Brooke Bergen
and
Joseph Gookin
Please join us for our wedding celebration on
Our Story
Once upon a time, there was a cocky young army officer named Joe, and a beautiful, brilliant lawyer named Brooke. They were hanging out a mutual friend’s house (the awesome Tatiana Rugel), and Brooke was discussing how she one day hoped to have a family. Joe, ever the chivalrous (and some might say obnoxious) gentleman, proclaimed to Brooke, “well shit, Bergen, I’ll have kids with you.” Brooke, in the most diplomatic of responses, retorted with a “hard pass, Gookin.” And that’s the story of how their love did not bloom.
Fast forward a few months, and Brooke’s good sense finally caught up to her. While Joe was walking around their mutual workplace (did we mention they worked together? We didn’t? Well, they worked together as prosecutors in Brooklyn. Sorry for the confusion - the narrator here is unreliable at best.) Joe was going around the office, trying to set up after work drinks with a group of coworkers. He approached Brooke and asked her what she was doing after work, to which she eagerly replied “yeah I can get a drink with you!” Seeing as how Joe had not actually asked Brooke to get a drink, he took this smooth and cool reply from her as a sign of potential interest. They then did, in fact, get a drink, and afterward they watched Die Hard. All in all, cocktails and watching Bruce Willis rescue the occupants of Nakatomi Plaza is a pretty good way to start a relationship.
A few days later, Joe and Brooke went on their first date. They ate breakfast at Tom’s Diner and walked around Prospect Park. After that, he disappeared into the Mojave Desert for a month with the army, and Brooke wrote him old-timey letters, like a Civil War spouse (not really - she actually just kept kicking butt at work).
Joe returned home with a busted toe and a bad sun tan, and promptly went on a much-delayed second date with Brooke. Love bloomed, and Brooke sealed the deal by baking Joe the best damn funfetti cake this side of the Mississippi(!) for his birthday. Joe, realizing that Brooke was way out of his league and that he had better not screw this up (advice that was also given to him by his mother, his aunts, his friends, complete strangers, and one ancient and wise talking dragon in a very strange dream) finally got his life together and told Brooke he loved her. Brooke, seeing that she had no worlds left to conquer, allowed Joe to hang around a little longer.
A few months later (after a wonderful Paris trip confirmed that they could travel the world together and still be in love (and credit card debt)), Joe ordered a ring and then promptly told Brooke about it. He also told her how he planned to propose. Brooke told Joe to try again, and to actually keep it a secret this time. Joe then faked an emergency at work, enlisted the help of his and Brooke’s friends, and surprised Brooke with a proposal in Prospect Park, the site of their afore-mentioned first date (cue the collective “awwww” from the audience). She said yes (dear reader - I hope that, by this point, you had already guessed that her response would be a positive one), and the rest is history.
Fast forward a few months, and Brooke’s good sense finally caught up to her. While Joe was walking around their mutual workplace (did we mention they worked together? We didn’t? Well, they worked together as prosecutors in Brooklyn. Sorry for the confusion - the narrator here is unreliable at best.) Joe was going around the office, trying to set up after work drinks with a group of coworkers. He approached Brooke and asked her what she was doing after work, to which she eagerly replied “yeah I can get a drink with you!” Seeing as how Joe had not actually asked Brooke to get a drink, he took this smooth and cool reply from her as a sign of potential interest. They then did, in fact, get a drink, and afterward they watched Die Hard. All in all, cocktails and watching Bruce Willis rescue the occupants of Nakatomi Plaza is a pretty good way to start a relationship.
A few days later, Joe and Brooke went on their first date. They ate breakfast at Tom’s Diner and walked around Prospect Park. After that, he disappeared into the Mojave Desert for a month with the army, and Brooke wrote him old-timey letters, like a Civil War spouse (not really - she actually just kept kicking butt at work).
Joe returned home with a busted toe and a bad sun tan, and promptly went on a much-delayed second date with Brooke. Love bloomed, and Brooke sealed the deal by baking Joe the best damn funfetti cake this side of the Mississippi(!) for his birthday. Joe, realizing that Brooke was way out of his league and that he had better not screw this up (advice that was also given to him by his mother, his aunts, his friends, complete strangers, and one ancient and wise talking dragon in a very strange dream) finally got his life together and told Brooke he loved her. Brooke, seeing that she had no worlds left to conquer, allowed Joe to hang around a little longer.
A few months later (after a wonderful Paris trip confirmed that they could travel the world together and still be in love (and credit card debt)), Joe ordered a ring and then promptly told Brooke about it. He also told her how he planned to propose. Brooke told Joe to try again, and to actually keep it a secret this time. Joe then faked an emergency at work, enlisted the help of his and Brooke’s friends, and surprised Brooke with a proposal in Prospect Park, the site of their afore-mentioned first date (cue the collective “awwww” from the audience). She said yes (dear reader - I hope that, by this point, you had already guessed that her response would be a positive one), and the rest is history.