Two-and-a-half years after matching on Hinge, Patrick Swearingen proposed to comedian Shannon Fiedler on the beach in Rhode Island. “Two days before my 30th birthday, Pat—with the help of my parents and neighbors—set up a beautiful sunset beach picnic, complete with our favorite lobster rolls—shout out Monahan’s—a bottle of wine from a local vineyard, fairy lights, and beach chairs with our monograms,” Shannon shares. “As soon as Pat got on one knee, I said yes before he even got a chance to ask me to marry him.”

Once engaged, the two knew they wanted to get married by the ocean in Rhode Island, and Newport presented itself as a key option. When they saw OceanCliff, Shannon and Patrick agreed it was their wedding venue. “We loved the beauty of both the grounds and the space itself—it was important to me to be happy with a rain plan if need be,” the bride explains.

For her outdoor summer wedding, Shannon wore Justin Alexander’s Estelle dress down the aisle. “I tried on a bunch of styles and liked so many of them, but the Estelle was so classic. The material—mikado—felt elegant,” she shares. “When I tried the dress on, my mom and I immediately cried, and we knew.”

To get ready on the day-of, the bride’s mom made a beautiful robe out of her own wedding dress. “It was SO meaningful to get to wear that the morning of my wedding,” Shannon gushes. And makeup artist Rosie Manousos and hair stylist Amy Jo Richards perfected the bride’s beauty look.

The bride’s jewelry acted as her “something borrowed.” Shannon put on her friend’s sapphire and diamond bracelet and her maid of honor’s sapphire and diamond earrings, also her “something blue.” “For my something old, I had charms that belonged to both of my grandmothers, neither of whom are still with us, sewn into my bouquet, and the wrap around the bouquet was made out of my mom’s wedding dress,” the bride says.

Bridesmaids complemented Shannon in Dessy dresses in light and dark blues. Two junior bridesmaids also wore coastal toile looks that tied the group together. Shannon adds, “I wanted a bright, vibrant wedding, and these dresses did exactly that.”

For the after-party, Shannon changed into a bedazzled Retrofête minidress and styled a giant hair bow, made out of fabric from her wedding dress, in her curled tresses.

Patrick looked handsome in a custom tuxedo from Suitsupply with a monogrammed pocket square—which he also gave out as groomsmen gifts—and Del Toro shoes.

On August 5, 2023, a bridesmaid and groomsman co-officiated the heartfelt ceremony under bright floral arch by Flowerthyme. “Shannon was adamant about no first look,” Patrick reveals. “I knew it meant I would cry in front of everyone, but obviously for an amazing reason. The months of mental preparation resulted in only a couple tears, but it was definitely the right choice, as it’s a moment I’ll never forget!”

The couple’s mothers, who are both writers, penned words of wisdom and read them aloud. “It was equal parts funny and heartwarming and totally personal,” Shannon recalls. The two also performed the Irish Ring Warming Ceremony, where they passed their bands around and asked everyone to say a blessing over them. During this part of the service, a bridesmaid beautifully sang “My Wish” with a piano accompaniment. Then, Shannon and Patrick exchanged vows, shared a first kiss, and got ready to party with their loved ones.

“The reception was FUN. That was the most important thing to me—that people had a blast,” Shannon shares. Guests signed their well wishes on a surfboard that will hang in the newlyweds’ home and received illustrations of themselves by Brush + Bouquet.

The newlyweds had their first dance to “Fly Me to the Moon”—Patrick shares a birthday with Old Blue Eyes, and Shannon’s Italian family has always loved Sinatra. “It felt right to have his singing welcome us into married life,” the groom shares. “It’s definitely not the easiest song to dance to, but it made for a fun challenge that forced us to practice plenty leading up to the big moment.”

The father-daughter dance was a highlight of the evening. “My dad and I did a more traditional father-daughter dance to ‘Father And Daughter’ by Paul Simon, but ended it by replicating a dance from The Goofy Movie—’I2I’ by Powerline for any Disney fans—which was so high energy, silly, and meaningful,” Shannon shares. “We watched that movie all the time when I was growing up; and while I am a trained dancer, my dad definitely had to go out of his comfort zone, which meant so much to me that he did it.”

The dance floor, with music from Sounds Buono, was full for a whopping four hours, until “New York, New York” capped off the night. Once the reception came to a formal close, the pair admits they “passed out!” Shannon concludes, “We extended our reception instead of doing an after-party, and by the time midnight rolled around, we were all exhausted.”