For some grads, August -- not June -- is the month to marry

Timothy Broshears, J.D. '02, and Eliza Moore, MBA '01, at their wedding reception on the Willard Straight Hall terrace, Aug. 17. Courtesy of Elizabeth Moore

By Linda Myers

Don't tell these Cornellians that June is the traditional time for weddings.

Among the large number of Cornellians whose nuptials were featured in the Sunday New York Times "Styles" section this August were Cornell Law School graduates Timothy Broshears, J.D. '02, who married Eliza Moore, an MBA '01 graduate of Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management; Robert Rosen, J.D. '96 (who married Jessica Gibson); Charles Samuelson, J.D. '96 (who wed Franziska Klebe); and Jesse Goichman, a 2002 graduate of both the Law School and the Johnson School, who married James Eisenberg -- who just earned an MPS degree in real estate from Cornell.

"MBA and other professional school programs can be extremely demanding, especially when students are searching for jobs while working on class projects, papers and cases," said Karin Ash, director of career management at the Johnson School. "It makes sense that couples would postpone wedding plans until school has been over a while and they've had a chance to relocate, maybe travel a little or get adjusted to a new job."

Risa Mish, director of alumni relations at the Law School, said: "For new Law School graduates, 'June bride' fantasies must take a back seat to practicality, because most state bar exams are given in early July. August weddings just make good sense for those who don't want to spend their honeymoon memorizing state civil procedure rules or feeling guilty over having packed a steamy beach book in their suitcase instead of a bar review tome. Even more-senior alumni who have left the bar exam far behind often opt for August weddings because most judges and opposing counsel take their vacations then, thereby lowering the likelihood that one's nuptials or honeymoon will be disrupted by a court appearance or a deal closing."

Moore, whose wedding to Broshears took place Aug. 17 at Cornell's Sage Chapel with a reception on Willard Straight Hall's terrace, said: "We married then because Tim needed to study for the July 30-31 New York State Bar Exam and because by last September both Sage and the Straight were already booked for earlier dates." The timing of the end-of-summer ceremony attracted many former classmates. "It was like a mini-reunion. Fifty of our guests had either attended or graduated from Cornell, many with dual degrees," reported Moore.

Some Cornellians, however, do still manage to marry earlier in the summer. Moore cited friends Chad Proell, MBA '01, and his wife, Shana '00, who met at Cornell, are currently both doctoral candidates at the Johnson School and were married at Anabel Taylor Hall this July 20. And Moore and her husband attended the June 29 wedding of classmate Laura Nogelo Krieger '94, MBA '01, to Dick Krieger, MBA '02, who also met on campus as students. In addition, Johnson School alumni affairs associate Kim Jones, MBA '02, reports attending June weddings in Ithaca of these classmates: Jared Johnson, MBA '01, and Laura Cooley, MBA '02; and Ingrid Christianson and Jacob Ellerbrock, both MBA '02.