{"id":371816,"date":"2026-10-13T09:54:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T09:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/371816\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T09:54:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T09:54:24","slug":"they-met-at-a-new-york-financial-services-firm-and-fell-in-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/371816\/","title":{"rendered":"They met at a New York financial services firm and fell in love"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the office that spring, co-workers from a different department stopped by to chat with Mariah and her team. Charlie Hammel, then 28, recognized Mariah from their Zoom meeting. Though get-to-know you calls like theirs happened at the company all the time, \u201cI remember hers sticking out because I had a great time talking to her,\u201d Charlie says. And, \u201cI thought she was really cute.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mariah, after making dozens of such calls, didn\u2019t remember Charlie, and re-introduced herself. \u201cTurns out, she had no idea who I was,\u201d says Charlie, who laughed it off. But Mariah \u201cwas mortified,\u201d she says\u2009\u2014\u2009and sent Charlie a message that same day: I\u2019m so sorry. I\u2019d love to make it up to you and take you to coffee.<\/p>\n

At a nearby cafe, they struck up an easy conversation. They met a second time, then a third. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we really talked about work, but it was a professional vibe,\u201d says Charlie, who was raised in Watchung, New Jersey, and played lacrosse at Drew University. \u201cWe were learning more about each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Mariah, the budding friendship was just what she needed. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so thoughtful,\u201d she says. He remembered things about her that had nothing to do with work, she says, taking an interest in her crafting. \u201cHe genuinely seemed to care.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"MariahMariah woke up stressed about the weather \u2014 rain and heavy winds forced the ceremony to move inside, and the late May temperatures hovered around 40 degrees. Then she remembered advice from a friend \u2014 “Whatever energy you put out as the bride and groom is what your guests are going to give you back” \u2014 so \u201cI decided to roll with it,\u201d she says. Nicole Baas Photography<\/p>\n

Charlie knew he was interested in her when he started to get nervous for their meet-ups. \u201cShe\u2019s bubbly, she\u2019s smart, she\u2019s super-quirky in the best way,\u201d he says. \u201cShe makes me laugh all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In June of 2022, he asked her for drinks. While it was clear there was a spark, he says, \u201cBecause of the whole work thing, I was never going to be the one to cross that line\u201d and make the first move.<\/p>\n

Mariah, however, had no such reservations. Getting into an Uber after their second drinks date, \u201cShe just looks at me and says, \u2018Are you going to kiss me or what?\u2019\u201d Charlie recounts. <\/p>\n

\"ItIt was important to Mariah to have all of the friends who helped support her in her move to New York be part of her bridal party. She had 11 bridesmaids, including her two sisters. Nicole Baas Photography<\/p>\n

The next month, the couple made their dating official, reporting it to their managers to comply with company policy.<\/p>\n

Mariah, who says there would still be times alone in her apartment when she\u2019d be \u201ca puddle on the floor,\u201d began to find her footing in the city. She leaned on her girlfriends for support, and started a weekly club where they\u2019d share wine, needlepoint, and conversation. \u201cIt makes a big city feel a little bit smaller when you start to find your people and your places that make it a community,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\"ANeedlepoint is a very big deal in the Ward family. So much so that Mariah\u2019s grandparents spend months creating a special gift for the husband-to-be each time a granddaughter gets engaged: a hand-crafted, leather-and-needlepoint belt bearing the new family member\u2019s initials, presented to him in front of the entire family at Christmas. \u201cIt is a huge honor. I’ve never felt so special,\u201d Charlie says.photographs by Nicole Baas Photography<\/p>\n

She credits Charlie for playing the largest role. <\/p>\n

\u201cCharlie totally changed my New York experience,\u201d she says. \u201cHe made it feel like home.\u201d<\/p>\n

She taught Charlie how to needlepoint, as her grandmother had shown her when she was 6. \u201cHe was just so game to try the things that I loved,\u201d she says. He went on the Ward family vacation that summer, to Nantucket, and stayed up late with her two younger sisters eating popcorn and gaming the brides\u2019 gown picks on Say Yes to the Dress long after Mariah, who likes to be asleep by 9 p.m., had gone to bed. <\/p>\n

