Words by Ashley Breeding

When Megan “Meg” Gallagher met Tom Smith online in 2022, little did she know she was actually being wooed by his 13-year-old niece. It was around Thanksgiving, and both Meg and Tom were on holiday with their families. “You see, my niece, Magnolia, helped me craft all my responses,” Tom admits. Meg adds with a smirk, “Well, it worked—she was good.”

When they returned to the East Coast—Meg lives in Wilmington, and Tom, a Delaware native who graduated from Wilmington Friends School, resided in New Jersey—they enjoyed a first date at The Quoin Restaurant downtown, where they discovered their many mutual contacts and interests. They quickly bonded over their passion for travel and the outdoors, as well as an affinity for spending time with family and friends.

“When we left, the valet told me I was going to marry her,” Tom says. By their third date a couple of weeks later, Tom hoped the valet was right.

On their first date, Meg had shared her love of Broadway musicals. “Immediately after our first date, Tom called to ask if I was free to see ‘Tina—The [Tina Turner] Musical.’ …I loved the spontaneity—and I was pretty sure it wasn’t how he typically spent a Friday night,” Meg says.

In the words of one of Turner’s famous songs, it was “gonna work out fine,” they both knew. Things quickly progressed, and by spring Tom had plans to propose. Since Greenville Country Club (GCC) was a special place for Meg, Tom arranged a dinner there with friends—or so he told her. Arriving early, he insisted on a walk to the pool, thinking there was a scenic pond nearby where he could pop the question. But his memory of the club’s property was hazy—the two bodies of water aren’t adjacent—and he had to improvise.

“He got so pale all of a sudden. …He was shaking… I thought he was about to get sick,” Meg recalls. She asked if he was OK. He bent down on one knee—right there on the asphalt path, no pond in sight—and presented a squarecut diamond ring. Starting to cry, Meg said yes— and then wanted to know if their friends were still meeting them for dinner. They weren’t, of course. But a table for two, beautifully set with a bottle of chilled prosecco, was.

The couple instantly knew they would exchange vows in the same place where they’d gotten engaged. “We wanted a big, colorful garden party where we could invite everyone who was important to us,” Meg says.

On April 20, 2024, they welcomed 204 guests to GCC’s clubhouse and garden, where Meg’s parents also had their wedding reception in 1978. The wedding party was intimate—Meg’s sister was the matron of honor, Tom’s brother the best man—but the couple made sure to include other loved ones in their day in a big way. Tom’s cousin officiated and Magnolia ushered. Nieces and nephews bore the flowers and rings.

The couple had enlisted the talents of three of Meg’s closest childhood friends from Ursuline Academy to tie everything together: Erica Razzi DiGiacomo, founder of Capiche Custom Events, brought the entire event to life. Artist Corinne Cowen Pomeroy (CCP Fine Art) designed invitations, menus, and other decorative accents using the vibrant color palette of a painting she had gifted Meg years earlier. Vocalist and calligrapher Lauren Gagliardi Kelley (Girl Holding a Pen) wrote the place cards for the rehearsal dinner and sang a slow rendition of “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” during Meg’s procession down the aisle.

We Are Wildflowers, of West Chester, arranged “the most magical” blooms in brilliant displays of sage, burnt orange, and cranberry, inspired by Pomeroy’s piece. “They were so beautiful, I burst into tears,” Meg recalls.

The bride stunned in a strapless ivory dress with unattached lantern sleeves; her “somethings borrowed and blue” were her mom’s pearl bracelet and her late grandmother’s ring, which her older sister had also worn at her wedding. She carried her flowers in a handkerchief Tom had given her that day. “It was embroidered with a Jewel quote—an inside joke,” Meg notes.

Adding to the sentiment, Tom, who sported Meg’s grandfather’s pocket watch, had also inscribed the inside of his wedding band with the initials of both their fathers.

The couple penned their own vows, which were read aloud by the officiant. As Tom listened to Meg’s, he noticed how similar her sentiments were to his own— her appreciation for his sense of adventure, the feeling of marrying her best friend, how he shows up for others, their shared obsession with music playlists.

Under the big white tent, the reception featured fine dining, free-flowing drinks, and energetic sounds from the 13-piece Sid Miller Dance Band. The newlyweds were introduced as “the Smiths” for the first time as the band played Turner’s “Simply the Best.”

Afterward, they had their first dance and then immediately pulled guests to the dance floor. “We wanted a party,” Meg says, noting the desire to get people moving before they sat down for dinner. Plush lounges created by Capiche offered guests a comfortable place to rest between songs.

To comply with the club’s 10 p.m. noise ordinance, the couple planned a seamless transition to the after-party—“We didn’t want anyone to feel like the party was over,” Tom notes. As Meg slid off her formal sleeves, Tom slipped on his “party jacket,” a loud paisley blazer he’d found at the Concord Mall (another inside joke with Meg).

The Smiths formed a conga line to “Jump in the Line” and danced their guests into the indoor library, where a DJ greeted them with “Murder on the Dance Floor,” strobe lights, glow necklaces, and party hats that entertained all for the remainder of the night. The couple and their guests also enjoyed a surprise rendition of Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It” performed by Aubrey Plaza, another childhood friend of Meg’s, during the after-party.