“Tonight I met the woman I am going to marry. Her name is Savanna McNeill,” wrote Don Jabro on a Storybook Ball name tag following the couple’s first date. He packed it away and shared it with Savanna for the first time at their wedding reception.

“I felt she was one of the most genuine people I had met,” Don recalled, “It seemed as if our personalities were instantly aligned.” Added Savanna: “Not long after dating him I knew he was the one.”

In April 2005, Don decided to make his feelings official. He surprised Savanna with a scavenger hunt-style day of relaxation turn proposal—she was led from the salon to her favorite shops and then to a Boston hotel. Don arrived and took her to dinner; meanwhile hotel staff filled the room with candles and rose petals. When it came time for dessert, Don led Savanna to their suite and presented her with a cake that read “Say Yes!” as he proposed.

Wanting to give their 170 guests, many who were out-of-towners, a quintessential Boston experience, they selected the Cathedral of the Holy Cross for the Catholic ceremony and the Boston Public Library for the reception. For the ceremony, Savanna wore her late paternal grandmother’s wedding dress from 1932. “My dad had found it in a trunk in the attic a few years ago and it fit perfectly,” recalled Savanna, “My Nana was a very special person to me. I think she would have been tickled that I wore it.” Savanna changed into a Monique Lhuillier skirt and a top handmade by her mother out of her aunt’s wedding dress for the reception.

Following the ceremony, guests were taken via trolley to the courtyard for cocktail hour—including hors d’oeuvres and a traditional New England raw bar. Dinner was in a second floor reading room where each table was named after a historical place or event in Boston’s history. Desserts and dancing followed in another room decorated in a lounge theme.

Planning for a non-typical reception location was challenging, but the couple said their event planner helped create a day that embodied their personalities. An English major in college, Savanna wanted to weave her love of books into the day. In lieu, the couple gave hardcover books with nameplates as gifts to those in the wedding party and used bookmarks as place cards at the reception.

A few days later, the couple was off on a 12-day honeymoon to Italy. “I still get overwhelmed thinking about it,” said Savanna. “It was a nice way to start our life together.” Added Don, “The day was simply making something formal that I felt was really right. She truly is my best friend and partner.”

Written by April Miller