'Skating' Their Way Into Marriage

Sarah Askin, 29, and Michael Cohen, 30, tied the knot at on Jan. 14 and captured their first wedding photos on in .

The photo shoot caught the attention of passersby and merited a mention during the Citizen's Forum portion of the Jan. 23 Rockville City Council meeting.

Here is the couple's story in Sarah's own words.

I wish we had some fabulous exciting story for you about how our first date was at an ice skating rink but I'm afraid it's nothing like that.

So here goes nothing....

Michael and I met through friends of ours. Michael's friend was dating my friend, and they both agreed that we'd make a great match. We met on August 26, 2009 at a DC United Soccer game. 

We began seriously dating on Sept. 29, 2009.  At the beginning of our relationship, we enjoyed going out to play pool, friendly games of scrabble, or drinking beers and battling in pool.  We both enjoy traveling, reading, and being outdoors. 

Michael proposed to me on Dec. 26, 2010, the day after Christmas in Miur Woods in San Francisco.  He flew all the way across the country with a ring in his carry-on luggage.

When we finally settled on a winter wedding at VISARTS, my wonderful mother, Karen Askin, suggested that nothing would say winter wedding quite like photos on the Rockville Town Center ice rink.  And boy was she right. 

We prearranged this ice-skating photo-op the evening before with the manager of the ice-rink.  He told us to arrive at 4:45pm to get our skates on and promised to clear the ice at 4:50 and allow us to take pictures before the zamboni cleared and cleaned the surface of the rink. 

As my dad laced my skates (I couldn't quite bend that far over in my gown), he kept telling me how bad of an idea this all was.  He was worried one of us would surely fall, break a bone, or ruin our wedding attire.  Nothing such happened.  We skated our way into our marriage. 

Taking pictures on the ice rink was definitely planned, a wonderfully creative idea by my mother.  Having some outdoor wedding pictures (despite temperatures near 31 degrees) was a priority of mine. I was willing to compromise my fall wedding, but not the outdoor pictures.

Even though I was freezing, you couldn't really see that in these pictures.  I was so thrilled to have been given this opportunity by the city of Rockville.  Many families and children gathered to watch us skating, and it was surely a moment that we will never forget.

Congratulations to the happy couple!