Shelter Rock Church

Wedding Day

Wedding

The Fox Hollow

Reception

Our Wedding

If you want to just read about the proposal, scroll&nbsp;down the page past this story of how we first met.

So Rachel may remember&nbsp;it a little bit differently than what I'm about to tell y'all but this is a story all&nbsp;about how a Texan boy met the most beautiful New Yorker girl around.&nbsp;







It all started when I first noticed Rachel talking with her friends one day in medical school and I could not get over the fact of how beautiful she was. So I had to figure out if she was talking to anyone at the time. I told&nbsp;a couple of guys in my study group how pretty she was and wondered if they heard anything about her seeing anyone. None of my guys knew. All they could tell me was that she was a believer who&nbsp;is a part of many clubs and loves planning events for these clubs.&nbsp;Alright... so we are getting somewhere. Rachel is a believer in Christ and she is just so&nbsp;beautiful.&nbsp;I really&nbsp;needed to find a way to talk to her more. Well, Rachel&nbsp;decided to hold a dodgeball tournament fundraiser for one of the clubs right before board studying, to try and&nbsp;get the moral&nbsp;of the classmates&nbsp;up.&nbsp;This was my chance to get her to notice me! So, when it came time to sign up, I walked by the booth as many times as I could to try and see if Rachel was there. I didn't see her at the table in the beginning&nbsp;so I waited. Then as it came closer to the dodgeball event, I noticed her&nbsp;around the table!&nbsp;Perfect! So&nbsp;I went up to the table to sign the sheet and looked down and&nbsp;noticed that not&nbsp;many people signed&nbsp;up for the tournament. I tried my best&nbsp;to get as many people as I could to sign up for the event,&nbsp;just so that I could keep going up to the table with them to&nbsp;talk to Rachel. Everytime I went up to the booth, I&nbsp;talked to her but she wouldn't even look at me. I thought she just was not interested in me.&nbsp;But for those of you out there that know me,&nbsp;I never give up. I grew up with an older brother and even when&nbsp;he had me pinned to the ground, I would yell, "Give up bro! I got you right where I want you!" It's just not in my blood to give up!&nbsp;So I went to the tournament with the goal in mind to get Rachel's attention.&nbsp;As I was playing, I started to see a group gather around her and the&nbsp;makeshift&nbsp;bracket system she made up for the event. Apparently there was a mix-up between single elimination and double elimination. Perfect! This was my chance! I jumped in and asked Rachel if she needed any help fixing the bracket? She said, "Yes sir,&nbsp;please! I have so many other things to do!" She then&nbsp;ran off and left me&nbsp;and the mob of people to fix the bracket... Sir?! Really?! Do I look that old? Well, I ended up trying my best to fix the bracket for her and&nbsp;at&nbsp;the end of the night I went up to Rachel and her sister Bekah (she was visiting from New York)&nbsp;and told her how amazing this night had gone... but she was too busy to talk... so I ended up talking to Bekah for a bit and left. I thought that was it...&nbsp; and&nbsp;there was&nbsp;no chance.







Then came board studying. Yeah, the time every medical student dreads. The time when you just lock yourself in a room and study from 7am-9:30pm every day for about 3 months till your exam. In my case, I studied at the school. I had one place where I always studied and this was the&nbsp;third floor conference room. This was one of the most coveted places&nbsp;to study in the school since&nbsp;each room had amazing chairs and white boards and no windows which meant no distractions.&nbsp;The best thing was that&nbsp;there were only 3 of these rooms in the whole school!&nbsp;The perfect place to lock yourself in until the exam. Also the last place I would have ever thought to see&nbsp;Rachel.&nbsp;Rachel studied at home and didn't like studying at the school&nbsp;but for some reason when the board exam came around, she changed her mind.&nbsp; And guess where she decided to set up shop for 3 months? Yup! In the conference room right next to mine. This was my chance, but I had to be careful cause I also didn't want to distract her from her board studying.&nbsp;So every&nbsp;time I got&nbsp;up to use the restroom, I would peak into the room that Rachel and her friends were studying in&nbsp;and see if they were studying or just talking. Only on the times they were talking, I would go into the room and just see how everyone and Rachel were doing. You know, just trying to&nbsp;be a nice guy and making&nbsp;sure everyone is ok this board studying season. All the girls would respond and talk back to me but&nbsp;Rachel wouldn't even acknowledge my presence. So I had to change things up in order&nbsp;to increase my chances of seeing her but I didn't know what to do.&nbsp;





Then one day, as I walked by Rachel's room, I noticed that there was a sheet put up on the door. It was a bracket but&nbsp;this time it wasn't a&nbsp;dodgeball bracket but a Disney princess bracket. It&nbsp;was a&nbsp;bracket system&nbsp;of all the Disney princesses and every day as people walked by the room&nbsp;they would submit their vote and at the end of the day the Disney princess that got the most votes would move on to the next round. At the end, we would all see&nbsp;which Disney princess was best. I'm not really a fan of any Disney princess but if this meant&nbsp;I get to see Rachel&nbsp;more often, then I'm going to be 100% into this!!! But that wasn't enough, I needed to see her more! But again I did&nbsp;not want to&nbsp;disturb her study time.&nbsp;





