Above: The newlyweds
After being vaguely aware of each other for nearly a decade, Cathleen Bombard and Jeffrey Brusven finally met in person at a New York Fashion Week event in 2014 and had an instant connection. However, they were both unavailable at the time, and went their separate ways. It wasn’t until a year later that Cathleen reached out on a dare, and as luck would have it, Jeffrey—who lived in San Francisco—was in New York on business that day. They went on their first date, then kept in touch with handwritten notes. After six months, they made their relationship official and visited each other every two weeks. When the couple visited Cathleen’s parents in her hometown in Vermont, Jeffrey put an end to their long-distance romance with a proposal.
Jeffrey’s stepfather, Richard Packer of Rowayton, married the couple in the Louisa Howard Chapel in Burlington, Vermont. Mr. Packer became ordained for the occasion. Cathleen is a daughter of Kimberly and Martin Bombard of Burlington, and graduated from Emerson College before starting a career in the fashion industry with Reem Acra. She went on to found the nonprofit Heroin Is Not Chic. Jeffrey is a son of Joan Brusven of Rowayton and the late Kenneth Brusven. He graduated from the University of Vermont and is the North American sales director for Quicksilver. The couple live in Laguna Beach, California.
Photographs: Wright-Moore Photography
