A natural match
DATE: April 16 HER STORY: Michelle Kim was raised in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. She works as a senior scientist at Circulomics Inc. in Baltimore. Her parents, Kyong Min Kim and Heaja Kim, live in Los Angeles.
HIS STORY: Gregory Michael Laird was raised in Springfield, Mo. He is the founder of Accelevir Diagnostics, an HIV diagnostic company in Baltimore. His parents, Mark and Mary Laird, live in Springfield.
THEIR STORY: The two met June 2011 when Michelle began working in a science lab as a postdoctoral fellow where Gregory, then a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins University, was also working.
“He seemed very light,” she recalled. “He embodied levity, optimism and happiness.”
The two started dating in November 2012.
“It was a gradient, over-time development,” she said. “We realized we were very simpatico.”
The two went on their first date at Of Love & Regret, a restaurant in Brewers Hill.
“It seemed so natural,” Michelle said. “It didn’t feel like a date. It just made sense. I felt very giddy.”
They became “very serious” by the beginning of the next year. “He always makes me laugh,” she said. The couple live in Highlandtown with Michelle’s daughter, Chloe Kim Zinchenko.
THE PROPOSAL: Greg proposed to Michelle in June 2015.
The day didn’t go exactly the way Greg intended — he had planned an elaborate outdoor proposal that was thwarted because of rain. Instead, he improvised and asked her in their home.
“He likes to plan things and be in control of the situation,” Michelle said. “But all his plans were moot because of the rain. He proposed as I was putting laundry away. It wasn’t at all how he had been envisioning.”
Michelle said she suspected a proposal was coming, but she didn’t know when.
“I came home. I dropped my daughter off to spend the weekend with her dad. [Greg] seemed very nervous. I knew something was up,” she said. The two were scheduled to go to dinner at Charleston in Harbor East that evening.
“I started doing some laundry,” she recalled. “He came and cornered me in the closet. He told me how he felt about me. He talked about how special we are together.”
Then he got down on one knee and revealed a box that contained the ring.
“His voice was shaking. His hands were shaking,” Michelle said. “This is a person who can talk to thousands of MDs and Ph.D.s and not get nervous at all. One of his special gifts is his ability to talk to anybody.”
VENUE: Eighty people attended the wedding and reception, which were held at the Hotel Monaco in Baltimore.
FLOWERS AND DECOR: My Flower Box provided the flowers, a mix of “Naomi” calla lilies, cherry love roses, burgundy “Brain” cockscomb, burgundy cymbidium orchid blooms, “Naomi” dahlias, and red mokara orchid blooms. The color scheme was dark burgundy.
HER DRESS: Michelle wore a Paloma Blanca dress from Gamberdella Salon for Brides in Towson. The ivory trumpet-style dress featured a lace back, a high neckline in the front, a beaded waistline and a 5-foot train.
BRIDESMAIDS’ DRESSES: wore assorted dresses.
MEN’S ATTIRE: Greg wore a blue suit, light blue dress shirt and a burnt orange patterned bow tie, all from Christopher Schafer Clothier. Groomsmen wore assorted suits.
MUSIC: Music Masters provided the music. The couple’s first dance was to “Baby I’m Yours” by Arctic Monkeys.
FOOD AND DESSERT: The hotel catered the wedding. Guests chose from pulled pork with cheese grits or grilled rockfish quinoa with watercress.
Charm City Cakes made the three-tiered cake — one buerre noisette layer and two carrot cake layers . The women