OUR STORY

In 2007, Sarah moved to New York to work at Bloomberg News. Only a few months later, John moved to the city. What are the odds that they moved into the same small four-apartment building in Woodside, Queens? It was fate.

Well, sort of. Carrie Leonard is also to blame (credit, we mean credit!). Carrie and John have been friends since high school, and John moved to New York with her and another close friend, Jason Tuttle. When they showed up in Woodside to sign their lease, Sarah opened the door and was decked out head-to-toe in Carolina gear on her way to a soccer game. If it wasn't for Sarah's obvious proclamation of her alma mater, Sarah and Carrie may never have recognized each other. They had interned together at The Charlotte Observer two years earlier -- Carrie as a photographer while she was in grad school at UNC, and Sarah as a business reporter in undergrad, also at UNC.

Carrie invited Sarah to join her, John and Jason out for Halloween and New Year's Eve, and John and Sarah hit it off. Thanks to Sarah's sister, Beth, insisting that she take John up on a belated Valentine's Day date, the rest is history!

THE BRIDE

Sarah was born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and studied journalism and business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go Tar Heels!!). After graduation, she moved to New York to take a job at Bloomberg News. After 7 and a half years at Bloomberg reporting on media companies and editing coverage of mergers & acquisitions, media and telecommunications, she accepted a position at the Wall Street Journal in March of 2015. She is now deputy bureau chief for media and marketing, editing articles about television, advertising, online media and publishing and making the occasional TV appearance. When she's not working, she loves to get lost in the city with John, eat good food, run in Central Park and travel to see friends and family near and far.

THE GROOM

John was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, and spent his undergraduate years at the University of Cincinnati and The Ohio State University. After graduating with a degree in applied mathematics, he left the Buckeye state for the Hampton Roads area of southern Virginia. After several years at an exciting job in the aerospace field where he made a number of lifelong friends, he moved to New York. He has been at home in the city for the past 8 years, working first as a consultant and then, after graduate school at NYU, has worked in the workforce strategy and analytics field for AOL and now BNY Mellon. John loves to explore new places and try new things, so when he and Sarah are not taking advantage of the ever-changing options of music, food and art in NYC, he’s finding ways to travel around the US and the world (31 states and 8 countries since he and Sarah met). While he loves the city, he also craves the outdoors, so you can find him skiing in the winter and hiking in the spring, summer and fall whenever he and Sarah have an opportunity to escape for a weekend.

The Proposal

Sarah's family was on vacation at Sunset Beach, North Carolina, where they had been vacationing since Sarah was a baby. At the start of the trip, Sarah wouldn't stop pestering John about waking up to see the sunrise with her on their first morning at the beach. When Sarah hopped out of bed at 5:45 a.m., she really didn't expect to be able to wake up John. But he was dressed and eager to go in no time -- she should have sensed something was coming! Then, at the far end of Sunset Beach after watching a beautiful sunrise over the inlet, John got down on one knee. There were lots of smiles and tears of joy!

Engagement photos

Photos by © Lindsay Hite / www.readyluck.com

WEDDING PARTY

MATRON OF HONOR:

Beth is Sarah's best friend and also happens to be her younger sister. Beth spent much of grade school at the gym -- taking gymnastics classes and transforming into an incredibly talented competitive dancer, eventually studying modern dance and taking classes at Wake Forest, UNC-Greensboro and in New York City. She even got close to making it on So You Think You Can Dance! Beth is now a hair stylist and cosmetologist (she does weddings! Including this one! And has even appeared as a wedding magazine cover model). She lives in Greensboro, NC, with her husband Daryl and their rambunctious and incredibly smart almost-4-year-old, Liam.

BRIDESMAID:

Jen is John’s little sister and his earliest friend. While you can often still find them picking on each other like they did as kids, they’ve been close friends since college (Go Flyers and Buckeyes!). Jen is brilliant, talented and one of the most fun people that John and Sarah know. She was an amazing dancer and musician growing up, and she manages to still use those talents today (if you haven’t seen her dance to Sir Mix-a-lot at a wedding, you’re missing out!). She was a great student, graduating from college before John, and she has an impressive career at Procter & Gamble. Jen is also a talented runner (she once ran a half marathon and full marathon in the same weekend!), and she and John have enjoyed running races together all over the country.

Sarah and John love spending time with Jen and her husband Matt, and they’ve had a great time the last few years exploring Baltimore and NYC together. They’re going to miss having Jen and Matt on the east coast, but are looking forward to regular visits as they make their new home in Cincinnati! 

BEST MAN:

Alan and John lived on the same floor during their freshman year of college, and have been great friends ever since. Most people know Alan as a brilliant scientist, a loving husband and father, and an amazing friend. While all of those things are true, most people don’t realize that he’s also an amazing DJ when you’re hosting a party at an abandoned apartment, that he has set the land speed record between Iowa and Ohio (unverified due to legal concerns), and that he once won an award for his impersonation of the Gorton’s Fisherman. Alan and John can often be found debating any topic from politics to sports and everything in between…often to the frustration of those around them. They once blindly wandered, deep in conversation, more than 30 blocks down the east side of Manhattan before the rest of the group insisted that they find somewhere to stop and sit, which luckily led to a years-long love affair with the now-closed Rodeo Bar that was on the corner where they stopped.

