While Sarah Hancock and Matthew Conaghan met by chance in Santa Monica, their closest circle brought them together. “I actually met Sarah’s brother, Charles, who immediately bragged about his sisters, saying we all needed to hang,” says Mattie. Shortly after, Sarah met many of Mattie’s college friends while visiting her cousin in Chicago and was told she should connect with her neighbor. On July 25, 2023, they passed each other on the sidewalk while walking to get coffee, and she recognized him from a photo on Instagram. “It was serendipitous that we then ran into each other,” Sarah recalls. “I stopped him on the street asking, ‘Are you Mattie? I’ve heard we’re supposed to meet!’”
The two exchanged numbers and eventually spent time together when Sarah’s brother organized a day of padel by the beach. “It was like I’d known him my whole life,” she remembers. “With our quick banter and goofy sense of humor, along with his sincerity, genuine demeanor, and magnetism, I had written down after that night that I didn’t know at what capacity Mattie would be in my life, but I knew he would be in my life forever.” The two started off as good friends. “At some point, I wanted to set her up with my friend, and she tried to do the same for me,” says Mattie. “‘She’s the total package,’ I’d say. ‘Smart, funny, beautiful. You’d be a fool not to date her.’” He adds, “Turns out I was that fool, until I finally got the courage to make a move. We shared a kiss on her front stoop, and I asked her on a proper date. The rest is history.”
While Sarah admits Mattie’s proposal wasn’t a huge surprise, “it was one of the most magical weekends of my life,” she says. In 2025, he booked them an Easter getaway trip to San Ysidro Ranch to celebrate moving in together. After a first night of wine tasting, Sarah woke up to find Mattie wide awake. “Odd, since I was typically the earlier riser,” she shares. “‘Let’s go get coffee and walk around the hotel,’ Mattie initiates. Mattie, who runs hot, grabs his large peacoat on a 70-degree day. Also odd.” The two walked to a beautiful vista, where Mattie pulled out a matchbox from Cobi’s, one of their favorite restaurants. “He said, ‘This is from the night we said we love each other,’” remembers Sarah. “Then, he took out another matchbox from Manuela’s, a restaurant we’d never been to together. And before I could ask why, he said, ‘And this is where I asked for your parents’ blessing.’” Mattie got down on one knee and asked Sarah to marry him. “Even with my suspicions, I was taken aback by the wave of emotions that overtook me—crying and laughing after I said yes,” she shares.
The couple decided to bring their friends and family back to Santa Barbara a year later for their wedding on May 2, 2026. “The wedding was hosted at the house my great-grandmother built in the 1950s,” shares Sarah. Hoping to craft a celebration that balanced “timeless California sophistication with a coastal sensibility,” the two brought on Jolene Peterson and Mariah Burke of Laurel & Rose to plan the wedding weekend. “Jolene and Mariah are first and foremost wonderful people who make the planning process personal rather than strictly transactional. It didn’t feel as if I was just another one of their brides,” remarks Sarah. With a background in hospitality, the bride also saw that as a key component of the wedding production. “On my first call with Jolene and Mariah, I was clear about what mattered most to me: I didn’t want anyone hunting for a drink, wondering where the hors d’oeuvres were, or searching for a server,” she says. “And naturally, the food had to be delicious.”
