Although Samantha and Leah met at a wedding in 2017, the couple says their “true love story, however, didn’t begin until 12 months and two terrible fantasy football performances later,” says Samantha. “One silly text message about our football misfortune led to another, ending in what would become our last first date.” Their relationship deepened over the next few years, but in 2019, their careers were pulling them in “seemingly opposite directions,” says Samantha, from New Jersey to California to Hawaii and everywhere in between. Despite only seeing each other once a month—at best, our relationship never faltered.” Finally in 2020, the women were able to make a home together in their first house in Keyport, New Jersey, with their two cats Zoey and Noel. That fall, almost exactly two years from their first date, Samantha got down on one knee and proposed to the love of her life with a backdrop of the ocean at sunrise.

On February 2, 2022, the couple married in a beach wedding in Cancun, Mexico. The brides chose burgundy and dusty blue for their wedding colors, which they incorporated with a variety of sustainable silk flowers for their bouquets and their bridesmaids’ bouquets. Their bride squad dressed in varying shades of dusty blue and Converse (in varying colors of the rainbow, of course), while their ring bearer and flower girl wore burgundy.

The Cape Coral, Fla.–based brides exhanged their own vows in an outdoor wedding ceremony on a grand staircase with their best friend officiating. After they became Mrs. and Mrs., Samantha and Leah’s fun-filled wedding day continued with adding their engraved lock to the wall of love locks at the resort, newlywed portraits on the beach and brilliant cold fireworks during their first dance, which was set to Sam Smith’s acoustic version of Latch. Everything went off perfectly! They even surprised their guests with an entertaining LED neon drum show.


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Featured Wedding Vendors
Photographer: Quetzal Wedding Photo
Cinema and Video: My Love Films
Event Venue: Dreams Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa
Accomodations: Dreams Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa
Event Planner: Dreams Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa
Floral Designer: Bifloral silk flowers
Shoes: Converse Chuck Taylor All Star
Brides’ Attire: Riki Dalal, Jovani
LED Neon Drum Show: Soul Elements

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