The Love Story Behind Alabama’s First Legally Married Same-Sex Couple

1. Tori Sisson and her partner, Shanté Wolfe, became the first same-sex couple to get married in Montgomery, Alabama, on Monday morning.

3. “It felt like the first time for me,” 21-year-old Shanté told BuzzFeed News about the moment she saw her girlfriend and recited her vows outside the Montgomery County Courthouse.

“I saw her in her outfit while we were outside at the courthouse and we said our vows. I was just taken aback because I get to wake up to that every morning.”

5. The couple spent the night in a tent outside the courthouse in hopes they would be among the first couples to file a marriage license. “It’s surreal, it still hasn’t hit me yet,” says Shanté.

7. “All that night people would come by and drop off candy and drop off water. There was one couple that patrolled the block to make sure we were OK.”

9. BuzzFeed News spoke with Shanté to hear her side of the events that led up to this “magical, overwhelming, and humbling” day:

11. The couple first met at an apartment party over two years ago. They had no way of knowing that one day they would live in that same apartment as a married couple.

“We’ve been playing this subconscious game of cat and mouse for seven years. My sister went to her alma mater and actually my sister stayed at her old apartment. Literally, we’ve been a step behind each other for years,” says Shanté. “We met for the first time and I asked her a million and one questions.”

13. At that party, the group played an icebreaker game where everyone picked an adjective to describe themselves using the first letter of their first name. And so, Subtle Shanté and Tornado Tori met for the very first time.

“I honestly did that just to get her attention […] I didn’t know if I would meet her again,” says Shanté.

15. A month later, after a few other brief interactions, Tori asked if she could “kidnap” Shanté — code for: Can I take you on a date? “Obviously it worked out: We were camped out all last night” jokes Shanté.

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17. The couple actually held a commitment ceremony a year ago this very month, but still wanted the legal protections of a marriage ceremony.

19. “A lot of people said, ‘Why don’t you go to New York,’ or wherever. We weren’t going to pack up and move umpteen miles just to get a license, only come to back to Alabama. We said, ‘We are going to stay.'”

21. Their advice to couples still waiting to be married? “Don’t give up the fight; it’s not over.”

23. Shanté and Tori plan to hold another ceremony with friends and family who weren’t able to come down on such short notice. They are also in the process of planning a honeymoon.