Alan and his wife Melissa were there the Halloween night in Queens when Sarah and John first got to know each other, and have been there for them throughout their relationship. Melissa and Sarah have bonded over a mutual disgust at the dive bars that Alan and John would visit on the Upper West Side. The four of them have become good friends over the years, even though the boys still insist on stopping by The Dead Poet with them every once in awhile. John and Sarah love getting to spend time with them and their amazing children, Alice and Andrew, whenever they can.

GROOMSMAN:

Jacob is Sarah's not-so-little brother. He survived years of his two big sisters' nitpicking, correcting and smothering, but he was outsmarting them all by the time he was two.

He's definitely the athlete of the family, following in the well-trodden Rabil footsteps of lacrosse. He's also played football and run track, while educating the entire faily on weightlifting and healthy eating. When he's not working on his truck, doing yard work with their family friend, James, or out chasing girls, Jacob can usually be found with his dog, Joey, at his heels. By the time of the wedding, he'll be a senior at Mount Tabor High School. Go, Spartans!

OFFICIANT:

John and Bill grew up together in Ohio, and became close friends even though Bill is a lifelong Cleveland fan and John is a diehard Pittsburgh fan. They’ve worked summer jobs together at the Canfield fairgrounds, played in their high school orchestra together, traveled across the state to visit each other regularly in college and enjoyed finally living in the same city again when they were both in Columbus. They still try to get together as often as they can, whether it’s visiting each other in Philadelphia or NYC, the occasional trip to Las Vegas or Atlantic City, or annual events like their fantasy baseball draft, the big Buckeye game against TTUN, the Thanksgiving Reunion or holidays back in Ohio.  

Sarah got to know Bill during the first year that she and John were dating, and she has become really close with both Bill and his wife Chrystal over the years. When asked what her favorite thing about Bill was, she wavered between his amazing ability to look great wearing a t-shirt tied into a crop top and finally having a partner in crime that was as good (if not better) at the photo hunt video game in bars as she is. She finally settled on, “you know that everyone will be smiling and having a great time whenever Bill is around”. John couldn’t agree more.

They knew that they wanted the person officiating their marriage to be someone whom they were close to and whose own relationship they respected. Someone that they looked up to as a person, as a partner and as a friend. Bill is all of those things and so much more. He manages to be both the most fun and most responsible guy in pretty much any group he’s in. He’s a great husband, a loving father to Harper and Jackson and one of the best friends anyone could ever ask for. John and Sarah are so excited to have him marry them, and will strive to learn from the example that he sets every day to become great lifelong partners for one another. 

WHERE TO STAY

We recommend staying close to the venue for ease of travel to and from the wedding/reception. Traffic in New York can really back up on the weekends, particularly Friday and Saturday evenings, so please plan accordingly if you choose to stay further away. We’ve scouted out all of the closest hotels and selected two where we think our guests would be the most comfortable.  We tried to keep in mind location, quality of rooms, cost, convenience to transportation and food, etc.

**If you try to reserve a room at either hotel and the rate is no longer available, let us know and we can have more rooms released.**

what to do

getting here

There are 3 airports in the New York City area: LaGuardia, JFK and Newark. All 3 are viable options for our wedding weekend, so it’s worth hunting around to see which airport will give you the best deal on your flights.

That said, if prices are relatively comparable, we recommend LGA because it’s the easiest, most affordable by cab, and shortest travel time to the wedding hotels.

There’s also public transportation from Newark and JFK if you’re up for figuring out the train and subway. Please keep in mind normal business commuting hours because that will make a difference in terms of how crowded the trains and subways will be, and how much traffic there will be heading into the city.

For Long Island Rail Road to get from JFK to Manhattan: http://lirr42.mta.info/
For NJ Transit to get from Newark to Manhattan: http://www.njtransit.com/
For subway maps and routes: http://www.mta.info/

Places to go

While you're in town, we hope you take some time to experience "our" NYC! Here are some suggestions of our favorite places and things to do around the city. Enjoy!

Restaurants & Bars

attire & gifts

what to wear

Formal attire. Suit or jacket and tie for men. For women, cocktail-length dress, long dress, or dressy skirt and top are all appropriate.

Gifts

Please do not bring us gifts or money – we’re just so happy to have family and friends helping us celebrate this special day! Your continued love and support is more than enough. (Seriously, no gifts!)

If you're insistent on not following our No Gifts policy, instead please consider making a donation to support causes that are near and dear to our hearts. Memorial Sloan Kettering's Breast Cancer and Brain Cancer funds:
http://mskcc.convio.net/goto/sarahandjohnwedding