Bride: Natalie + Cary
Much like love, rowing is a team sport—and for Natalie Reynolds and Cary Wasserman, it’s also what brought them together. “We first met in 2017, but we did not start dating right away,” says Natalie, recalling the path that led to their relationship. “I was at the Under 23 National Team Selection Camp for rowing, and there was a trial for the men’s Under 23 National Team happening at the same location one week. Cary had brought one of his athletes to compete for a spot on the team, and after one of my practices, he came over and introduced himself to me. At the time, I remember wondering how he knew who I was, but he explained that we had a mutual friend in common who had told him to say hello to me. I think we only spoke for a couple of minutes and then went our separate ways. A few months later, I ended up joining the coaching staff at the same club where he was coaching. We became good friends and—after knowing each other for a while—he asked me out.”
After three years of dating, they began talking about marriage—but when the proposal actually came, Natalie couldn’t have been more surprised. “I had no idea that he had even picked out a ring yet or was seriously thinking about proposing,” she recalls. “I was interning for a judge in D.C. that summer, and he came to visit me for a weekend towards the end of June. He carried the ring around in his pocket all day Saturday, waiting for the right moment. Then, on Sunday morning, we got brunch and took a walk to the National Mall. We went to the front of the Supreme Court building, and he asked if he could take a picture of me. He started bending down and holding my phone as if he was going to take a picture. Instead, he pulled out the ring and proposed to me—right there, in front of the Supreme Court building, which he chose because of my passion for litigation. Cary had told a few of my best friends about the proposal, so they were waiting around the corner afterwards with champagne and cupcakes. We found a grassy area on the National Mall and drank champagne with them to celebrate.”
The celebratory mood reigned once again a little over a year later on November 5, 2022, when Natalie walked down the aisle at Bay Hills Orchard in Fairhope, wearing a white lace Monique Lhuillier gown to meet Cary at the altar. Changing course because of the rainy day, the ceremony didn’t follow the original plan—but what happened instead was all that the couple could have hoped for. “Blair and her team worked their magic and set up an incredible plan B on short notice,” Natalie says. “Instead of standing under a chuppah in a separate tent, we gathered in the main reception tent, which Julia had covered in floral arrangements. We were standing at the front, and all our guests were standing around us in a close circle. The ceremony turned out to be even better than what we had originally imagined because we could feel their presence around us as we said our vows. It felt like we were in a giant embrace with all the people that we loved and cared about who were there to support us. The ceremony was our favorite part of the wedding.”