In 1999, while in a sixth-grade math class at Hudson Falls Middle School, in Hudson Falls, N.Y., Tracy Nash and Stacey Pratt bonded over a shared appreciation for Pokémon cards.
Each was shy, anxious and introverted, and became best friends.
After high school they attended SUNY Adirondack, a community college in Queensbury, N.Y. Ms. Nash finished the two-year program with an associate degree in liberal arts; Ms. Pratt, whose social anxiety became debilitating, moved back home without graduating. Ms. Nash then attended SUNY Plattsburgh for a teaching degree, but couldn’t finish the program.
“I was anxious and missed Stacey, so I moved back home,” said Ms. Nash, 33, a content editor for Gracenote, a TV listings company owned by Nielsen. “We saw each other all the time. We would cuddle and be kissy but we never talked about it.”
In May 2012, Ms. Nash had a realization. “I didn’t realize I was gay, but I was in love with her,” she said. “That night I sent Stacey a long text telling her everything, and that if she wasn’t OK with what I was saying, we never had to talk about it again.”
Ms. Pratt preferred not talking about it at the time.
“I’d never understood relationships; being in one made me nervous,” said Ms. Pratt, 32, who also works as a content editor at Gracenote. “I had feelings I didn’t understand. I was afraid of losing the friendship if things didn’t work out.”
For the next two years Ms. Nash remained silent about her feelings. In May, 2014, the pair were at a Burger King when Ms. Nash brought up their relationship.
This time Ms. Pratt agreed to discuss it.
“She was right,” Ms. Pratt said. “I had time to figure out what it meant to love someone and be in a relationship. I wanted one with her.”
Their relationship moved quickly. A month later the pair moved in together.
A proposal came on Oct. 10, 2016 at New York Comic Con, the annual comic book and gaming convention at the Javits Center. Ms. Nash got down on one knee while the two were walking the show. They were dressed in medieval-style costumes, portraying two main characters from their favorite video game, Tales of Zestiria.
“We’ve always been together, I wanted us to always be together,” Ms. Nash said. “When I took out the ring, she said ‘yes’ and started crying.”
A year went by. Then another. No celebration took place.
“Every few months we’d talk about the wedding, but planning one is overwhelming and stressful,” Ms. Pratt said. “We just kept putting it off.”
Then this past May, while Ms. Nash was on social media, she spotted an ad for Let Love Bloom, a 24-hour wedding marathon taking place on Pride weekend on Matrimony Hill at the Beekman 1802 farm in Sharon Springs, N.Y. (More than 30 couples were married.) The $100 fee included an officiant and photographer.
“We loved being part of something during Pride where so much love was happening in one place,” Ms. Nash said. The wedding was also about overcoming personal difficulties. “I’m finally accepting myself. It’s been a hard journey emotionally,” she said. “I’ve always been very masculine. I recently feel brave enough to be OK with that.”
On June 26, at 12:25 p.m., the brides stood inside a rainbow stain-glass house created by the artist Tom Fruin, and were married by David Washburn, a local wedding officiant from Sharon Springs ordained through American Marriage Ministries.
“Tracy is my favorite person,” Ms. Pratt said. “She’s my rock and safe place. She supports me, calms me and deals with my anxiety and chronic pain. Despite all of my flaws she’s always there.”
Ms. Nash felt similarly about Ms. Pratt. “I love the way she makes me feel about myself,” she said. “She loves me when I have trouble loving me. She’s the other half of my heart.”
