A Promise to ‘Always Say Yes to the Animals’

Sidney A. Beard and Jill Brown have 6 cats, three hens, two dogs, two rabbits and a Belgian draft horse, all rescues. “The only just one who does not stay in the residence is the horse mainly because we could not sneak him into the neighborhood,” Ms. Brown explained.

Mr. Beard grew up in Needville, Texas, a modest city southwest of Houston. “My family has lived there for generations. I labored for my father in the rice fields for as extended as I can remember,” reported Mr. Beard, 38. Ms. Brown, 40, grew up in Anchorage.

They understood AK Diamond J Ranch, in Homer, Alaska, would be the great decide on for their nuptials, simply because, Mr. Beard mentioned simply, “Jill enjoys Alaska, and Homer is a lovely site we each like.”

Ms. Brown is a senior specialized manager at Honeywell Aerospace. Mr. Beard is an teacher stationed on the Moored Coaching Ship USS La Jolla (MTS 701) in Goose Creek, S.C., close to Charleston. The couple now life with their menagerie of adopted animals in North Charleston.

She graduated from Utah State College and has a master’s degree in aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical College. He graduated from the Navy’s Nuclear Electrical power Faculty.

The couple achieved in Norfolk, Va., when Ms. Brown was working at the NASA Langley Study Heart as a software manager for the drone take a look at vary, and he was a first class petty officer in the Navy, stationed on the USS Abraham Lincoln. He grew to become chief petty officer, his latest rank, soon thereafter.

They linked via the dating app Tinder on Labor Working day weekend in 2015. “Sidney was the only man or woman I swiped proper on,” Ms. Brown said. They met in man or woman that Saturday at the Deadrise cafe on Fort Monroe National Monument in Virginia. On Monday, he invited her to a sailboat race.

For the reason that of her occupied plan — “I was out flying to breakfast with the chief engineer from NASA,” Ms. Brown explained — she joined him for the unofficial just after-social gathering alternatively. “We experienced a terrific evening and a to start with kiss on the seashore,” Ms. Brown explained. “I observed him each individual day after that just about.”

They experienced their initial daughter, Piper, in January 2017 and, soon following, Ms. Brown and Piper moved to Phoenix for Ms. Brown’s new task with Honeywell, although Mr. Beard stayed driving for a sequence of sea trials and underways.

In July 2017, Mr. Beard proposed to Ms. Brown on a compact farm adjacent to his family’s property “under the large open up skies of starry Texas,” Ms. Brown claimed. “I knew she would say sure, but I was continue to anxious,” Mr. Beard mentioned.

The few moved to North Charleston in October 2018 simply because of Mr. Beard’s Navy orders. In August 2019, Ms. Brown gave start to their next baby, Harper.

Wedding festivities began Sept. 6 with a welcome meal at Second Star Mansion in Homer. The upcoming day, guests were dealt with to a halibut fishing charter in Kachemak Bay or a wildlife cruise to Seldovia, a distant fishing village.

On Sept. 8, the pair married inside the barn at AK Diamond J Ranch. Andrew J. Head, who was a chief petty officer in the Navy and a shut close friend of the groom, officiated. He turned a Common Life minister for the occasion. Amongst the company was Mr. Beard’s 12-yr-aged daughter from his to start with relationship, Sophie, who is shut with the couple’s other two women.

Their vows have been perfectly paired. “I promise to normally say certainly to the animals you provide dwelling so extensive as we have house, and in some cases even when we never,” Mr. Beard mentioned. “I like that you like animals and often say yes to finding house in our home for them,” Ms. Brown mentioned.

Cocktail hour and meal took spot in a apparent-roofed, apparent-sided pavilion so guests could delight in the views, and the reception was in the barn with Melissa Mitchell and the all-feminine band She’s with Me accomplishing.

For Mr. Beard, the ideal section of the night was “seeing Jill for the 1st time in her gown. She was amazingly beautiful.”