"Bride & Groom" vs "Party A & Party B"

'Bride' and 'Groom' Back in California
ROSEVILLE, Calif. - Do young couples about to get married want to be known as "Party A" and "Party B?" Or would they rather check off "bride" and "groom" on their marriage license application? The very fact that the question is being asked may drive Californians to the polls Nov. 4 to reaffirm the decision they made eight years ago -- to legally define marriage as the union between one man and one woman.

Though California voters in 2000 had defined marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman, in May, the state Supreme Court decided to redefine marriage themselves. And when same-sex "marriage" became legal in California, the state amended marriage license applications to reflect a new reality.

When Rachel Bird and Gideon Codding went to get their marriage license from Placer County, they noticed the form said "Party A" and "Party B." Nowhere did it say "bride" and "groom."

"We did not cross out 'Party A' and 'Party B,'" said Rachel Bird-Codding. "We just wrote in next to them the words 'Bride' and 'Groom.'"

Bird's father, Pastor Doug Bird of Roseville's Abundant Life Fellowship, officiated at the wedding Aug. 16, signed the form and sent it in, and the couple took a honeymoon trip. They thought they were legally married. But when they got home in early September, the couple received a phone call from Placer County: The state had rejected the application because of the alteration the couple had made on it. (Read the whole article.)