Style

First Came Goats, Then Came Marriage

Were it not for two goats named Thelma and Louise, Lauren Trout and Chris Angeloro may not have had a love story.

It began in June 2016, when the women were living in Austin. Both moved to Texas as children; Ms. Angeloro from Massachusetts, Ms. Trout from Louisiana. While they had friends in common and would see each other around, the two had spoken only in group settings until they embraced at a vigil for the 49 victims of the shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., that month.

“I was a mess,” Ms. Trout said. “I needed to be around my community for comfort.”

In the days following the vigil, Ms. Trout left Austin to visit a friend in Caldwell, Texas, and posted a status update on Facebook. “It’s rad when you lose all faith in humanity and the world and then you go to the country to visit your bff and her baby goat and chickens and then everything seems OK for a minute,” it read.

Ms. Angeloro, who saw the status update, happened to have a crush on Ms. Trout. She also happened to have baby goats: Thelma and Louise.

“If you’re struggling and having a hard time and goats make you happy, I have the remedy,” Ms. Angeloro recalled thinking. Via Facebook, she invited Ms. Trout to visit her and the goats.

Ms. Trout, who had since returned to Austin, was out with a friend when she saw the message. Though she is not at all the spontaneous type, Ms. Trout, 42, spontaneously invited Ms. Angeloro, 43, to join them. She did.

A few days later, Ms. Trout took Ms. Angeloro up on her invitation to come over. Not long after, in October 2016, she moved in. “We both just knew, like we had been waiting all of our lives to find the connection that we have,” Ms. Angeloro said of their decision to live together months after meeting.

“We made ‘goating’ — having cocktails, decompressing about the day and hanging with the goats — a part of our nightly ritual,” she added.

Credit…Rob Coons

[Click here to binge read this week’s featured couples.]

In April 2019, the couple moved to San Francisco, where each had lived before.Ms. Angeloro, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, works as a freelance hairstylist. Ms. Trout is a construction worker who specializes in metal fabrication.

When they left Austin, they had to leave Thelma and Louise behind. “The biggest thing on the checklist was to make sure the girls had the best home,” said Ms. Angeloro, who, with the help of an animal rescue in Cedar Creek, Texas, found them one with the film director Richard Linklater and his partner, Tina Harrison. (Louise has since given birth to a boy, J.D.; Ms. Angeloro and Ms. Trout retain visitation rights.)

Though both women said they never envisioned marriage in their future, Ms. Angeloro in 2020 surprised Ms. Trout with a proposal on Dec. 24, her birthday, while the two were in Sayulita, Mexico. Ms. Trout then surprised Ms. Angeloro with her own proposal on May 29, 2021, while the two were in Hawaii on a trip to celebrate Ms. Angeloro’s birthday on May 20.

The couple married Oct. 10 aboard the Shanutski, a charter yacht, as it sailed beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. Tanya Wischerath, a friend who was ordained by the Universal Life Church, officiated.

The couple’s toy poodle, Tokki, was in attendance, along with four friends and the captain of the Shanutski, which flew a rainbow flag. All attendees were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus and, after the ceremony, the couple and their guests celebrated onboard with sushi, charcuterie and Champagne.

On their way to board the yacht in Sausalito, Calif., the couple saw goats in the back of a truck, which they said felt like a good omen.

“She’s just my favorite person,” Ms. Trout said. “I never thought I would be interested in getting married, but I was excited to marry Chris.”

“The best version of my life is when Lauren is in it,” Ms. Angeloro said.

Related Articles

Back to top button