Jared (left) and Chris (right).
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Last December, the 'gayest wedding cake ever,' baked in Hamilton, became a viral sensation. Here, the two grooms behind the political confection share their story of love and internet celebrity.
Who: Chris Farias, 37, partner/VP at Kitestring Creative Branding Studio. Jared Lenover, 41, marketing strategist, DeGroote School of Business.
Location: Hamilton
Relationship status: Together since 2008
Eyes for each other
Chris: I was on a plethora of dating apps at the time. One night, I was on Plenty of Fish and there was Jared. I thought, "Damnnnnn, he's cute." And he was originally from the Chatham area. I'm originally from the Windsor area, so I thought – not only cute, but also convenient for holidays and such. I was ready to lock something down.
Jared: I was also at that stage where I was interested in a long-term relationship. Our first date was at Hamilton Art Crawl.
Chris: I couldn't take my eyes off of him. What about you, Jared? Could you take your eyes off of me?
Jared: Ha! I had a really good time. I remember immediately thinking that he had such a great smile and was really sweet – he actually bought me a piece of art from one of the galleries and gave it to me later.
Chris: I was buying art on the first date. A bit much.
Romance, social-media style
Chris: A couple of years ago, I dealt with depression and there was a point when I couldn't even get out of bed. Jared was incredible and when I was at my lowest, he said, "You can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I can and I'm going to help you get there." I got help and I got out of it and that's when I started thinking about getting married.
Jared: Chris was still in Toronto visiting a friend and I was home watching a movie with my brother. I remember checking my phone and seeing that I had a bunch of Facebook notifications. And then I saw Chris's Facebook status.
Chris: It said, "Jared, I love you. I want to wake up every day looking into your beautiful eyes. Will you marry me? I'll be home in 45 minutes to get your answer."
Jared: It's not the proposal I would have imagined …
Chris: My mother was furious!
A love that takes the cake
Jared: The funny thing about the "gayest wedding cake ever" is that it wasn't our cake. The cake was for our engagement party.
Chris: We had been following the news about the gay wedding cake Supreme Court case in the [United] States. I guess our cake was a form of protest.
Jared: I loved the headline: "When you ask for a gay wedding cake in Canada this is what you get." That made me proud. And we heard from people all over the world – people who live in countries where it's illegal to be gay.
Chris: And from the lady in Little Caesars. I walked in there one day and a woman was like, "Oh my god, you're the gay wedding cake guy!" That was pretty great.
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