News

Sports Brought Them Together

Newlywed alumni couple featured in popular TV show “Say Yes to the Dress”

A baseball, a softball, and a dress have played an important part in the life and romance of Christy Gordon ’05 and Bryan Graham ’06 who met on campus in 2002, and were married on July 23, 2010. Their reception was filmed for TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress.”

They met when he was a senior and she was a sophomore. Both athletes, they naturally gravitated towards the sports fields and each other. She played third base for the Pioneer softball team, and he played in the outfield for the Pioneer baseball team.

“We got to know each other because the sports teams tend to hang out together,” she said.

About four months into the relationship, just as they were getting to know each other, fate intervened with an opportunity Bryan couldn’t refuse: he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 16^th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft.

Still in school, he weighed his options, and decided to follow his dream of being a professional player. So began the next phase of their relationship—the long-distance part. In his first year, Bryan played rookie ball in Surprise, Arizona. Then he played Class A ball in Burlington, Iowa in the Midwest League.

“I flew all over to be with him,” she remembers. “It was exciting and I loved watching him play all over the country.”

This continued for two-and-a-half-years until he was injured and released from the team. He came back to William Paterson and finished his degree in 2006. He is now a third grade special education teacher in Sussex Wantage School, and also coaches baseball as the assistant varsity coach at Sparta High School.

Meanwhile, Christy followed her own dream. “I was always one of those girls who wanted to play in the big leagues,” she says. Since that was not a possibility, Bryan, a huge Philadelphia Phillies fan, encouraged Christy to apply to be a ball girl for the Phillies.

“There were one thousand applicants, and three hundred at the try outs, but I was selected to be on the Philadelphia Phillies Ballgirl Team,” she says.  “I was on the team for two years.  We worked on the field foul lines of the home games and also played charity softball games. The highlight of that experience was standing on the mound for the national anthem. Working on the team during the World Series was a nice ending to a dream come true.”

After her two-year stint, they moved to northern New Jersey, where Christy is now a photography and graphics teacher at Sparta High School, and they decided to get married.

A fan of the show “Say Yes to the Dress” on the TLC Network, Christy applied to be on the show and was selected.  She was filmed trying on dresses at Kleinfeld’s in New York City.  Her first episode, broadcast last season, called “The Indecisive Bride,” showed her trying on numerous dresses to find that perfect gown for her big day.

“It’s an exclusive Kleinfeld’s dress,” she says. “I wanted something very specific but couldn’t find it.  In two visits to the store, I tried on about  ten gowns before I found ‘the one.’ It was very emotional to try on a dress and to actually feel for the first time that this is real.”

They were married July 23, 2010 in St. Cecelia’s Church in Rockaway, where her mother and grandmother were married. Their reception, held at The Manor in West Orange, was filmed for the show in an episode which will be broadcast sometime during the current season.  “Say Yes to the Dress” airs on Friday evenings.

“It was so much fun,” Christy says. “My students really love seeing the show and love talking about it in school. And I love the dress so much, that I have it hanging in the spare bedroom door, so I can look at it….”