Almost five years ago, during a night out at Brubaker’s Pub in Montrose, Juliette Lawless noticed a lady who she thought was the most beautiful woman in the world behind the bar — and jokingly greeted Nina Tudor with, Hey, hot bartender. Days of talking followed, and the pair became best friends.
A year and a half later, in 2021, life pulled Nina to Florida. One night, Nina sent Juliette a song to express her feelings — “Some Other Bar” by Ernest.
“The whole song itself signifies how I was feeling looking back at our friendship, realizing that I had feelings for her, hoping that ‘someday at some other bar’ we’d run into each other and pick things back up,” Nina says.
When Juliette heard the song, she knew she felt the same way. They visited each other, and Nina tied up loose ends in Florida before heading back to Ohio to be with Juliette.
On a two-week Mediterranean cruise in June 2024, Juliette admired a halo-style ring in the ship’s boutique that reminded her of her late parents. Nina quietly returned to buy it — with Juliette’s daughter secretly helping plan a proposal.
Two days later, in front of Rome’s Trevi Fountain, Nina got down on one knee and proposed to a shocked Juliette. The moment sank in later, in the back of an Uber ride to the train station. “I started sobbing,” says Juliette, who laughs at the fact that she was wearing a tie-dye “I am Kenough” T-shirt. “It was so perfect.”
The now Fairlawn residents married on Sept. 13, 2025, at Gather at the Lakes in Portage Lakes. Personal touches shaped the day, including dancing their first dance to “Some Other Bar,” as well as honoring Juliette’s late parents with a Generations of Love display and showcasing photos of their private 2024 New Year’s Eve elopement at Green Leaf Park in Sharon Center.
From the Brides
Juliette
Deep Breaths: I can be totally and completely myself around her, and she still loves me. I’m not afraid to talk to her about anything, and I know she’ll always have my back. I was told that when you find your person, you’ll finally be able to breathe — and my lungs are full of air.
Look-alikes: Our flower girl and ring bearer were our mini-mes. My niece was my mini-me in a sparkly little white dress with a train, and my nephew was in all black to be Nina’s.
Rap Stars: We entered the reception to Cardi B’s “WAP.” Nina jokes she always knew I was nearby whenever the song played at the bar. ... I love female rappers, so we had told our DJ to announce to our guests that the music was about to get a little raunchy.
Nina
Free Falling: I fell in love with everything about Juliette. How we started off as friends, then became best friends who talked nonstop every day — I really got to know her and fall for her even more.
Sweet Surprises: We had a bunch of little us things incorporated. Our cake was very classy in the front, black, white … but when you turned it around, the back had logos of our favorite things, like Starbucks, Pokémon and football teams. … I wore a Batman tie, Batman socks, and I walked down the aisle to music from the Batman movie.
April Gajoch
April Gajoch
April Gajoch
April Gajoch
April Gajoch
April Gajoch
