In case you're new here, Colleen and Sam became best friends in high school. Sam was introduced to Colleen's family and it wasn't long before she would start joining them on their family's annual trip to Cape Cod. This is when Brian and Sam started forming a friendship that was built over many, many summers. Fast forward to November 2020: Brian asks Sam out and they go out on their first date, despite the world being in the middle of a pandemic. Soon after their first date, there was a second date, and then a third. The sparks were there, but the timing was still off. It was not long until Sam went off and moved to New York while Brian stayed in Massachusetts. Months passed before the pair re-connected, but this time it was under different circumstances. In case you have never made the trip before; the drive from Merrimack, NH to Ithaca, NY is about 350 miles and roughly 6 hours long. It was on one of her many trips home when Brian convinced Sam to stop and have dinner at his place on her way back to NH. On that very night, Brian promised Sam he would come visit her in Ithaca and together they planned a weekend trip for June 2021. That weekend trip ended up happening, and turned out to be the first of many trips Brian would make to go visit Sam. Finally, the timing was right; but the distance was very long. Although the couple would take turns making the long drive to see each other, Brian's remote job made it easier for him to make the trip more frequently (and stay longer). Experts estimate that Brian spent over 200 hours, and put over 10,000 miles on his car driving over the two year period the couple spent living long distance. If you asked them today, Brian and Sam would do it all over again. Being in a long distance relationship taught them how special quality time spent together is, how to communicate better with each other, and most importantly, what it means to love someone so deeply that you can't physically bear to be away from them. The timing is finally right for Brian and Sam. September 12th, 2026 will be the perfect time for you to join them to celebrate their love for each other!

It's hard to say when they first exactly met... Brian would go down the Cape every year as part of the annual Conley Cape Cod trip. Sam started going on the same trip with Colleen once they became best friends at the end of high school. They definitely became friends at some point throughout these trips, and would eventually run into each other at various Conley functions for the next several years (and every single summer in West Chicken Yarm). The timing was never right; though some might say the feelings were definitely there pretty early on. One year, they eventually stayed up together on the porch of the "Party House" a little too late. Despite Brian having a questionable man-bun and a severe sun-burn at the time, Sam started to like him; and Brian started to like her. They thought the timing was right in November 2020, when they went on their first official dates in Merrimack, NH. Despite having to battle a pandemic, some rare printer issues and living in two different states, they started to fall for each other. Sam started to understand "printing." Brian started to make nut-free Chex Mix. Everything seemed perfect. That is until the timing proved to be still not quite right, and Sam had to move away to Ithaca, NY. Things then started to fade between them while living so far apart. Brian was still working in Massachusetts and Sam wasn't really impressed with his text message response time from the long distance. Luckily, the "Quick Pickers" started airing around this time, so Sam was still able to keep up with Brian's looks and happenings, despite the lack of text messages coming back her way. When things seemed at their end, Brian took a long shot in inviting Sam over for dinner during one of her 6-7 hour drives back from Ithaca in the late spring of 2021. After not thinking it would happen at first, Sam did end up going to Mendon that night. And the rest... You could say is history. From the multiple-hour long political conversation at the kitchen table with Brian's parents on that very night, to the trip to Ithaca that Brian would take to visit Sam in June 2021; to Sam visiting Brian and meeting his friends on his birthday that year in Worcester; and to the Cape Cod trip in August 2021 where Sam stayed at the "Quiet House" with Brian instead of the "Party House" with Colleen for the first time ever... As the legendary Kiplan Dynamite once said, "I guess you could say things were getting pretty serious." That year down the Cape in August 2021, under the full moon on the jetti of Seagull Beach... Brian and Sam made it official. Or maybe it was on the back porch of 45 Salt Marsh, while they romantically watched the beautiful moon shine over the ocean, not knowing Brian's dad was quietly watching them. Or maybe it was when Brian drove Sam back to Mendon after the Cape trip that year and realized he couldn't be without her again. B & S were together; and they were happy to take on the challenge of the long distance relationship, knowing what they had was too perfect for any distance to come between. And they were right. Brian would visit Sam in Ithaca for weeks at a time, and became part of the small family that Sam was building out there and keeping them going. Ithaca became so special to them, that they actually got engaged under the water falls in the beautiful New York town in October 2024 (despite living together in Weymouth, MA at the time). And now they're getting married. And YOU are invited! Isn't that pretty cool?