Bios

Our Attendants

Ever been to a wedding and wondered, "Who the heck are the attendants and what makes them so damn special? Well, if you have, we've got you covered; we've written up quick sketches on our gang and said why they simply rock. Check it out.

How we met

Brent: "Wet met for the first time at a pre-Fourth of July party on July 3, 2000. Christine Castro and Michelle Maisto were the hosts at their Santa Monica apartment. Christine is one of Claudine's long-time friends, and I knew Michelle (as well as her boyfriend, Rich) from work. I first noticed Claudine as she started singing while Joel, her friend, played the guitar."

Claudine: "I saw this cute guy come in with these artsy glasses and thought, "Who's that? I wonder if he's a director." He was a bit elusive, but after Joel and I were finished singing, I cornered him on the couch…"

Brent: "At first, I was put off-balance. Who was this girl and why was she asking me all of these questions? But soon I was intrigued. Not only could she sing, she was obviously intelligent and interested in me. After a while, Claudine said she was leaving with her ride, that being Joel. At the time, I had no idea who Joel was and I assumed that he was her boyfriend. I was bummed about that. The next day, I got a very long email from Claudine with, yes, more questions. Our relationship continued on from there!"

When we got engaged:

How it happened:

[Quick back story: Claudine left Los Angeles to go to London in August 2002. Brent did not immediately go with her.]

Claudine: "Before I left for London, my Mom and sisters were taking bets on when Brent would propose. One said it would be at my going away party, another thought it would be in a more intimate setting. But Cristina was sure it would be in Paris."

Brent: "In September, I was scheduled to travel to Paris to cover the Paris Auto Show. I figured this would be a good place to propose. I convinced Claudine -- rather easily, as you might imagine -- to come with me to Paris for a few extra days before the show. I had purchased the engagement ring in Los Angeles and brought it with me. The problem was figuring out when and where. I had done a bit of research on romantic Paris locations and had come up with a few ideas. But nothing was fixed -- we didn't have an itinerary, and I had no idea how things would actually turn out."

Claudine: "I knew something was up because he kept just staring at me and giving me goofy looks. "What?" I would say. "Nothing" would be the response. When he was taking a shower on the first morning, I tried digging through his jacket pockets to see if there was anything small, shiny, and expensive."

Brent: "I had been keeping the ring with me for most of the trip. Mostly on my mind was: don't lose the ring! On the second day, we had gone to a museum in the morning and had been walking towards the Eiffel Tower. Claudine had been saying earlier that she wanted a crêpe with banana and Nutella. Sure enough, we spotted a crêpe stand. I realized this was my moment.

"We sat down on a bench overlooking the park and the Tower. After she had eaten about half of the crêpe and was pleasantly satiated, I secretly put the ring in my hand. First, I asked "So, are you ready?" She said yes, not really getting the meaning. "No, are you really ready?" Yes again, so it was then I said, "Claudine Renée François, will you marry me?" Err, rather obviously, she said yes. I assure you, it was all quite romantic. The sun, which had previously been hidden in clouds, even came out as I put the ring on her finger."