Jackie Sampson and Connor Finley had a whirlwind romance. They met at Connor’s sister’s rehearsal dinner on Nantucket; and though it was a chance meeting for them, others saw it coming. “Much to our surprise, at the reception the following day, we had been seated next to each other, and we realized our introduction had been totally orchestrated behind the scenes,” Jackie says. Regardless, it was love at first sight, and Connor thought so, too. “At the time, Connor was living in Dallas, and I was living in Boston. But he ended up canceling his return flight and stayed at his family’s home on Nantucket for the remainder of the summer.” Just six months later, he proposed.
“A couple of days after Christmas, Jackie and I flew to Dallas to celebrate New Year’s,” Connor says. “I knew Jackie might have hoped for a proposal over Christmas, but once we boarded the plane, I think she had convinced herself it wasn’t going to happen.” He told Jackie they were going to a New Year’s Eve party at Mansion on Turtle Creek, one of their favorite date night spots, and even had friends text her saying how excited they were for the party. “When we arrived at the Mansion, I had the concierge greet us and play up the enormity of the tented party in the back lawn,” Connor says. “She escorted us through the hotel, but instead of continuing straight down the garden path to the lawn, we took a sharp turn into the courtyard, an intimate grassy garden walled in by magnolia bushes, where I had the whole proposal scene already set up with a photographer. Jackie was shocked, and confused at first, but completely taken by surprise. I knelt down on one knee, proposed, and she said yes.”
Instead of enlisting a wedding planner, Jackie turned to her mother. Together, the two run an interior design firm, Audrey Interiors. “My mom is an incredibly talented interior designer, and she and I had so much fun designing everything ourselves, from the flowers to the invitations to even my custom veil,” Jackie says. The pair enlisted Over The Moon The List Photographer Collins Nai to capture every moment.
The venue was a close-to-home choice, too: Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. “We are very blessed to have had our wedding at the most special place not only to me, but also generations of family and our dearest family friends.”
It would be a classic, timeless affair—and Jackie wanted attire that matched the vibe. “I wanted to wear something timeless I could pass down to my own daughter one day,” she says. She worked with a dressmaker in Florida to craft a perfectly tailored dress with a bateau neck and A-line skirt. Her accessories added meaning. “I carried a custom clutch that had the verse in Latin from the opening scene in The Sound of Music that translates to, ‘As it was in the beginning, now and always, and forever and ever,’” Jackie says. “The back of the clutch has a verse embroidered from the song ‘Climb Every Mountain,’ which is the ending of the movie. My grandfather, who has passed, used to sing ‘Edelweiss’ all the time. He was known for his incredible style, so my clutch was a nod to him.” A slicked bun and natural glam from Anna Sullivan Hair and Eric Vosburg, plus a custom veil by Katie Fong, completed her look.
On August 19, 2023, Jackie and Connor said, “I do,” in a Catholic ceremony at Sacred Heart in Manchester-by-the-Sea. “I grew up near the beautiful St. Benedict Abbey in Still River, Massachusetts, and we were so lucky to have Father Peter and Brother Joachim, who is a monk and my confidant, marry us,” Jackie says.
She worked closely with the music director to personalize the soundtrack. “My favorite part of wedding planning was all of the trips I made to the church to put together the list of hymns for the ceremony with Eric, the music director and organist at Sacred Heart Parish,” Jackie says. “When Eric and I first met, I told him how much I adored the movie The Sound of Music, and I think I am the luckiest bride in the entire world because he put together a whole choir to sing ‘Processional and Maria.’ The ceremony was overwhelmingly surreal, peaceful, and holy.”
After a beautifully serene ceremony, it was time to turn things up. “The reception was an absolute blast,” Jackie says. It started with cocktail hour, where Champagne flowed alongside a raw bar. “Of course, we brought out the ‘lighthouse,’ which is our family’s favorite tradition,” Jackie shares. “The recipe for the cocktail remains a secret, but it’s infamously served out of a trophy that Myopia Polo won in a polo bet.” The space was bedecked in understated florals by Chapman’s, and a surf-and-turf dinner was served. “We had the most delicious wedding cake with vanilla and buttercream frosting from Montilio’s,” Jackie says. “Fun fact: They also made Jackie Onassis’s wedding cake.”
Brass Force performed Van Morrison’s “Someone Like You” for the newlyweds’ first dance, and guests lit cigars from custom matchbooks to enjoy after dinner. It was a whirlwind day, just like their relationship has been all along—and for Jackie, the best part came down to one thing: “Looking at Connor,” she says, “and realizing he was my husband!”
