Holy crap.
We did not Photoshop this picture. It actually appeared in a New York Times wedding announcement. Chuckle at it, if you must. But know that when you do, you’re fiddling while a venerable institution goes up in flames.
December isn’t a great month to get married, and this December was particularly bad. Still, our final Legal Eagle Wedding Watch couples for 2009 have some surprisingly strong Biglaw credentials. Here they are:

1. Nicole Schreier and Matthew Kaplan
2. Rachel Lu and Jimmy Gao
3. Elizabeth Cronise and Joe McLaughlin

Check out these couples’ bios, after the jump.

1. Nicole Schreier and Matthew Kaplan
(Buy them a cake knife.)
The Case:
- This bride and groom both have solid but not particularly distinctive educational backgrounds. She has an undergraduate degree from UPenn and a JD from NYU; he’s Cornell/UVA. (How many state schools is that: one, two, or three? Discuss.)
- Both of them are associates in Biglaw real estate practices, she at Greenberg Traurig and he at Willkie Farr.
The Case Against:
- Their photo is a bit overexposed, making us wonder what wretched skin condition they’re hiding.
2. Rachel Lu and Jimmy Gao
(Make a commemorative donation to the Asian Law Caucus.)
The Case:
- This pair met at HLS, where they were co-presidents of the Harvard Asia Law Society. She went to Yale for undergrad; he went to the University of Waterloo.
- They’re both Biglaw associates at Hong Kong offices. She’s at Latham & Watkins, and he’s at Simpson Thacher.
The Case Against:
- Their wedding website is password protected, but we note that it features a section entitled “Our Bunny.” Sounds kinky, but it’s probably just nauseatingly sweet.

3. Elizabeth Cronise and Joe McLaughlin
The Case:
- This couple is the subject of this week’s Vows column, and it’s a weird and meandering write-up, even for a Vows column. A leather Marc Jacobs bracelet has the starring role (“‘It was a gift to us from the universe,’” she said”).
- The bride, an associate at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, has an undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon and a JD from GW. The groom is an actor and bartender.
The Case Against:
- Both the write-up (“I think you should take my phone number,” she announced) and the body language in the photo suggest to us that the bride dominates this relationship.
The Verdict:
We pretty much have to award the crown to the HLS Hong Kong couple and their mysterious bunny. Congratulations, Team Lu-Gao!