Sean + Evelyn by Parkers Pictures - Together Journal

We opted for something between whimsical and historically minded.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

I (Evelyn) am a PhD candidate in comparative literature and Sean’s a software engineer, so we work in about as different of fields as imaginable. Sean spends all day looking at code, and I’m in a world of books and words. In a lot of ways, this is for the best because we get to be constantly excited to learn about each other’s work day and the difficulties and triumphs we have at our respective jobs. Outside of work, however, we have so much in common. We originally bonded over cooking. Sean made me duck confit– my favourite dish– on one of our first dates, and I think we fell in love dancing in the kitchen as we cooked together. We’d switch off who the chef was and who the sous chef was. However, Sean has far superior chopping skills. We also love to travel. We lived in London for a year and made sure to travel as much as possible while we lived across the Atlantic. I think Marrakech was my favourite place to visit, while Sean’s was probably Ireland. His grandparents grew up there, so it was fun for him to explore the towns they lived in and imagine their lives there. We went to the Cannes Film Festival with some friends shortly after our first anniversary. We love film, so it was a bucket list experience. We’ve also been exploring each other’s favourite hobbies. Sean likes to golf and ski; I’m more into horseback riding, reading, and craftier activities. But I’ve taken up golfing, and my mom taught Sean how to sew, so we’re both expanding our interests with each other.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

Sean and I met in New York City in 2021 through drinks with mutual friends. I thought he was hunky and he thought my wide-leg Levis were the “widest pants he’d ever seen.” We hit it off immediately and I invited the group we were with back to my apartment so that I could keep talking to Sean. As we walked between the bar and my apartment Sean and I walked ahead of the group and, as cheesy as it sounds, we both remember thinking that we could walk next to each other forever. I invited him to my housewarming party the following week and he asked me out there. We’ve been together almost every day since. Falling in love with Sean was the easiest experience. When we met, I had lived in New York for a couple of years, but Sean was brand new to the city so we spent our first summer together exploring New York. It was so hot and New York gets really smelly in the summertime, but it was such a magical summer. Falling in love in New York City is a special experience.

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

I realized Sean was the person for me while we played skee ball at this local dive bar. Sean was oddly good at it and would get this goofy smile every time he launched the ball, and it just clicked for me at that moment. Sean claims he knew I was the one when, as we listened to music in our living room one night and the Pixies song “Where is My Mind” came on, I stood up and suggested we mosh to it. We both just laughed. We still recognize “Where is My Mind” as our song. Shortly after we got engaged, my father was diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer. He passed away two weeks before our formal wedding. Sean and I officially got married in his hospital room the day before he died, with just our parents and one of Sean’s brothers officiating. We were already engaged, so obviously, I already thought he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, but there is nothing like taking care of a sick parent and then ultimately losing that parent to make you realise how lucky you are to have someone in your life and how perfect that person is for you. I can’t put into words how difficult this year was, but I cannot imagine getting through it without Sean. We held each other really close this year.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…

We picked out the ring together in April of 2023, and Sean had loosely planned to propose it when we went to Ireland a few months later. We went on a weekend trip upstate for our anniversary in June, and we both realized we didn’t want to wait any longer. The next weekend, Sean planned a perfect New York day. We got breakfast at our favourite local Irish pub and then headed to Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I thought he’d propose that day, but we kept moving from place to place with no proposal. We ended the night at this Italian restaurant in our neighbourhood that we love, Ammazzacaffe. It has become our go-to special occasion spot and Sean proposed there.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.

We wanted it to feel classic and warm and like every detail was intentional. We opted for something between whimsical and historically minded. We didn’t want the wedding to feel too cookie-cutter but to reflect us and our interests. When we toured our venue, it had a certain Midsummer Night’s Dream quality, so we wanted to tap into that aesthetic. The venue is the ruins of an old Shaker property, so we wanted to make sure to honour that history as much as possible. For our welcome party, we utilized the actual ruins and set up fire pits for s’mores. For the wedding itself, we used a local flower farm, and I made all our stationary by hand so that it felt more personal. My mom made the flower girl dresses out of Liberty London fabric. I also got the idea that it would be fun if every water glass were an antique or vintage glass that guests could take as their party favour. My mom went to so many antique and thrift stores getting 180 glasses, but they completed the tablescape and added the right dose of whimsy.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

We were really picky about our photographer and could not be happier with Parkers Pictures. She absolutely crushed it, and the pictures are even lovelier than we could have imagined. She and our videographer, Jesse Turnquist, were so pleasant to work with and made us so comfortable. We were also particular about the music throughout the occasion, and our awesome band, Nuage Rhythm, played French jazz and other classics during the cocktail hour as well as our formal dances. They were so dreamy. For the reception, we really wanted it to feel like the music you’d hear at a cool Manhattan bar, and our DJ, MK Scully, nailed it. Ironically, we didn’t plan on splurging on the catering, but our caterer was fabulous and so easy to work with. We’ve gotten so many compliments from guests on the food (who knew wedding food could taste good?!?), so we have nothing but rave things to say about The Farmer’s Wife.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

We were already married at the time of our formal wedding, and our official wedding took place in a hospital room, so, needless to say, we had a more relaxed approach when the wedding day actually came. During the ceremony, we had a mix-up with our wonderful celebrant, Sean’s cousin Robert. He thought we wrote the vows in a book for him, and we thought he’d written them down elsewhere, so we just had to come up with vows off the cuff. They were ultimately really earnest and sincere, and we just promised to love one another and always care about each other. We reaffirmed the vows we’d said two weeks before; it was perfect in its own way.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?

We got both of our main outfits in London, where we were living at the time. Mine was from this London wedding boutique, Halfpenny London. Every element of the design, manufacturing, and sale were completed in their residence off Bloomsbury Square. I opted for separates because I want to wear the components again. Sean’s suit was from Cad & The Dandy, a shop on Savile Row. Sean knew he wanted a Savile Row suit, and he was really adamant that the suit should be green. We got lucky that he found this stunning green linen-silk suit that needed almost no tailoring.