These Ppl Met At The Naughty Office Holiday Party Last Year, AND NOW THEY'RE MARRRRRRIEEEDDDD!

Srsly, ppl...this is not a drill. THIS IS THE REAL THING!

Marta and Tim met at last year's Naughty Office Holiday party and now they are hitched...like legally! That's them above on their wedding day in Central Park!

I'm pretty sure this is our first BK Hookup marriage, and also the thing that *might* karmically save me from going straight to hell. All I know is, it's totally fucking amazing. 

If you don't already have your ticket, get one. Cause maybe you'll end up like Marta and Tim. Or not, and maybe you'll just get laid. Either way, you need to be prepared.

Here's some more scoop on this happy, adorably cheesy couple:

Who are you guys?
Marta Zagare & Tim Goodvin

What do you do?
Tim – Owns his own IT consulting company, Meta Networks

Marta – Elementary School Teacher in Manhattan  

Do you live in BK? If so, which nabe?
Nah, we actually live in the Paulus Hook area of Jersey City (by the Colgate clock), but we are in the Slope or Billyburg pretty much all the time it seems for fun and games (or Brunch) on weekends...and fine: many, many evenings.

Ok, set the stage: how did you guys meet at the Naughty Office Party?
We both had arrived early enough to beat the crowd and still get in on the open bar. While filling in the “porn name” tag, (George Kensington) I noticed Marta (Juna Valdemara) nearby out of the corner of my eye, but was focused on the naming, and when I looked up again she was gone.

After the open bar was over, I went out to the front bar and was hanging about kind of surveying the Santa Picture scene and sipping a beer. Out of nowhere, I got a punch in the arm. Since I was near the end of the bar, I thought it was one of the barbacks trying to get me to move. I turned to see what was going on and was confronted by a woman with an eastern European accent saying “You did not have a dog named George”. I was a little taken aback by this, and proceeded to tell her all about George and him being my first pet death experience and how I cried and was devastated by it. After this long spiel, she said “mmm hmm… (pause, pause) You did not have a dog named George”. This was not going well, so I tried to change the subject by asking about her accent (making sure to mention that I am a sucker for accents) and where it was from.

At this point she decides to give me an impromptu geography test as I work my way north from Romania (my initial guess) and thankfully from somewhere lost and almost forgotten, I was able to pull Latvia out and impress her a little bit.  After a good amount of idle chit-chat, we had covered the basics and were seemingly hitting it off when her wingman appeared and took her aside for a few minutes. When she came back, she said she was going to get a hotdog with the wing.  We exchanged numbers and for some unknown reason I lost all inhibitions, went for broke and quickly stole a kiss. There was a pause, and then a goodbye. I was totally kicking myself, thinking I’m never going to see her again. 

A little bit later I was over by the stage chatting up a couple girls. I suddenly hear “save me” in my ear. I know it’s Marta, because I recognize the voice. I turn around, and there is nobody there. I turn back and hear it more urgently, “SAVE ME” once again. This time I turn around in time to see Marta spinning in ballroom turns with this other guy. I tell the girls I was talking to, that I had to save a friend. I turned back and without missing a beat, grab Marta’s hands and waist and essentially twirled Marta out of his grasp and continued the slow ballroom spin in a different trajectory. It was at this point, as I stared into her eyes, everything faded out of existence. Music, people, lights, everything became nothing, and it was just the two of us spinning in the dark.

[ed note: omg, as much as that might make you want to barf, you know you secretly kind of just swooned too].

Had either of you ever been to singles events before? Did you have any expectations of meeting anyone that night, or did you get dragged?
Tim – I’d never been to a singles thing, and was even getting cold feet about this one, until I happened to win a ticket through The Skint. At that point, I was pretty much a lock because I felt like somebody else could have won this ticket, and if I don’t go, well it might be screwing somebody else from finding love by not winning. Expectations, no, not really, I figured it would be fun regardless, and hey, you never know.

Marta – I hadn’t ever been to a singles event either. I was pushed into this one by my sister, Liena Zagare, (who runs Ditmas Park Blog) and had been notified about the party via Brooklyn Based. She kept insisting I go, and I was very hesitant since I lived in Astoria and had to teach the next morning. Had it not been for her insistence and my wingman’s availability, I might not have gone at all.  I just figured I’d go and see what it was all about and not worry about hooking up. Fate’s kind of funny.

Where did you guys go on your first date?
Ahhh. The first date was planned to be something totally easy and low key. I figured something we could be occupied with and allowed for a lot of talking opportunities at the same time was called for.  SOHO Billiards it was.

We played pool for a couple hours. I played so poorly, at one point I scratched like 5 times in a row (I chalked that up to nerves). Then thoughts turned to taking a stroll to find something to nosh on. We walked in the direction (so I thought) of a nice little café I remembered in the area, but took a wrong turn and ended up missing it entirely. As a result, we had the happy accident of coming across Veselka. BINGO.

Since we both have Eastern European ancestry, it was a perfect fit. Afterwards we strolled around a bit more, looking into a few odd shops and bookstores and ending the date with our first kiss.

Did you know right away that it was TLF, or was it more of a slow build?
Tim - I Knew. It seems cliché, or like one of the interviews from “When Harry met Sally”, but when I looked into her eyes for the first time, I felt like I had been “gut shot”.  Like I said above, at the point we were spinning on the dance floor, it was just the two of us in that room, nothing else mattered.  So yeah, I knew. 

Marta – slow burn for sure, I was being cautious and was playing it safe even though Tim was the perfect gentleman, our connectivity and compatibility seemed just too good to be true. So I was waiting for the other shoe to drop as it were. Since we were seeing so much of each other, it wasn’t long before I gave myself up to fate and let myself fall for him.

How did you propose? Where/when did you get married?
I proposed on the last day of our trip to Latvia this summer. Marta is from there originally, and I went old-school and asked her mom and dad for their permission while we were there. As it turned out, They were moving out of the family apartment that Marta grew up in and the last day we were there, was going to be the last time she would be there in that place with so many memories. As we were packing boxes, I was mentioning to her that this was the last time there for her, and that it was a sad occasion, but could become joyous. She started to get upset and a little angry that I seemed to be trying to make her cry. This was not how this was supposed to go!  At this point I quickly dropped to my knee, and presented the ring. She was shocked but happy and thankfully said yes. In a completely opposite ritual, Marta asked me to carry her over the threshold OUT of the apartment to begin our life together.

Marta and I were married on 10-10-10 (yep totally geek-tastic)  We decided, after looking at numerous locations and such in the city, to do a Central Park wedding. 

What's your best advice for all the people at this year's party lookin' for love?
Tim – Mingle, Mingle, Mingle…. Then take a break and be where you can be found (i.e. not in a back corner, (unless your hooking up already) but in the light) people will likely search you out if you made an impression. Failing that, rinse, repeat. Above all, don’t get sloppy drunk!!!

Marta – First step, go! The worst case scenario is that you stumble home alone. Don’t try too hard, and keep the intimidation factor low. If you go with other single girls, don’t roam in a pack. This keeps the jealousy factor low, and makes you more approachable. Choose your wingman wisely!

Well, there you have it folks: this shit works. I'm like Dexter and normally care about NOTHING, but this couple is so damn cute they don't even make want to barf! Well, ok: a teeny bit, but mostly not at all!

So yeah: get your tix fast...they're goin like hotcakes.