REAL-WEDDINGS

Real Columbus Wedding: Sarah and Jonathan Whiston Prove Chance Meetings are Meant to Be

Sarah and Jonathan thought they were enjoying a typical night out with friends at a bar. Once they laid eyes on one another, things changed.

Columbus Monthly

Jonathan endearingly holds his new bride

Who: Sarah and Jonathan Whiston

When: June 18, 2022

The story: Sarah and Jonathan met in July 2017 when Sarah was living in Boston. Jonathan was visiting friends he met while studying abroad at Ohio State University. “It was a typical night out for my best friend and I, having drinks at a local pub in our neighborhood,” Sarah says. “I remember going up [to the bar] to order a glass of wine and locked eyes with Jonathan, who was at the other end of the bar.” After some time passed, Jonathan made his way down to where Sarah was seated, striking up a conversation with her about how her night was going, asking her where she was from. “All the basic, ‘get to know you’ questions,” Sarah adds. His friend ended up living directly across the street from where Sarah resided. “We thought it was such a crazy coincidence given the size of the city,” Sarah says. After Jonathan returned to Columbus, the two stayed in touch, texting and calling.

“The biggest coincidence came about two weeks after we met,” Sarah comments. “I received an email from my manager at the time asking if I could attend a recruiting event. I typically only traveled in the New England areas. I scrolled down to the bottom of the email to see where it was, and it was in Columbus, Ohio. The stars seemed to align, and it was history from there.”

The proposal: Sarah mentions she always knew Jonathan would propose “on his terms and in his own way,” which is something she loves most about him. On a random Friday afternoon, Jonathan told Sarah to “pack a bag for any weather possible.” “I could have gone to the Caribbean or to a ski mountain with everything I packed,” Sarah says. The two drove South, ending up at “an adorable bed and breakfast in Louisville,” heading to dinner that same night. The next morning, they woke up early to tour Churchill Downs. “Having grown up on a thoroughbred horse farm, Jonathan knew how special this would be for me,” Sarah remarks. They went on a private tour, which Sarah claims she “didn’t think anything of it because it was only 8:30 a.m. and no one gets engaged in the morning!” They got engaged in the morning. As the tour guide asked to take their photo, Jonathan went into his “Will you marry me?” speech, and that was that.

“It was such a special, private moment that I’ll never forget,” Sarah recalls. Shortly after the engagement, the two went on another tour of the Louisville Slugger museum, making a custom bat that read, “She said yes” with the date of their engagement.

The wedding: With a vision of wanting their wedding to feel like “a fancy backyard party” with guests “relaxing and enjoying themselves,” the couple wed at the Timbrook Guesthouse, Jonathan’s parents’ bed and breakfast tucked away near Antrim Park in Columbus. “We spend every Sunday night there for family dinner, and with the beauty of the grounds, we knew this was where it had to be,” Sarah says of their wedding day.

They incorporated many special touches throughout the big day, including using the original cake topper that Sarah’s grandparents used at their wedding in the early 1950s. Jonathan’s grandpa is an avid woodworker, and was able to build “two beautiful pieces for the wedding.” The first was a “gorgeous wooden shelf” that displayed all of the glasses during the reception. The second was the couple’s cake stand, which held the wedding cake and rows of dessert macarons. “They are pieces we will treasure forever,” Sarah states of the woodworked pieces.

The two spent their honeymoon roadtripping throughout Europe, exploring Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia.