Carrie Brownstein And Amy Poehler Officiated An Impromptu Same-Sex Wedding In California Yesterday
Well, Carrie Brownstein officiated. Poehler mainly just played 'Greensleeves' quite badly on the piano.
This month, Carrie Brownstein — vocalist in Sleater-Kinney, and star and co-writer of Portlandia — releases her new memoir, Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl.
She’s currently on a book tour in the States, launching it with a variety of her famous friends — including Questlove, Dave Eggers, Jessica Hopper and Aidy Bryant. But it was Amy Poehler who hosted her reading at Pasadena Presbyterian Church in California yesterday, when the pair were surprised by a couple of fans in the audience: Kendall Oshiro and Genevieve Hernandez.
According to a member of the audience who spoke to Us Weekly, “The couple told Carrie they’d heard from a friend that she was an ordained minister. They asked if they could get married on the spot, as they’d come prepared with their marriage license.” Brownstein had been ordained to officiate a friends’ wedding, so happily complied. “Let’s be honest: For the wedding I was going to do in a couple weeks, I had some time to prepare,” she told the audience.
Also, she nailed it.
“We are gathered her this evening, in Pasedena California, to bring together the union between two beautiful souls,” she began. “I’m going to quote James Baldwin, perhaps incorrectly — but you should know that love and life and togetherness involves a lot of incorrectly. It involves a lot of stumbling, mistakes, humour, clumsiness. And I hope that you are with someone that will love those things about you, all of the incorrectlies that you possess, and that you are loved for who you are.
“Um. I was going to quote James Baldwin. But, I won’t. Because what I’d like to do is just say that all of us here are rooting for you. We’re rooting for you in the way that we always root for ourselves, in the way that we root for love to always win out over despair, for hope to win out over fear, for joy to win out over sorrow, we root for you in those ways.”
After just about the sweetest vows you have ever heard (“I am excited but also slightly embarrassed to be here,” said Kendall, but they both ended up in tears), and after the most casual ring swap you’ve ever seen (“Can you actually put that on her finger?”), it was done.
“With the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you… married. You may kiss!”
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Poehler added to the celebration by playing ‘Greensleeves’ quite badly on the piano.
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Sleater-Kinney’s Australian tour kicks off in March.
Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl is out this month through Hachette.
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Feature image by Jenn Streicher on Instagram.