Tell Us Your Story – Sara & James

“It’s hard to choose a favorite highlight from our wedding, but our vows were really important. I really wanted to keep the ceremony about our commitment to one another and God. We wrote our own vows, and the words we exchanged are something we will cherish forever. As well as leaving in a helicopter! That was also a highlight!”

Said I Do
February 29, 2020

Photography by
Mary McCarty

Location
The Wanderers Club

Newlyweds Sara and James “J.C.” Solomon became engaged at the Wanderers Club in Wellington —the same place where they later held their wedding. “We were having Easter brunch with both of our families at the club, and we went down to the putting green before brunch while waiting for our table, and J.C. putted a ball into a hole,” Sara recalled. “When I went to grab it, the ring was in the hole! He’s a big golfer, so it was fitting for us.”

Their story, however, began one day at work. “I was a stenographer, and he was an attorney working on the case,” she said, adding that she knew he was the one right at their first date. “I vividly remember thinking, ‘I’m having dinner with my husband,’” she said.

J.C. knew after Sara met his family. “My mom came downstairs the morning after she met her and said, ‘Oh my gosh. I love her.’ My mom never really said she liked anyone I dated!” he explained.

The ceremony was held on Feb. 29, 2020, in the Wanderers Club ballroom, followed by a tented reception on the driving range. Sara wore a wedding dress designed by Galia Lahav Couture and was attended by her sister, Stephanie Czajkowski, as maid of honor. T.J. Solomon served as best man. The wedding was photographed by Mary McCarty with video from Starfish Studios. “For our first dance, our band did a special rendition of both our parents’ first dance songs — ‘Just the Way You Are’ by Billy Joel and ‘Have I Told You Lately’ by Rod Stewart. It was so special!” Sara said

The day was filled with special details, among them the handkerchief Sara carried. “It was given to me by J.C.’s nonna (his grandmother), and it was from his great-nonna,” she said. “It’s white and has a blue trim, so that was my something blue. It dried many happy tears that day.”

Nonna also provided the wedding favors. “JC’s 92-year-old grandmother homemade 400 of her Italian love knot cookies for our guests all by hand, all by herself, and we individually packaged them with a ‘momma’s cookie’ sticker. I’ll never forget how excited she was when she saw them all wrapped up nicely with her ‘name’ on them.”

Sara also loved the wedding photos of each of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents at the lounge by the bar. “We have an amazing history of marriage in both of our families, and we really wanted to honor the lineage of people who have taught us what a successful marriage looks like,” she said.

Sara surprised everyone in attendance by singing “Living on Love” by Alan Jackson to thank her parents as they danced. “It was one of the songs my dad used to have me sing as a kid. The song was also so fitting for the evening,” she said.

The day ended, however, with just the bride and groom. “We had the room cleared out at the end of the night, and J.C. and I had one final dance alone before we left,” Sara said. “I’ll never forget those moments, just him and I, fully soaking in the beauty that was around us.”