The mayor of a town in Indiana has celebrated his wedding in style - by taking his new spouse to a gay pride parade.
But then, this is no ordinary wedding, no ordinary couple and no ordinary love story, so it makes sense that it both starts and finishes with a less than traditional event for "Mayor Pete" Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
It began with a humble Scotch egg. "He said, "You've got to try these,'" said his new husband, Chasten Glezman, a teacher in the nearby town of Mishawaka.
"It was a kind of magical moment. I mean, sure, it's a fried ball of meat with an egg in the middle, but when it came to the table my little Midwestern heart leapt."
"Once I saw he was down for the Scotch egg, I knew it had a shot," said Mayor Pete.
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Pete and Chasten met on Hinge, a dating app that is deliberately the opposite of most dating apps, and both had their issues in living their lives as out men in the conservative Midwest of America.
"I was well into adulthood before I was prepared to acknowledge the simple fact that I am gay," said Mayor Pete when he came out.
Once he was out, the next problem was finding someone to be out with. How does a sitting mayor in Indiana who's gay find a date?" he added.
The answer was Hinge. "I had been in a couple of relationships and was a couple years out of my last," said Chasten. "I wanted to meet someone to actually go on a date with, the goal being a long-term relationship. Pete came out in May of 2015, and he and I met in August."
"I decided at 18 that I needed to come out," explained Mr. Glezman, who was raised in a strongly Catholic family.
"And I don't recall my parents specifically saying I couldn't live at home anymore, but I was made to believe I needed to leave."
"I don't want to say we were shocked," said his mother. "But, from our perspective, I was sad for him that, having two brothers that were into every sport, as roughneck as it comes, Chasten would be afraid of being perceived as different, or not as much of a man."
Two men of such diverse backgrounds and lifestyle but with a uniting story deserve quite the wedding, and they got it over the weekend.
The sun shone, their family and friends mingled and the ceremony was enjoyed far and wide - not least because it was live-streamed on Youtube.
After the ceremony, they paraded down the street in front of the crowd - their wedding was conveniently timed to end the LGBT Pride Week in South Bend.
It's a suitably grand ending to a grand love story in the unlikeliest of places.
Topics: LGBT rights, Pride