Samantha and Sam’s Wedding | The Senate Garage | Kingston, New York

Samantha and Sam’s Wedding | The Senate Garage | Kingston, NY

Whenever I ask any of my friends who are also wedding photographers New Orleans what their favorite part about their job is, exploring new venues is always near the top of the list. One of the many fun aspects to being a wedding photographer is that each year we get to discover new venues and this one is an especially new favorite one of mine, Kingston, New York’s Senate Garage, a super cool converted former garage in historic downtown Kingston, once the capital of New York state. Love what they’ve done to the place, and love what they haven’t done. Endless possibilities, both inside and out. And for these reasons and more Samantha and Sam chose it as their spectacular wedding venue. The venue is such an important part of planning any wedding. Whether it is something like this converted garage that Sam and Sam got married at or Estes Park venues, it’s all about whether this meets your requirements of the perfect venue for the big day.

Yes, you read correctly, Sam and Sam. How could you not love this story already?! Such a special treat to have been there to document the wedding day of these two wonderful and “very” fun loving people. Here’s their story, which I hope you’ll enjoy.

“So when are we going to discuss the fact that we have the same name?!” – our first text outside of the dating app called Tinder. Yes, we met on Tinder just like many other millennials these days! You’ll find a lot of millennials on some sort of meet n fuck site but our site of choice was Tinder. After a few days of in-app chatting about random things like Lululemon and different hikes we’ve done, Sam decided to give me his number. He told me to text him if I was interested. The challenge: come up with a cute and witty text that also let him know it was me. After reading what I came up with, he laughed and asked me out on our first date for that Friday night… mission accomplished!

It was the perfect first date. We ate, we drank, we got caught in the rain (literally), and we even got a photo. After walking me home, Sam texted me saying how great of a time he had and how he couldn’t wait to see me again the next day at the party he was hosting. I dragged my sister Isabelle with me, and she ended up witnessing our first kiss. Sam and I had lunch on Sunday, and I’m pretty sure after three dates in one weekend, we both realized this was something different. We even joked about what it would be like to date someone with the same name… “Sam?” “What?!” (as we envisioned responding simultaneously).

About 3 months later, on a beach in Fairfield, we became “official” and started our Wednesday date night tradition. About a month after that, on Sam’s 29th birthday and, after stumbling into a fireworks tent, Sam told me he loved me. That August 2014 we went on our first hike at Mohonk Mountain… we were hooked – on the place and on each other! That October we started our annual Mohonk Mountain overnight trip tradition – little did we know that 2 years later we would be getting engaged on this trip! In October 2015 we moved in together, and in October 2016, on our annual trip to Mohonk Mountain, we got engaged!!!!

In November 2017 we got MARRIED and are so thankful we were able to celebrate and share such a special day with all of our friends and family! Everyone looked so stunning in the dress and tuxedo for wedding that each invite had chosen to wear. Our wedding was more amazing than we could have ever imagined. From the gorgeous industrial venue, fresh flowers, and romantic decorations, to the rockin’ band, amazing food, and great people. It was the night of our lives! Even through all the stress of planning, we would do it all over again… every weekend! We couldn’t have done it without each and every person involved. A huge thank you to everyone who made our night possible, thank you to Bruce Plotkin for the photos that make me cry every time I look at them, and extra special thank you to my Mother – this wedding would not have been nearly as amazing without you. Cheers! #YouHadMeAtSam”

Congratulations Sam and Sam, and special thanks, once again, to the lovely Judy Tallerman and April Tiberio of The Senate Garage, for your graciousness in so warmly welcoming us into your totally cool “new” venue. Hope to be back soon!