- TikTokers Sam and Monica got married at an intimate ceremony in February.
- The ceremony was attended by just 10 people and their priest's dog-walking group.
- The bride was greeted by golden retrievers after the wedding.
Social-media influencers Sam Patterson and Monica Gartner were dating for six years across two continents before they tied the knot on February 22.
Sam, who is from Cheshire in the UK, and Monica, who is from Long Island in New York, met through a mutual friend in 2015. They started their joint YouTube channel in 2017 to document their long-distance relationship and to inspire other couples facing long distance. The channel, which currently has more than 670,000 followers, was followed up with a TikTok account in 2020, which has more than 2 million followers at the time of writing.
After getting engaged in 2019, the couple were supposed to get married in 2021, but had to cancel due to the pandemic, the couple previously said in a YouTube video. They were finally able to get married last month, in a ceremony that had just 10 guests and several golden retrievers. The couple spoke to Insider about their special day.
The bride wore a $250 dress from Bloomingdale's and the ceremony was watched by her priest's dog-walking group
Sam and Monica had their wedding at a gazebo in a public park located in Monica's hometown, Northport. Monica didn't walk down an aisle, but was instead driven to the gazebo with her parents, where Sam and their guests were waiting.
They told Insider that it was just a formality for Sam's visa — as his permanent residence had previously been in the UK — and that they'll have another ceremony in July for their friends and family. His dad, who is based in the UK, was the only family member able to attend their February ceremony in-person. His other family members watched the ceremony over video calls.
Sam told Insider that they had originally planned to get married "in jeans and t-shirts" before deciding to dress up for the intimate ceremony. Sam purchased a suit from Macy's while Monica opted for a $250 dress that was on sale from Bloomingdale's.
The dress had spaghetti straps and flares at the hem. Monica said she didn't consider it to be her real wedding dress, as she already had a dress picked out for the July ceremony. She completed the look with hoop earrings, a white shawl, white heels, and wore her hair in natural waves.
"My dream has always been to walk down the aisle and for him to see me for the first time," Monica told Insider. "It's in all the romantic movies. So I didn't want to wear a wedding dress."
She added that "the best part of the day" was immediately after the ceremony, where she met up with her priest's dog-walking group, who had watched the ceremony from a distance.
"The priest knew that Monica is the biggest dog lover. And he has a dog, and is part of a dog-walking group with people that have a bunch of golden retrievers," Sam told Insider. "He said to them, 'Hey, can you come and make Monica's day and watch the ceremony?'"
After the ceremony, the couple paid tribute to their former long-distance relationship by going to dinner at a local Japanese restaurant, where Sam had shown up and surprised Monica five years ago in a YouTube video.
"As an ode to the long-distance part of our relationship, we went back there as our first meal after the wedding and we took the whole family there," Sam said. "It was very fun, wasn't it? It was very non-traditional."
You can watch the full ceremony on Sam and Monica's YouTube channel.