For Brandon Flynn and Jordan Tannahill, art led to love. The 13 Reasons Why actor starred in a workshop of Jordan’s upcoming off-Broadway play, Prince Faggot, and got to know each other over late nights and table reads. “It was a rehearsal hall romance,” says Brandon.
In December 2023, the couple was in Canada caring for Jordan’s terminally ill mother. While decorating the Christmas tree, Jordan saw an ornament he’d never seen before—a small green box. After opening it, he discovered that inside was a ring from Brandon. “The engagement was one of the last things my mom got to see before she passed,” Jordan says.
Just under a year later, Brandon and Jordan held a fall wedding in New York City on October 12. Family and friends gathered in the round to watch them wed at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, a storied cultural site where Patti Smith performed her first punk songs and Sam Shepard produced his first plays. They wore custom looks by Ludovic de Saint Sernin adapted from designs featured in his fall 2024 collection, which was inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe’s famed “Flower” series. Meanwhile, Brandon put on a pearl garter belt made by their friend and neighbor, Presley Oldham. “We wanted to pay homage to St. Mark’s and its storied history in the East Village, both a site of political organizing, and a cultural hub,” Brandon says of their subversive wedding-wear, which was styled by Michael Philouze.
Their inter-faith ceremony began with a poem by essayist Kay Gabriel about queer kinship and community, followed by an a cappella rendition of “Durocher” sung by Moses Sumney. After they did the Jewish tradition of breaking the glass, their two dogs, Charlie and Moses, ran out to join them. “We joked that our years in the trenches of indie theater prepared us well for throwing a wedding,” Jordan says. “It often felt like we were planning to stage some big experimental performance, where the audience was everyone we love in the world. Ultimately, we wanted things to feel intimate and fun, and whatever didn’t feel authentic to us got thrown away.”
A reception was held in the parish hall, where the couple served pirogies, matzo ball soup, and cabbage rolls from Veselka as a nod to their shared Ukrainian heritage. Then, the couple hopped on a Vespa to nightclub Heaven Can Wait—where the real party began with performances by Johnnie Walker, Christeene, and Amber Martin. “A highlight was a truly bonkers, rousing duet between Christeene and Amber Martin of Enya’s ‘Orinoco Flow’, which had the entire crowd shouting ‘Sail away, sail away, sail away!’” recalls Brandon, laughing. As the night grew later—much, much later—both Hari Nef and Gallipony performed DJ sets.
The next morning, as they enjoyed breakfast in bed at The Standard East Village, the two took some time to enjoy both the bagels they ordered and the enormity of the night. “We feel immensely grateful to our friends, those who performed, and those who came. It does feel different being married,” says Jordan. “Something has shifted into a deeper register.”