WEDDING GUIDE
Wedding Ringers
By Marene Gustin
W
earing identical Calvin Klein navy velvet tuxedos, Dylan Valenti-Kanipes and Mike ValentiKanipes took their vows on February 24, 2018. “Because people always think we look alike, I wore a regular tie and Mike wore a bow tie,” Dylan says. Everything else, down to their shoes, was the same. The rings they exchanged that day were different, but both were family heir-
looms. Dylan, 26, and Mike, 24, say family and friends are very important to both of them—so much so that Dylan’s proposal in Hermann Park was an elaborate plan that took months to mount. “We talked about getting married, and since I am the older one, we decided I would do it,” Dylan says. Their best friend was a woman who worked in Congress and lived in Washington
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DC. Dylan got her to send him an official-looking email saying she had to appear at a political event in Houston—one that she wanted to invite Dylan and Mike to attend with her. “So Mike thought we were going to a political fundraiser,” Dylan says. “We got dressed up and went to the McGovern Centennial Gardens in Hermann Park.” All of their family and friends were there. Even the couple’s rescue dog, an odd-looking
