Wedding | Morgan & Sam

The Anti-Bride
7 hours ago
5 min read

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We met at a New Year’s Eve party in 2017 — two recent college grads tricked into buying overpriced “tickets” to a dive bar in Midtown Manhattan. What started as a chance encounter turned into almost a decade together.

Our first date was at Joe’s Shanghai, where Sam watched me fumble my way through soup dumplings. We then spent five years in New York together, eventually sharing a tiny one-bedroom on the Upper East Side, before moving to SF for two years. We fell in love with Northern California’s coastal hikes, burrito culture, and foggy mornings, but ultimately came back east to be closer to family.

In July 2024, we signed a lease on an apartment in Brooklyn, and a few weeks later, Sam proposed in front of the Central Park Boathouse — a place we often passed on our morning walks in the early days of our relationship. We celebrated with dinner with our families and a nightcap at Bemelmans Bar.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

So much of our relationship has been built around intimate getaways in nature, including a few fall weekends in the Catskills. When we started planning the wedding, we knew we didn’t want a city setting. The Catskills, almost perfectly equidistant between our families in Massachusetts and our friends in New York, felt like the perfect middle ground.

We chose Foxfire Mountain House for its charm and the fact that its 38-person occupancy meant we could host our entire wedding party and immediate family onsite. The weekend felt less like an event and more like an extended getaway with all of our favorite people.

How many guests did you have?

127. The natural outcome of pairing an extrovert with a big family (Sam) and an introvert with fewer, closer friendships (me). It felt like the perfect in-between: lively, personal, and filled with the people who mean the most to us.

Tell us about your outfits.

Sam kept it classic in head-to-toe Suitsupply, with two looks: a cream linen suit for the rehearsal dinner and a timeless tux for the wedding day.

For my wedding dress, I’m naturally decisive, so when I came across the Lyn dress by Floure Studio online I immediately knew it was the one. I tried it on a few weeks later with my mom and best friend and placed the order that day. I wore it with a pearl necklace gifted by my late grandpa, sheer white Stuart Weitzman heels, and simple pearl drop earrings from Missoma.

For the reception, I wanted something easy to dance in but not a short party dress. I went with a long, sparkly, backless gown from The New Arrivals. I paired it with a silver Coperni bag and earrings from a Portuguese artist on Etsy. Across the weekend, I loved pairing more elevated pieces with small, meaningful finds — it felt like the perfect reflection of my style.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

We wanted to prioritize guest experience and make sure everyone had an incredible time. Beyond the obvious things (music, food, atmosphere) what mattered most was making each guest feel personally loved and seen. With a guest list our size, we knew we wouldn’t get to talk to everyone, so we looked for small, intentional ways to make people feel connected to us.

Our favorite was the individualized escort cards. Under each name and table number, we added a one-liner specific to that guest — from how they’re part of our story (“Introduced the bride and groom on New Year’s Eve”) to a shared memory or inside joke (“Still thinks the bride’s name is Megan”). Guests told us it made them feel appreciated and sparked conversation at their tables, which is exactly what we’d hoped.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

We loved finding ways to make the day feel personal to us.

Instead of one officiant, we had two — our best friends (and recently married couple) Mackay and Rachel. They know us so well and created a ceremony that felt thoughtful, warm, and deeply personal.

For the bridal party, I wanted to move away from the traditional matching look. Our florals were colorful, so each bridesmaid was assigned a different hue and chose their own dress within it. They carried single-flower bouquets pulled from my own, symbolizing how each of them is an important part of me.

We also loved incorporating the talents of our friends and family: our friend Sabina illustrated all our stationary, my dad built our card box, and Sam’s brother (a musician) was our unofficial DJ at the after-party.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Prioritize the decisions that let you be fully present on the day. For us, that meant working with a month-of planner to handle last-minute logistics, keeping our beauty team through the reception for touch-ups, and choosing a photo and video team, we fully trusted so we could leave our phones behind. Knowing everything was taken care of allowed us to truly soak up every moment.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

The two things guests complimented most were the music and the food.

We hired The Glitter Boys — vinyl DJs with a cult following in Boston for their Friday night sets at The Sinclair. They struck the perfect balance with old school classics you know and love, and maybe some that you’ve heard once or twice but forgot to save.

We both appreciate great food, so the dinner menu was a big focus for us. Foxfire Mountain House’s in-house team lets you create a completely custom menu, which felt refreshing compared to the standard venue approach. We served little gem salad with edible flowers, branzino grenobloise, corn carbonara, and olive oil cake with red wine–mulled berries.

Photographer: Hannah Jan Photography @hannahjanphoto | Flora: Simplicity in Mind @simplicityinmind.

events | Videographer: Justin R Films @justinrfilms | Ceremony & Reception Location: Foxfire Mountain House @foxfireweddings | Celebrants: couples best friends Mackay & Rachel | Lighting: Bearfly Designs

@bearfly_designs | HMUA: Predame Beauty @predamebeauty | Cake: Foxfire Mountain House @foxfire

(Morgan Ceremony) Stuart Weitzman @stuartweitzman, (Second Look) Mint Velvet @mintvelvet | Sam's Shoes: (Ceremony) Suitsupply @suitsupply | Bag: (Welcome Party) Staud @staud.clothing & (Reception) Coperni @Coperni | Earrings: Missoma @Missomalondon