After Tiffany Quynhnhu Langlinais and Michael Steven Graves had their first date in downtown New Orleans, Mr. Graves drove to Chicago in a green 2008 Kia Sedona minivan to officiate a friend’s wedding. And so, to Ms Langlinais’ friends, he was known as ‘minivan Mike’.
Ms Langlinais, 33, was not used to dating a man who drove a minivan, but said she appreciated seeing him in an “unfiltered way” throughout the date. She found him sincere and purposeful, plus he was a “fan” of his beards.
The two met in June 2021 on Magazine Street, a six-mile long thoroughfare in New Orleans, after a match at Hinge in May. Mr. Graves, 35, needed to buy gifts for his newborn nephew in Chicago. He wanted to make sure he saw Ms. Langlinais before he left town for two weeks, so he asked her if she wanted to come with him.
“We hit it off right away. I thought she was very beautiful and I couldn’t believe she loved me,” Mr Graves said.
During his drive to Chicago, he had 14 hours to think about the date—and how much he liked it. The next day, he texted her that he was excited to go back to New Orleans and see her again.
When he came back, they went bowling. Ms. Langlinais “struck him,” she said. Afterwards, they grabbed a late-night burger at the Beachcorner Bar and Grill. They stumbled into a cobblestone alley nearby, where live music enlivened the street. It was the perfect setup for their first kiss.
A few weeks later, just before Hurricane Ida hit, the couple decided to evacuate New Orleans together, even though they hadn’t known each other for long. They spent two weeks on the road.
They stayed with friends in Meridian, Miss. Nashville? Rosemary Beach, Fla.; and Biloxi, Miss., where Ms. Langlinais grew up.
“They put us in a 14-day pressure cooker,” Mr. Graves said of their intense two weeks on the road — but it brought them closer.
During their stop in Nashville, Ms. Langlinais met several of Mr. Graves’ friends. When they saw her, they asked Mr. Graves, “Is that your girlfriend?” He stood there awkwardly and avoided the question. So when they went on a Walmart run a little while later, he asked her if she wanted to be his girlfriend. She said yes. A few days later, during their stop in Biloxi, she met her parents.
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In August 2023, Mr. Graves proposed on a beach in Door County, Wis., while watching the blue supermoon shine over the water. With no reception in the cell, they watched the stars and listened to the waves.
A large group of people nearby disturbed the peace by banging sticks on a huge piece of driftwood. “In my mind, I didn’t want that to be the background music for my proposal,” Mr. Graves said. So he yelled “boo”, nice and loud. “It was the most effective snub of my life because they stopped immediately,” Mr Graves said. He was finally able to propose.
On Jan. 6, the couple opened a cake pop-up together for the Mardi Gras season called King Cake Drive-Thru. In February, they moved into a house they had bought together. It’s a block away from where they had their first kiss.
Both also have their own businesses. Ms. Langlinais is the founder of Freret Napoleon, a marketing company. He graduated from Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., with a degree in business administration. Mr. Graves is the owner of Bof Bars, an innovative ice cream company. He has a history degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a law degree from DePaul University.
On March 9, the couple tied the knot at the Broadside, a live music venue in New Orleans, in front of 300 guests. Matthew Oglesbee, a friend previously ordained by Universal Life Church, officiated.
Many of their vendors were local Mardi Gras artists, including Coco Darrow, a decorative artist who created a giant crawfish pot that guests could step into, hold a spoon and take pictures of. The couple also had a 4-foot alligator cake made by Bittersweet Confections.
As business owners in New Orleans, their wedding date was important because it was on a break after Mardi Gras season and before the festival season started. They both love New Orleans and the culture of the city.
“It’s our home,” Mr. Graves said. “Neither of us were born there, but we chose to go there.”
“Mike’s from Chicago, I’m from Mississippi — we’re from completely different worlds,” added Ms. Langlinais, who is first-generation Vietnamese American. “It’s kind of crazy how we got together.”
After their wedding, they left in the green minivan driven by a friend.