Milwaukee natives Samantha Sosey and Michael Brickman met in the summer of 2010 and quickly bonded over a mutual love of water skiing, politics, and like many Wisconsinites, the Green Bay Packers. Career opportunities meant long-distance dating for the pair, but not wanting to be apart any longer, they both moved to Washington, D.C., in 2013. Two years later, Michael asked Samantha to marry him during a canoe trip, surprising her with a candlelit proposal under the stars. In designing their big day, Samantha and Michael worked with Samantha’s sister, a professional event planner, to honor each of their religions in an interfaith ceremony and incorporate fun details personal to the couple, as well as a nautical theme. “Our favorite moment was taking bride-and-groom portraits immediately after the ceremony,” says Samantha. “We were overjoyed, and it provided us some time away from everyone to just enjoy each other.” Their second-favorite moment was a lot less private. “We will never forget being literally surrounded by so much love at the end of the night, everyone arm-in-arm singing ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ before we made our honeymoon getaway.”
