when I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.”
Further into their relationship, Rick and Dylan would make fake marriage proposals to one another in funny places like Walmart to make each other laugh. So when Rick took Dylan on a walk retracing their first date, getting down on one knee when they reached the corner where they had their first kiss, Dylan wasn’t sure it was real.
When Dylan had confirmed it was, in fact, real, he said yes immediately.
The couple married at Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando. Judge Barbara Leach officiated, taking the time to interview the couple to make the ceremony as personal as possible.
“The ceremony was beautiful,” Dylan says. “Seeing our friends and family, the flowers, the arch – it was truly a dream wedding. I would have been perfectly content with eloping and this was much more than I could have imagined.”
Rick and Dylan were proud to display the local LGBTQ community at their reception, with handmade signs with quotes from LGBTQ people on them and some about LGBTQ people at every table. They even held a cabaret featuring local talent like Gidget Galore, Ginger Minj, Kris Geddie and Gadiel.
“We really wanted our wedding to showcase as much of the LGBTQ community as possible to honor the fact that we could even get married,” Rick says.
A few months prior, Dylan got a Cameo video for Rick from John Cameron Mitchell, who played Hedwig in the 2001 movie “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” congratulating the couple on their wedding and singing the beginning of “Origins of Love.” Ginger Minj created a whole performance around the video, completing the rest of the song.
“Gidget and Ginger put so much into the show to make it beautiful, heartfelt and hilarious,” Dylan says.
Many special moments for the couple also came from their wedding party, who showed their love and support, making their day all the more magical.
“The most special [part of the wedding] was hearing the toast from the wedding party and how they all recognized what I feel everyday – how much I absolutely love Dylan,” Rick says.
“During the toasts, my best lady, Tina, commented about how Rick makes me feel so calm,” Dylan says. “I struggle with anxiety, overanalyzing and fretting about everything. How Rick knows me, and how to just be there for me, is the greatest thing I could ask for in a partner.”
Engagement Date: Nov. 16, 2019
Wedding Date: April 25, 2021
Officiant: Judge Barbara Leach
Venue: Harry P. Leu Gardens
Colors: Purple, blue and gray
Wedding Song/Artist: “Grow As We Go” by Ben Platt
Florist: Lee Forrest Design
Caterer: Wedding – John Michael Exquisite Weddings and Catering. Rehearsal Dinner- Little Lamb Catering
Cake Flavors: Amaretto with hazelnut filling, red velvet with white chocolate filling, lemon with raspberry filling and pistachio with dark chocolate filling
Bakery: It’s Tasty Too!
Photographer: Taylor Moulton / Wombs to Weddings Photography
DJ/Entertainment: DJ Greg Anderson, Violectric
Cabaret: Hosted by Gidget Galore with performances by Ginger Minj, Kris Geddie and Gadiel
Day of Coordinator: Simple Weddings Florida
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