Talia Bernstein heard Adele sing and felt inspired to make her move.
It was December 2015, and for months, she had a crush on Kristen Zublin, whom she had met during an improv class in Los Angeles. Even though their class had ended, the two continued to hang out with each other, often deep into the night talking.
As they were lying on a mutual friend’s bed, and Adele’s “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)” played through a speaker, Ms. Bernstein nuzzled into Ms. Zublin’s neck. “And she didn’t move away,” Ms. Bernstein, 34, said.
Both went home for the holidays, and after they returned to Los Angeles, Ms. Bernstein invited Ms. Zublin over to make pizza. But Ms. Zublin, who had never been in a serious relationship, was confused as to why their other friends from the improv class weren’t present. Their alone time had typically come only after everyone else had gone home.
“This is a date,” Ms. Bernstein said she told her.
“I was like, ‘Oh, OK,” Ms. Zublin, 32, said. “I was a hard one to date because I didn’t pick up on cues.”
With Ms. Bernstein’s guidance, their romance blossomed. By spring 2016 they were girlfriends, and about two years later they moved in together. Their shared career goals deepened their bond. The improv class, at the Upright Citizens Brigade, proved to be both women’s final foray into acting.
“We were both like, ‘We’re not performers, we’re writers,’” Ms. Zublin said.
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Ms. Bernstein is a co-executive producer on “Ghosts” a CBS sitcom in its third season. She grew up in Miami before attending Wesleyan University, where she played softball and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science.
Ms. Zublin is a screenwriter with multiple projects in development, including a feature film with Shiny Penny Productions. A native of Pawling, N.Y., she played field hockey at Franklin & Marshall College and graduated with a double bachelor’s degree in business and Spanish.
Early in the relationship, Ms. Zublin’s father, Dave Zublin, came to Los Angeles for a weekend visit. “He had the greatest time with Talia,” Ms. Zublin said. “We took him everywhere with us as if he was one of our friends.” It took a little more time for her mother, Donna Zublin, who was brought up in a more conservative environment, to warm up to the relationship.
Her mother’s feelings shifted in December 2022, when the couple were scheduled to celebrate Christmas at Ms. Zublin’s parents’ Pawling home. During a stop to visit friends in Brooklyn, Ms. Bernstein started to feel sick. But Ms. Zublin’s father insisted she come over anyway. The family’s elaborate Christmas plans were canceled as Ms. Bernstein, Ms. Zublin and her mother ended up testing positive for Covid.
“It was just me, Talia, my mom and dad, in their house for a week, and we were the four best friends,” Ms. Zublin said.
A couple months later, Ms. Zublin and Ms. Bernstein were eating breakfast burritos in their Los Angeles apartment on a Sunday morning when Ms. Zublin posed a question: Would she like to get married?
This time, it was Ms. Bernstein who misunderstood the social cue.
“She was like, ‘Yeah, eventually,’” Ms. Zublin said. “I was like, ‘No. Will you marry me?’ I got a little misty eyed.”
Ms. Bernstein started sobbing when Ms. Zublin presented a diamond signet engagement ring. Ms. Bernstein said yes, but confusion ensued. “She didn’t understand,” Ms. Zublin said. “The processing in her brain was like, ‘What is happening?’ I had to take her hand and sit her down on the couch and be like, ‘Let me explain to you what’s going on.’”
On Feb. 18, they married in front of 155 guests, including both sets of parents, at the Deering Estate in Miami, under a tent to shield from the rain. The actor Blake Lee, one of their close friends who was ordained by the Universal Life Church for this event, officiated the ceremony. Ms. Bernstein choked up as Mr. Lee, who is married to the actor Ben Lewis, made reference to all the gay people who had fought for marriage equality before them.
They celebrated well into the night, inside another, larger tent on the Deering Estate property. The tone was set early in the reception with the couple participating in the hora, a traditional Jewish dance in which the newlyweds are held aloft in chairs. “Everyone went so hard,” Ms. Bernstein said.
For Ms. Bernstein, who grew up in Miami, the location held special significance. As a child, she would secretly watch TV shows with lesbian characters under her covers.
“To go from that, to now being super, super,” Ms. Bernstein said, her voice trailing off.
Ms. Zublin finished the sentence for her: “To having a wife!”
