Across nearly 30 years of video games, anime and collectibles, the Pokémon franchise’s signature line has remained “Gotta Catch ’em All.” For Les and Sandra Dorgo, that included each other.
On June 6, 2025, Les, 36, and Sandra, 30, got married in the most fittingly fandom way: as special guests of the Pokémon GO Fest held in Jersey City’s Liberty State Park. The mobile game has been a staple of the Pokémon universe since 2016, allowing players to collect rare Pokémon in real-world locations while bonding with like-minded fans. That was how Sandra and Les, who are both from Canada, met in August 2021. Les offered to trade Sandra for a Corsola, and the rest is history.
“I didn’t at first realize that it was actually a first date,” she says. “I thought it was just two friends playing Pokémon, until he tried to kiss me at the end of it.” Since then, the pair has attended Pokémon-themed events around the globe from New York to Mexico to France.
Eventually, Sandra proposed to Les in 2024. He said “yes,” but she still entered them into a contest run by the Pokémon Company for the chance to win a Pokémon GO-themed proposal.
Sandra submitted a long write-up with pictures. Eventually, “they reached out to us and said, ‘Are you and Les still together? We would love to host your wedding if you are interested. All expenses paid,’” she explains.
Their 34 guests attended the wedding ceremony at Maritime Parc in Jersey City, with a reception occurring next door at the Feathered Fox restaurant. Guests even got to take photo ops with a person from the Pokémon GO Fest dressed as Pikachu, and once the ceremony ended, husband and wife were escorted to Liberty State Park to take more pictures and explore the event.
The couple incorporated other themed details into their big day. Sandra walked down the aisle to the original Pokémon theme song. Their wedding rings were kept in a Love Ball and vows were read via a Pokédex (similar to a tablet), while guests wrote happy messages on Pokémon energy cards. The wedding cake even featured figurines of Les and Sandra’s favorite Pokémon—Squirtle and Chansey —donning outfits that reflected their jobs as a firefighter and nurse.
The iconic Pokémon battle phrase “I choose you” is engraved on their wedding bands, although the couple did not choose to say it at the altar instead of “I do.”
For the Dorgos, the magic of Pokémon has yet to fade. Since tying the knot, they attended the Pokémon World Championship in Anaheim, California, and plan to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary this year. They attribute their eagerness to discover more of the world to Pokémon GO.
As Sandra sees it, the game “just gets us out of our shell and seeing new things that we might not have seen otherwise.”
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