Annie & Kim in Brentwood, CA

It was a romance 18 years in the making for Annie and Kim who met during a late-night party at Louisiana State University. Although they talked into the wee hours on their first meeting, they were both seeing other people. The Bride Annie Peatross, 40, healthcare manager The Bride Kim Culmone, 38, product design director The Date July 12 The two quickly built a friendship, which survived relationships, a short stint as roommates and a move that took Kim to Los Angeles. Then in 1998, they were hanging out together in New Orleans when Annie finally got the courage to say, You know…you've always been the one. My heart fluttered, says Kim. Two months later, Annie moved from Louisiana out to Los Angeles. Although they'd wanted to make their relationship legal, they had to wait. In 2004, they got married along with 4,000 other couples in San Francisco, but the marriage was later invalidated by the state. Finally, 10 long years later after first getting together, with the news of the legalization of same-sex marriage in May 2008, Annie texted Kim saying, Guess what? It's legal…will you marry me again? Seven weeks later they said, I do, in a garden ceremony.