The Meet Cute : Though they had friends in common , these college sweethearts first connected through Tinder during their sophomore year at the University of New Hampshire . “ We have been best friends ever since .”
The Engagement : Samantha had an inkling the proposal was coming in the weeks leading up . “ I knew for certain though , when we were sitting on our porch and I got a text message for a fraudulent purchase made on the credit card for a jewelry company ,” she recalls . “ I was ecstatic ! John , not so much .” A few weeks later , on a random Wednesday night in June , the two visited a nearby horse farm where he got down on one knee . They then shared the happy news with their loved ones and punctuated the occasion with a romantic dinner .
The ( Father ' s ) First Look : A big jokester , Samantha ’ s father loved to tell her that he would only cry tears of joy on her wedding day because she would be “ John ’ s problem now !” And cry he did when he first saw his daughter as a bride . “ I knew that moment with him would be something I would cherish forever , so it meant everything to me when he turned around and saw me in my wedding dress for the first time .” she says . “ He gave me a little music box that played our song , “ Butterfly Kisses ,” and I attached a picture of us from when I was a little girl to the back of his tie .”
The Venue : Though the couple had relocated from Rhode Island to Nashville , Tennessee , a few years prior , New England would always be home . “ Being with all of our family and friends and getting married by the water was the most important thing to us , so the location was an easy decision .”
The Food : Both foodies , Samantha and John couldn ’ t let their day go by without a cheesy toast . “ In the summer months , John makes his own Neapolitan-style pizzas , and so we knew we had to somehow incorporate that into our wedding ,” she explains . “ While we did do a traditional cake cutting with a mini cake , we also thought it would be fun , and a good representation of who we are , to slice a pizza and feed that to each other , too !”
August 6 , 2023
KENDAL BEARD PHOTOGRAPHY @ KENDALBEARD
The Highlights : “ It was truly everything we could have wanted and more ,” Samantha says . She loved that the wedding had a good mix of Rhode Island meets Nashville . The former included passed fish and chips cones and late-night coffee milkshakes , while the latter had honey butter fried chicken and BBQ beef sliders , country music during dinner and flashing cowboy hats on the dance floor . Plus , “ Anyone who knows me also knows that I love ice cream , so rather than serving our guests cake , we had a DIY brownie ice cream sundae bar . Ten out of ten recommend !” she adds .
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