Kelsey Anne Hovbrender Parsons and Matthew Richard Latessa were married June 1 at the Green Building, an events space in Brooklyn. Stephanie R. Mercurio, a Universal Life minister, officiated.
Ms. Parsons, 29, is a communications officer in Manhattan for the International Rescue Committee, the humanitarian organization for refugees and other vulnerable populations. She graduated with high honors from Carleton University in Canada and is to begin studying for a master’s degree in media, communications and development at the London School of Economics in September.
She is the daughter of Cecilie Parsons and Paul G. Parsons of Oakville, Ontario. The bride’s father is a vice president for sales at 4GL Solutions, a software company in Markham, Ontario. Her mother is a financial services manager in the Oakville branch of the Bank of Montreal.
Mr. Latessa, also 29, is the assistant director for college success at the Teak Fellowship, a Manhattan program that helps low-income students prepare for and succeed in college. He graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., and received a master’s degree in higher and postsecondary education from Columbia University.
He is the son of Patricia Thoman Latessa and Robert G. Latessa of Miamiville, Ohio. The groom’s mother retired as a psychology teacher at Lakota West High School in West Chester Township, Ohio. His father is a mathematics teacher at Lakota East High School in Liberty Township, Ohio.
The couple met in 2015, when one of Ms. Parsons’s roommates invited Mr. Latessa, who was a college classmate of hers, to sleep on the apartment’s couch while he was in Manhattan on a business trip.
