Wedding Reception A First Today At Ct. Historical Society

It’s a first at the CT Historical Society today and it’s not so much about old things but rather about a new marriage.

Alan English and Gretchen Unfried will hold their wedding reception at the society for very sentimental reasons.

The two met at the annual West End of Hartford dine-around, a kind of oversized block party that brings neighbors together. English hosted one of the dinner portions of the event and Unfried was assigned to eat at his house.

Gretchen is a school leader at Achievement First Hartford Elementary. English is a brand manager for Stanley Black and Decker.

“We choose CHS not because of its mission or decor, but because it is in the West End,” explained English about the reception site that has never been used for such an occassion before.  ” We both live here, met here, and are very well-connected in the neighborhood,”  he said. ”It was important to us to share our neighborhood with our friends and family.  So much of our event is about the neighborhood.”