Courtney Young, Laurin Penland

Courtney Brummett Young and Melinda Laurin Penland, both involved in the construction business, affirmed their partnership yesterday. Sara Smolik, a friend of the couple, led a commitment ceremony on the beach at Wrightsville Beach, N.C.

Ms. Young, 27, is a founder of the Castle Project, a development firm in Wilmington, N.C., that builds affordable and environmentally sensitive mixed-use buildings. She graduated from Tufts.

She is the daughter of Nancy B. Young and Robert Young of McLean, Va. Her father is the president of the Young Group, a development firm in McLean that builds and renovates mixed-use commercial buildings in Northern Virginia. Her mother is a real estate agent with Long & Foster, a brokerage firm in McLean.

Ms. Penland, 24, manages construction projects for the Young Group, arranging for subcontractors and coordinating the work. In August, she will begin studying for a master of fine arts specializing in fiction writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She is the daughter of Barbara Zimmerman of Wilmington and Joseph Penland of Marshall, N.C. Her father is a general contractor and carpenter in Marshall. Her mother is a teacher of English as a second language to elementary school students at three schools in the New Hanover, N.C., County School District.