Designer Caroline Irvin and investor Samson Mesghena first met when they kept crossing paths at the gym—the Equinox in New York’s Flatiron neighborhood, to be exact. She had been out of college for a few years; he had recently graduated from business school. After months of seeing each other in passing, Samson finally made his move in December of 2019, when he walked over and introduced himself. “I was immediately charmed by his ease, his humor, and kindness,” Caroline remembers. A few weeks later, he called and asked her to meet him for a drink. She didn’t need convincing.
After dating for nearly five years, they got engaged on a Saturday in November of 2024. Samson told Caroline that they were going to the Gagosian Gallery to see a Peter Doig show she’d been wanting to visit. “He told me to get dressed as we would be having brunch afterwards,” she remembers. “It sounded like a perfect Saturday!”
But, heading west toward 10th Avenue, she realized they’d driven right past the gallery. “Before I could question our course, there they were: a captain and crew, crisp in their whites, standing at attention beside a sailboat moored on the Hudson,” Caroline recalls. They set off on an afternoon sail, complete with a picnic lunch. As they approached the harbor, with the Manhattan skyline behind them and the sun hitting the Statue of Liberty, Samson got down on one knee. That evening, they celebrated over dinner with both of their families.
Less than two years later, they were married in New York City—where they met, built their life together, and where both of their families are rooted. “There was never really a question of doing it anywhere else,” Caroline admits.
The planning process started almost immediately after the engagement. “From the beginning, I wanted the weekend to feel elegant and thoughtful, with a sense of understated glamour woven through every detail,” Caroline explains. Naturally, that began with the invitation suite. The couple worked with Fête’s in-house design team, looking to 19th-century calling cards for inspiration and pairing classic typography with Spencerian calligraphy by Mona McCormack. “Working with Jung Lee and her team at Fête was one of the best decisions we made,” Caroline says. “Jung understood the atmosphere we were hoping to create very early on and carried that vision through every part of the weekend with such creativity, calm, and grace.”
“While the vows themselves are serious, we always wanted the weekend to feel joyful and celebratory,” Samson says. Planning was bittersweet at times, as they had both lost a beloved parent: Samson’s father and Caroline’s mother. “More than anything, we kept returning to what the weekend was truly about: family, gratitude, and celebrating with the people we love most.”
The wedding weekend began with the rehearsal dinner at Le Bernardin, one of the couple’s favorite restaurants in the city. “The food is extraordinary, and it felt very meaningful to welcome our guests into a place we’ve loved and returned to over the years,” Caroline says. For the first evening, the bride chose an Oscar de la Renta column dress with an off-the-shoulder neckline covered in mother-of-pearl and crystal blossoms. She accessorized with a three-strand diamond rivière necklace and canary diamond drop earrings sourced by Lauren at Verstolo, as well as her mother’s engagement ring and emerald eternity wedding band. Steven Rice styled her hair in a soft side-swept wave, evoking the 1950s, while Natalie Livingston kept the makeup warm with sun-kissed skin and a smoky eye. “Steven and Natalie were such an important part of the weekend,” Caroline says. “And we had a wonderful creative rhythm together from beginning to end.”
