Aweng & Alexus — Long Island, NY
Aweng Ade-Chuol, Model
Alexus Ade-Chuol, Nail artist
Aweng met Alexus for the first time completely by chance in a business meeting, though Alexus insists she had tried to make a move via Instragram DMs years before. “I knew of her, of course. I had even messaged her a few years prior to tell her how beautiful she was,” Alexus tells Vogue. “She never answered!”
The pair only ended up dating for nine months before getting engaged. After having been apart for two months, they were together in Paris when Aweng popped the question, overwhelmed with how deep their love for each other was. “She asked me if I would marry her, and I said, ‘If you asked me, without question I would,’” says Alexus.
Their wedding was held in Manhattan’s City Hall in a simple and sweet ceremony, though there was a major wardrobe malfunction the night before that caused Aweng to choose a completely new dress. “During the ceremony, I felt at peace, as if all of the flights, the tears, and sweat leading up to the ceremony was beyond worth it,” Aweng says. “We had each other and were finally eye to eye in front of our loved ones, and nothing in the world could top that.”
After posting about their wedding on social media and effectively coming out, Aweng received backlash from her community and the world. “That is really baffling to me, and I’m still processing it,” she tells Elle UK. “We got married and the whole world, literally the whole of my community, were wishing that I passed, in a way. It was really absurd, because subconsciously I felt I was maybe drained by the fact we’d got married. It’s still a discussion now, like, ‘How dare she marry a woman?’”
Last year, to combat and speak out about the discrimination she faced online about her sexuality, Aweng and Alexus posed on the cover of Elle UK with their lips locked in a kiss. Aweng, though, recognizes that speaking for the LGBTQ+ community she’s a part of is a hard task and that she can’t do it alone. Really, all she wants to do is love her wife as anyone else is allowed to love their partner. “I wish I could say, ‘Let me hold the torch for the LGBTQIA+ Sudanese community,’ but it’s a lot for one person to handle,” she tells the magazine. “I’m human at the end of the day, I’m very human; I’m learning myself.”
Chaya & Morgan — Milwaukee, WI
Chaya Milchtein, Owner, Mechanic Shop Femme
Jodyann Morgan, Casino security guard
Sometimes two people are meant to be brought together by the universe; for Chaya and Morgan, that seemed to be the case. On a cold February day, while Chaya was getting her nails done, a woman walked in and offered an extra circus ticket to her artist. Unable to make it, the woman offered it to Chaya instead, and she accepted. She didn’t know it, but as she made her way into the arena, Morgan, who was working security, caught notice of her. While nothing came of it that night, Chaya later posted in a queer Facebook group, which Morgan saw and knew she needed to act on.
Chaya agreed to a first date, which turned into even more memorable ones. One especially unforgettable one was a dolphin watching excursion that ended up being a nearly four-hour drive from home (though they made the trek anyway). Another was their six month anniversary, which took the couple into the Adirondacks for their first vacation together.
Four years later, those memorable dates turned into a proposal. In August of 2019, Morgan asked Chaya to marry her in a quiet nature spot overlooking Lake Michigan. “Can we do that thing, you know?” Morgan asked. Luckily, Chaya did know and said yes. A year later, the pair were married with no in-person guests — bar for a handful of vendors — on a private lawn in Indianapolis thanks to the pandemic; however, they also streamed the event on Facebook Live, and people from across the globe tuned in to watch.
And while their love has been going strong for years now, Morgan says she knew Chaya was the one on their first date. As they sat in a car, deep in conversation, there was something that just clicked, she says. “[I’m] not one for much PDA,” says Morgan. “Holding her hand just felt right.” Chaya also says she knew early on in their relationship. For her, it was during a shopping trip at Sephora when she decided to drop everything she was buying to get something for Morgan instead. “Within a short time she became a huge part of my life,” says Chaya. “All I wanted was to shower her with love (and gifts) and keep her happy.”
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