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Nelson & Perry BY CA ILEY CETAN I PHOTOGRAP HY BY LYT L E F OTO, LYT L E FOTO.COM
S
am Perry and Dave Nelson met at City Kitchen two weeks after she moved from
Maui, Hawaii, to Chapel Hill. They bonded over pictures of fish Dave caught in Beaufort, North Carolina, and sunsets from Sam’s time in Maui, and the rest was history. In 2019, Sam and Dave went on a family trip out west and booked a hotel with a perfect view of Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. The couple were in their room overlooking the geyser when Dave got down on one knee and proposed, asking if he could be her “Old Faithful.” The ceremony was initially set for April 4, 2020, but it was canceled due to the pandemic. Eventually, with some strings pulled by their planner and photographer, they were able to secure the venue Sam wanted, the Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center in Beaufort, on Dec. 16, 2020. “Saying my vows in my dream venue in a very intimate ceremony was incredible, but finding out that I was going to be married there after all the disappointment leading up to it was something I will never forget,” Sam says. “I have never felt that much gratitude, love and happiness at once.” The couple (and their Yorkies Lucy and Lilly) now splits their time between Beaufort and Chapel Hill. Sam is the campaign manager for World Thrombosis Day, the advocacy campaign for the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, and Dave is the project manager at Triclean. CHM 136
chapelhillmagazine.com
July/August 2022