Sarah & Jake

On your day, what was your first thought when you woke up in the morning?

Sarah: I didn’t sleep much the night before from excitement, but I spent the night with my mom and we both woke up smiling and giddy! The royal wedding was the same day, and we both were up early enough to watch Meghan walk down the aisle. Sitting in bed with my mom, drinking coffee, watching the wedding was surreal because finally it hit me “Holy cow, that will be me in six hours!” It was a great start to an unforgettable day!

Jake: “Alright, let’s do this!” I sprung out of bed and tried to keep as busy as possible so the nerves wouldn’t get to me. I spent most of the morning dropping off gifts for my groomsmen, but after that the butterflies set in.

What aspects of your wedding most reflected your personality?

Sarah: Our planner, Tracy Taylor Ward, made sure everything at the wedding was perfect and reflective of Jake and I, so choosing one aspect is so hard! The most unique for me was the father-daughter dance we chose, which was to Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus Is Comin To Town”. It was a song that our family would blast in the car growing up, so it only seemed right to dance to it and then have all my cousins and brother come up on stage during it (which my dad surprised me with!). For Jake and I, we just wanted it to be fun. We are young and the first to get married amongst family and friends, so we wanted everyone to leave saying that was the most fun wedding! We had an ice luge for shots engraved with the Boston College logo (where we met), a late-night pizza cart since we love our drunk pizza, and we were tearing up the dance floor the whole night.

When and where did the proposal take place, and how did it unfold?

Sarah: My family has been going to the Jersey Shore for a week every summer—it is one of my favorite times of the year. The first night we got there Jake said we were going to go over to his family friends’ house who happened to be down there for a few drinks. When we got there I was actually low-key upset I forgot to bring a bottle of wine (I never forget to bring a gift!). He said they were upstairs out on the deck, so we walked up and all I remember him saying is “So we actually aren’t having drinks with them…”. We walked out to the deck overlooking the beach, and I saw a table filled with photos of us, champagne, and flowers and the rest was a blur of tears and happiness. After we went back to my house and celebrated with family and friends. I remember I broke down when my dad hugged me. Needless to say I didn’t need that bottle of wine!

Jake: We got engaged August 6th, 2016 on Long Beach Island on the Jersey Shore. LBI is Sarah’s favorite place in the world and she has been going there every year since she was a kid. When we started dating I got to come along and it quickly became one of my favorite traditions as well. So I figured why not make it even more memorable by proposing there. As Sarah said, I came up with an excuse that we needed to go visit some of my extended family and I could tell she was secretly upset because I made her leave the beach early. Her whole family knew what was about to happen before we left, but she had no idea. I felt like I was going to throw up the whole day and I’m still shocked she didn’t notice how weird I was acting. When the moment finally came and we got to the deck I poured my heart out and she said yes! It was such a rush I practically blacked out.

What was a highlight of your wedding day?

Sarah: It is so hard to choose one! Seeing Jake for the first time when I walked down the aisle was so special since we chose not to do a first look. Surrounded by friends and family and walking toward my husband was a moment I will never forget. Special shout-outs though to when my dad saw me for the first time, the moment right after we got married and we both looked at each other like “what did we just do?!”, seeing the reception area for the first time, and dancing on stage with our whole bridal party and groomsmen!

Jake: Definitely seeing Sarah walk down the aisle towards me. I had the goofiest look on my face, but she was so beautiful I didn’t even care. The band was absolutely the highlight of the reception. Sarah and I both love music and they were better than I could have ever imagined, I never wanted to leave the dance floor!

What wedding planning decision was the easiest one to make? What was the most difficult?

Sarah: Easiest was the music. Once we saw the Dane Wright demo, we just knew we needed them to complete out day. The most difficult was actually finding my bridesmaid dresses! I always envisioned them in white, but finding ones that were still different enough from my dress was a harder task than I thought! I thankfully found the perfect ones after going to a few stores—they were classy in the front but party in the back! All in all, our planners made everything so easy and fun for us, which is how it should be!

Jake: Picking the band was definitely the easiest but choosing the venue was pretty easy too. Sleepy Hollow is beautiful and the views of the Hudson are hard to beat. Hardest would probably be gathering all the documents for our wedding license, thank god my mom had my original birth certificate!

Which feature of your wedding was the most unique? (Food, favors, music, etc.?) Please describe in detail.

Sarah: I would say something that was unique was that the band surprised us and brought a harpist to play during dinner. All of a sudden we were talking and both looked at each other and were like “wait, is this Toxic by Britney Spears?!” She was unreal good, everyone came up to us after asking about her, and we were just as shocked as they were! Our best man even tried to make a pass at her in his speech, how could he not she was so talented!

Jake: I agree with Sarah that the harpist was definitely the most unique. She was incredible and captivated everyone during dinner. Another unique thing was the cigar roller we brought in at the end of the night. He set up on the patio and was hand rolling cigars for guests who wanted to enjoy a cigar with friends or take one for the road. Each cigar had our monogram on the wrapper too which was very cool.