Houston’s Surprise Birthday Party Turns Out To Be a Shock To the Guests, Turning Into a Most Fabulous Gay Wedding

It was billed as a surprise birthday party for Michael Pearce but on arrival guests found the obviously not surprised honoree already there, swanning in a white lace tux (shorts) with oversized black bow and cape. That was just his first high-style outfit on a rollicking evening that saw Pearce and his husband Matt Burrus celebrate and revisit their nuptials from 17 years earlier.

The wedding celebration was a longtime coming. The duo had been among the first same sex couples in the United States to marry. That happened in July of 2008 at the Beverly Hills Courthouse. No party. Not until this July when a clutch of vibrant friends gathered for what they thought was the surprise for Pearce.

The joyous bombshell surprise, dropped in the Tanglewood swankienda of Staci and Dr. Quang Henderson, turned out to be on the guests instead.

Amid his thank yous to all, Pearce made mention of how he had always wanted to throw a party in which the walls would turn “blush and bashful,” à la Steel Magnolias.” On cue, the walls lit up and everyone gasped. Not sure if it was the color change or the arrival of the glamorous officiant.

The gents had arranged for longterm friend and reverend Kristi Hoss Schiller, founder of K9s4Cops now the global K9s.org, to conduct the ceremony. And she did in hilarious take-no -prisoners fashion.

“Congratulations,” Schiller told the clutch of attendees. “You are now guests at the gayest ambush since Cher’s third farewell tour.”

She took a moment to describe her ensemble.

“Yes, I’m standing here in a Ralph Rucci haute couture opera coat,” Schiller said. “Thank you my love Fady. And Hervé Léger shape wear so tight, it’s currently praying for me.”

Burrus and Pearce made their own sartorial splash in custom-ordered Thom Browne four-bar suits. Burrus in the more formal pants suit and Pearce in a signature shorts suit. Guests obliged with the request for black and white attire.

“This is Houston. This is couture. This is holy fabulousness,” the reverend declared.

Joining the grooms for the vows were their “best people” — Gail Brown for Burrus and Staci Henderson and Neera Patidar for Pearce. The playful yet heartfelt ceremony concluded with a confetti gun spewing glee across the throng and the arrival of the grooms’ armadillo cake, another reference to Steel Magnolias.

Joining in the festivities were the couple’s children Estelle Burrus-Pearce, Winston Burrus-Pearce and Corey Pearce, who flew in from St. Louis for the celebration.

It was a sweet remembrance for Burrus, Chief Operating Officer for Houston Association of Realtors, and the always colorful Pearce, an attorney and chief privacy officer for his San Diego-based company. The joke is that early on in their courtship Pearce promised to love Burrus more than his luggage, a massive collection of Louis Vuitton.

“Loved basking in a birthday party turned surprise wedding,” PaperCity executive editor of visual arts and features Catherine Anspon recalled of the night. “What a joyful, imaginative and uplifting fête.”

PC Seen: Angela and John “Bo” Nichols, Fady Armanious and Bill Baldwin, former Houston Police Chief Troy Finner, Theresa Roemer, Cindi and Dr. Franklin Rose, Catherine Anspon, Kurt Grether and Bill Stubbs, Nicole and James Lassiter, Susan Hough, Dana and Taft McWhorter, Tanaz and Chesley Choudhury, Ebony and Bernard Goudeau, Dr. Yasmine Haddad, Susan Giacona, Alissa Blow, Hector Villarreal, and Patty Lucho Sturion.