\u201cVery early on, I felt like this could be my person,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Says Charlie: \u201cWe love just spending time together. If you give us a movie and a bottle of wine, we\u2019ll have a great time.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"CharlieCharlie had five groomsmen, a combination of friends from different points in his life, from kindergarten to college.Nicole Baas Photography<\/p>\n

They took walks in nearby Central Park, and at night she worked on crafts\u2009while Charlie did Legos. A favorite date night is a stop at a needlepoint shop in the West Village, then dinner across the street at L\u2019Artusi, the same restaurant where Mariah spent that tear-filled night with her mom. (Mariah is knitting a hat for their favorite waitress\u2019s new baby.)<\/p>\n

The couple moved in together in February 2024, to a one-bedroom apartment in the building where Mariah already lived. After \u201cnegotiations,\u201d Mariah says, Charlie got to bring five Lego sets\u2009\u2014\u2009including a Ferrari F1 and a Star Wars Attack Cruiser\u2009\u2014\u2009putting his 100-plus other sets into storage. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe couple chose to deliver their vows to each other privately, on a boat in Newport Harbor the day before their wedding. \u201cIt was just nice to have that alone time carved out of what was otherwise like a very busy, love filled weekend,\u201d says Mariah. Nicole Baas Photography<\/p>\n

On October 19, 2024, on a walk around Beacon Hill, where Mariah had lived before she moved to New York, Charlie proposed.<\/p>\n

They zeroed in on Newport, Rhode Island, where Mariah had participated in an Irish step-dancing festival each year as a child, for their May 30, 2026, wedding, selecting waterfront event space The Bohlin for their ceremony and reception. <\/p>\n

Both say it was important to carve out time alone. The day before their wedding, they exchanged private vows on a boat in Newport Harbor. Mariah told Charlie she was 100 percent confident in marrying him, \u201cbecause of who you are as a person and who you are as a partner to me.\u201d Charlie said Mariah \u201cbrings out the best in me; she makes me a better person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MariahMariah planned special visits home to take dance lessons with her dad for their father-daughter dance. Their song was \u201cIsn’t She Lovely\u201d by Stevie Wonder. Nicole Baas Photography<\/p>\n

The next day, the couple and their 16-member bridal party took photos at The Elms, a Gilded Age mansion in Newport, before an early-evening ceremony at The Bohlin in front of 150 people. Mariah\u2019s childhood baby sitter, who the bride considers to be like an older sister, officiated, under a cloud of flowers suspended from the ceiling. Her aunt read an Irish blessing.<\/p>\n

A band played for the ceremony and reception. The newly married couple walked down the aisle to Ray Charles\u2019s \u201cHallelujah I Love Her So,\u201d a favorite of the jazz-loving bride. The bride\u2019s sisters, and Charlie\u2019s younger brother, toasted them. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe couple choose \u201cCan’t Take My Eyes Off You,\u201d by Frankie Valli, for their first dance. South Shore-based Buds Floral Design created a lush canopy of flowers suspended from the ceiling. The couple and their guests were awed by the \u201cflower cloud.\u201d Nicole Baas Photography<\/p>\n

Mariah\u2009\u2014\u2009with Charlie\u2019s help\u2009\u2014\u2009crafted much of the decor: the table numbers, ring bearer pillow, raw bar banner, and the \u201cbride\u201d and \u201cgroom\u201d signs affixed to their chairs were all needlepointed.<\/p>\n

In the future, the couple plans to move to Massachusetts\u2009\u2014\u2009\u201cI can\u2019t wait to come home,\u201d Mariah says\u2009\u2014\u2009and to start a family. She hopes to one day repurpose those table markers, borrowing an idea from social media: Each number, and an accompanying photo, will announce how many months old their baby is, in updates posted online. <\/p>\n

\"MariahMariah and Charlie plan to move to Massachusetts one day. Nicole Baas Photography<\/p>\n

Read more from The Big Day,<\/a> The Boston Globe\u2019s weddings column. Recently married or engaged? Apply to have your wedding featured.<\/a><\/p>\n

Carrie Simonelli is a multiplatform editor at The Boston Globe. Reach her at carrie.simonelli@globe.com<\/a> or on Instagram: @csimonelliedits<\/a>. <\/p>\n