Laura Leigh and Samantha Abby, both 29, met at Emerson College in 2004 while Sam was pledging Laura’s sorority. “I was minding my own business, dating boys. There was an immediate magnetism when I met Sam, but it took me a while to catch on that this was the person I was meant to spend my life with,” says Laura, a freelance writer. After a few years of off-and-on dating, Sam, a television and digital producer, popped the question in August 2012 via a homemade animated movie while the two were on vacation in Oregon. “I must have said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ 30 times,” recalls Laura. “Then I said, ‘Oh, and yes, of course.’ ” The couple wanted an outdoor wedding but were turned off by noise ordinances at venues on the North Fork. “We don’t like rules,” says Sam. “My aunt suggested Cedar Lakes Estate for its anything-goes vibe. When we saw the lake and guest cabins, we gave them a deposit on the spot.” The summer-camp-themed wedding weekend included a late-night screening of Wet Hot American Summer and a 50-person kickball game the next morning. Later that day the two exchanged vows in the woods while 170 guests looked on and sipped spiked apple cider and prosecco. The ceremony concluded with a live acoustic rendition of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.” Explains Laura: “That was our signal that it was time to party.”
The Details:
Event design: That Time Events
Laura’s gown: Kathryn Conover
Sam’s gown: Vera Wang
Officiant: Elizabeth Phaire
Band: Tangled Vine
Hair & Makeup: Jill Hammelman and Sharon Becker
Photographs by: Heather Waraksa
*This article appears in the Winter 2015 issue of New York Weddings.
Cedar Lakes Estate in Port Jervis, New York September 7, 2013
“Before the movie started, we used the screen to show pictures of our family and friends. Then everyone got blankets, popcorn, and bags of candy.”
“Neither of us wore white for the wedding, so we had a white party the night before to get those more traditional wedding photos.”
