Chicagoans Elizabeth Branske and Melissa Nunez won Cook County’s annual lottery to be the first couple married in the new year.
They were the first lesbian couple to ever win the opportunity.
“We knew we were going to get married, we just didn’t know how or when, so I saw the opportunity to sign up and just sort of pulled the trigger,” Nunez said.
“Yeah, I just came home from work one day and Melissa was like, ‘I did something,’ and she told me she’d entered us,” Branske said. “We weren’t expecting to win, so we were really surprised and shocked. We were planning to get married at City Hall anyways, so this was just a more exciting way to do that.”
Branske and Nunez got engaged in September and entered the lottery within just a few months.
“It feels so surreal, almost like fate, that the timing worked out perfectly,” Branske said. “We were originally going to start planning our wedding in 2026, so it’s pretty cool to start the year with our marriage instead and be able to focus on all the other things in our lives.”
A small group from the couple’s family and friends were present for the short ceremony, but they plan to host a party in the summer of 2027 so that they can celebrate with the rest of their loved ones.
“It was really great to have that support on the day of,” Branske said. “But a lot of our family lives in other states and weren’t able to make it, so it was really nice for them to be able to see everything on the news and on Youtube, and be a part of it that way.”
The Humboldt Park couple met on a dating app two years ago and had their first date at the Logan Square arcade bar Emporium. They quickly became close after realizing how much they had in common, and almost immediately knew they were dedicated to each other.
“It took a few months for us to actually start officially dating, but we kind of always felt that we’re like twin flames,” Nunez said.
“One funny story that always stands out to me, is that Melissa ran and jumped into my arms when we were walking somewhere with my friends,” Branske said. “I caught her, and she was like, ‘Oh, you next,’ so I went to run and jump, and she stumbled back, and we both fell. We were literally just suddenly on the sidewalk, laughing so hard thinking, ‘What in the world just happened? How did we end up on the floor?”
They said that sort of joyous energy defines their relationship—and pours out into the rest of their lives.
