Breezy-Afternoon Vow Exchange

• By Sara Cardace
• Published Winter 2009

Edward Freeman & Mark Binder
Brooklyn Heights Promenade
and Brooklyn Historical Society
September 13, 2008

Edward and Mark might not have wed at all if same-sex marriage wasn’t so topical. “We had been talking about the entire concept,” Edward recalls. “Sourpuss said he didn’t believe in it. And I said, ‘Well, what if I proposed to you?’ ” Soon the pair was inviting 100 guests to join them for a short-but-sweet exchange of vows on the Promenade, followed by a laid-back celebration at the Brooklyn Historical Society. “I wore a suit from the seventies,” Edward says. “That was something old. For something borrowed, I used one of Mark’s handkerchiefs. My uncle bought me shoes, and the something blue was a tie that Mark gave me for our first Christmas.” “Edward’s more traditional than I am,” Mark says fondly. “But that’s why I like him.”