Annabelle Leila Evans and Jordan Ross Harman are to be married May 26 at the Roxbury Barn and Estate in Roxbury, N.Y. Brant Pinvidic, a friend of the couple and a Universal Life minister, is to officiate.
The bride, who is 36 and works in New York, is a vice president for digital and magazine investment at the Zenith Media Company, a subsidiary of the Publicis Groupe. She graduated from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.
She is the daughter of Leila Gray Evans and Christopher J. Evans of Quilpie, Australia. Her parents own Nyngarie Station, an organic cattle ranch in Quilpie.
The groom, 43, is an executive producer with A&E Networks in New York. He graduated from Syracuse.
He is a son of Jan S. Harman and Andrew H. Harman of Roslyn Heights, N.Y. The groom’s father retired as a chief executive in the wine and spirits industry at both Joseph E. Seagram and Sons in New York and Southern Wine and Spirits of America in Syosset, N.Y. His mother was a stay-at-a-home parent.
The couple met in 2015 at a bar in New York, where Mr. Harman was living.
“I walked in looking for a 5-foot-10-inch Australian girl and there she was,” Mr. Harman said jokingly.
Ms. Evans, who was born and raised in Australia, had lived in England and was now in Hoboken, N.J., immediately fell for Mr. Harman’s sense of humor, though she was saddened to learn that he was seeking a second kidney donor at that time.
“Trust me, I didn’t open with that,” Mr. Harman said.
Within a few weeks they were dating, and enjoying “a shared love of animals, dirty jokes, classic rock and anything wrapped in bacon,” as Mr. Harman put it.
“I was charmed by her Australian accent and her sly sense of humor,” he said. “She also had a very quiet confidence about her that I truly admired, and though she came from a world away and didn’t always get my references to ‘80s pop music or quotes from movies like “Animal House,” or what it’s like to live life as a Jets fan, she provided me with an opportunity to see the world through her eyes, and I definitely wanted to be a part of that world.”
They were living together in June 2017, when a five-alarm fire tore through their co-op building in Greenwich Village, forcing them to move elsewhere for six months along with three pets: their dog, Dexter (who has since died); and two cats, Smokey and Bandit.
At the same time, Mr. Harman was on a desperate search to find a willing kidney donor. He had received his first kidney transplant in 1993, made possible by his father, who was the donor.
“Despite everything we were going through, Jordan always remained positive, and was always fast with a joke,” Ms. Evans said. “He provided me with a sense of calm and stability, and was truly my rock in every sense of the word.”
In the summer of 2018, Mr. Harman received that second kidney from an anonymous donor as part of what doctors described as an “eight-person donor chain.”
“Thanks to another spare part, I’m feeling brand-new again,” Mr. Harman said. “Through all the ups and downs during my search for a kidney, Annabelle always remained positive, she was always there for me.”
And, with his voice beginning to crack: “That ordeal made us stronger and Annabelle continues to make me the best version of what I can be in this world.”
