After a year-and-two-month relationship that started on what Sean Fritz called “the new American match-making service,” he and his husband have been thrust into the public eye.

Three weeks ago this Friday, Tim McQuillan, junior in linguistics, and Fritz, senior in computer science, were married on the front lawn of Rev. Mark Stringer’s home, of First Unitarian Church in Des Moines. Since then, they’ve faced a torrent of media attention – not just from the local media, but from other major outlets as well, such as The Associated Press and New York Times – as well as receiving comments from people they don’t even know.

The media coverage started the day the two got married. The couple got to the recorder’s office just before 8 a.m. on the morning of Friday, Aug. 31.

“There was a couple press there,” Fritz said.

When they went to get the waiver that bypassed the three-day waiting period for their marriage license, the press coverage began.

“At this point, the press decided we were interesting,” Fritz said.

The media also followed the pair to the ceremony.

“[The press] were just excited, kind of crazy,” McQuillan said. “I originally didn’t want them at the ceremony, but it was so rushed, I didn’t really have a choice. I just yelled at them to maintain a distance of about five feet and form a semicircle, and they did.”

The interviews have kept coming ever since that Friday when Fritz and McQuillan tied the knot.

“It’s been pretty crazy. We’ve been trying to just grant interviews to anyone that wants them, because we don’t want to play favorites with the press or anything like that,” Fritz said.

Even during their interview with the Daily, Fritz asked McQuillan if he was free for an interview for the next day.

Fritz and McQuillan have a high-profile interview coming up, but after some discussion, they would only give a hint.

“It’s not with Stephen Colbert, that should answer the question of who it is,” Fritz said.

The attention has not just come from the media. The afternoon of their marriage, McQuillan said they started getting e-mails and new friends on Facebook they had never met.

“Everyone who’s e-mailed us has been positive,” Fritz said.

McQuillan’s professors have taken notice as well.

“All my professors are excited, you know, ‘He’s in my class,'” McQuillan said. “We weren’t sure if we’d get any backlash, but we haven’t so far.”

However, with all the attention, they said they were planning a private ceremony without any media coverage for those who missed the official ceremony.

“We promised everyone there’s going to be a ceremony for the families and our friends in the future, and we’re not going to tell anyone in the press what day that is,” Fritz said.

Some media even want to sit in on a holiday in November.

“Some of the TV stations want to record us for Thanksgiving dinner, but I don’t think that one’s going to happen,” Fritz said, laughing. “We have Thanksgiving dinner for a reason, not for you.”

The two have also worked to keep their families out of the spotlight.

“We’ve kept them out of the line of fire,” McQuillan said. “I don’t think they’ve been approached for interviews or anything.”

Fritz said his parents had done an interview on the day they got married.

It’s been a challenge finding time with all the attention to still be students.

Fritz said he didn’t have any “substantial homework” the week after they got married.

“I asked for extensions on homework for a couple days the first time and then like a week,” McQuillan said.

At the time of this interview, Fritz and McQuillan had been to Stringer’s church twice and received standing ovations both times.

“It’s a little bit awkward to get a standing ovation at church,” Fritz said.

With all the attention, Fritz and McQuillan have learned some things.

“We’re a lot more of what we say can have an impact,” McQuillan said.

McQuillan said they have been trying not to let the coverage get to their heads.

“That’s a big thing, is we’re both really worried that we’ll get used to the press coverage or something and we’ll start thinking we’re actually important and really we’re not; we’re very humble,” Fritz said.

Fritz and McQuillan see cooperating with all this coverage as a duty.

“We really just see it as something we need to do,” McQuillan said. “I never really had a want to do this.”