Married by the Mayor
Fashion consultant Roman Valdez was once a fixture at the Gerry Building in downtown Los Angeles. On Sept. 12, he and Wayne Joseph Zahner made history at Los Angeles City Hall when they were married by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a simple but elegant ceremony in the mayor’s office.
“Marriage is fundamental to the pursuit of happiness,” Villaraigosa told the beaming couple. “It’s nothing that the state can deny.” The mayor then recited the standard civil marriage vows performed almost every day in Los Angeles County. “Do you take Roman to be your lawful, wedded spouse?” the mayor asked Zahner. “Will you be faithful to each other as long as you live?” The couple soon exchanged rings and kissed. The intimate ceremony was witnessed by close friends of the couple.
Valdez was the sales manager for the Blue Marlin showroom when the San Francisco company ran a showroom at the Gerry Building. The showroom closed in January 2007.
Zahner works as the chief financial officer of the Santa Monica, Calif.-based National Academy of Recording Arts Sciences, the organization that produces the Grammy Awards. He and Valdez have been a couple since 2003 and make their home in the Los Angeles suburb of Winnetka, Calif.
For the wedding, groom and groom wore matching Burberry ties and black Arnold Brandt suits. The ceremony was followed by a gala meal at Providence, a chi-chi restaurant on Los Angeles’ Melrose Avenue.
However, Valdez said he and Zahner would wait until they splurge on a honeymoon. “We wanted to make sure [this marriage] is still on the books,” Valdez said. Californians will vote on Proposition 8 on this November’s state ballot. The ballot measure would outlaw marriages for same-sex couples. The California Supreme Court legalized gay marriage on May 16.