So I decided to ask&nbsp;around and try&nbsp;to see if the other&nbsp;students at the school&nbsp;would like it if we all&nbsp;met up for lunch and dinner every day in the student's lounge. Everyone unanimously&nbsp;said yes! They all needed a time in the day to just take a break from studying and be together&nbsp;and this would also give me a chance to&nbsp;get to talk to Rachel more. But even that&nbsp;wasn't enough! I needed Rachel to notice me or at least look at me. So I decided to purchase a bell and every day when the clock hit noon and 6:30pm, I would walk the halls and ring my bell calling for everyone to meet for lunch and dinner!&nbsp;But to keep things disciplined, I also had to ring the bell once lunch and dinner break was over to head back to the rooms and study once more. That was probably the best thing I did because, y'all... she finally looked at me and oh did that make me feel good!&nbsp;







So, I then proceeded to ask for everyone's snapchat in the hopes of getting Rachel's. I&nbsp;started to snap her more and more and asked for her number. We only texted and talked in the mornings before board studying and in the evening after board studying to not distract one another. Oh and of course lunch and dinner in person every day thanks to the $7&nbsp;bell I bought on Amazon.&nbsp;







Rachel and I started to really get to know each other pretty well during that time. It was a difficult time in our lives but it&nbsp;was nice to go through&nbsp;it together.&nbsp;







Later on, I decided to ask Rachel on a real date. I asked if she would like to see the stars with me one night at Liberty's astronomical observatory and to my disbelief,&nbsp;she said she would love to, which made me the happiest guy in the world!!

The Story of How We Met

I can't believe you scrolled down here to read our proposal and just skipped how we met. Please go back up and read how we met... goodness.&nbsp;

So I dated Rachel for some time now and realized how amazing she is. She loves the Lord with all her heart and is the kindest, sweetest, most caring person I have ever met. She would go to great lengths to help her friends out and that is someone I want to be with for the rest of my life. So how do I go about doing this? Well I prayed and prayed hard. I wanted to really make sure if this was truly the woman for me. I then went and talked with friends and&nbsp;family who were also believers and married and seeked their input. After much prayer and seeking for an answer, I just had peace and something in me said "Go for it!" So that's what I did. Well I needed her father permission first. So after her parents came down&nbsp;to Texas to meet my parents, I called up her dad and asked him for her hand in marriage and he approved. So now I needed a plan. Something that would make this proposal special to Rachel and I.&nbsp; 

Thus began my investigation to try and see what kind of proposal would Rachel like. I knew she wouldn't want anyone around so a Central Park type proposal would be out of the question. But&nbsp;oh! she loves Christmas so yes it has to be in during Christmas time. She would want pictures so I need someone who is close to her that can work a camera. She also loves Ed Sheeran so I need a way to play perfect by my boy Sheeran. Ok things are working here but I am going to need some help. So I called Katie, one of Rachel's close medical school friends and going to be her bridesmaid, for some help with taking photos. She said she would love to and she is from Pennsylvania so she can drive over the day of and bring some decorations from me. Now&nbsp;I needed a place that was just the two of us. So I started to ask anyone that was from New York in my class to see if there was any good place that is quiet, like a park of lake, since I have never been to New York. I then get a call from Rachel's sister asking me if maybe doing it in their backyard since it is in a wooded area. So I proceeded to facetime Bekah and Rachel mom to try and find the perfect place. Then I finally found it! There is this large tree next to a lake that is walking distance to her house. It has a little trail that will lead right up to the tree. Perfect!&nbsp;

 Ok this was all starting to plan out. I know exactly when I want to propose, where I am going to do it and what song is going to be playing.&nbsp;Now the question comes,&nbsp;how am I going to get Rachel all dressed up? Dressed up?&nbsp;Dress up buttercup?!&nbsp;Dress up Buttercup! Of Course!&nbsp;

So a few months before the proposal I tell Rachel that my siblings and their significant other all want to go to New York for during the Christmas break. As it got closer I knew I needed to propose right when I land from Texas otherwise it wouldn't happen. So I told Rachel that Dede needs to do a photoshoot on long island and is wanting another couple to take pictures with and that couple is us. This way I get Rachel to get all dressed up and now we have another photographer to capture all of what is about to happen.&nbsp;

So I land in New York and Rachel picks me up and I start to convince her from hour one that I love driving and that it is a passion of mine to drive the car. I needed to take Rachel to the exact spot so I needed to drive. The thing is Rachel was not having it and she wouldn't let me drive. So we go pick up my brother and Dede later on from the train station so that we can go do this "photo shoot" for Dede. Which really was taking Rachel to her favorite Poke bowl place and drinking some of the most amazing coffee there. While we were eating Rachel kept looking at me to see when Dede was going to do this photoshoot? Once we finish the meal I try my best to convince Rachel to let me drive.&nbsp;In her mind, it's snowing and ain't no Texas boy driving her car in the snow! So I begged her and pleaded that this was something I love doing! So she said, "Fine! But only to the train station to drop of Ted and Dede." So i said, "perfect!" In my mind, I am never getting out of this seat until I need to.&nbsp;

We get to the train station and Rachel immediately gets out of the car and runs over to the driver side and thank the Lord for crazy New York drivers cause people started to honk at her and she immediately went back to the passenger side. So we start driving back to the house to the spot. I then get a text from Ted saying he needs more time to get back to the house since the uber is taking too long. So ladies and gentlemen? I give you my Oscar nominated acting debut... here in New York. I begin to tell Rachel that I have a terrible headache and it is really bad. "Oh this headache is terrible!" I tell her. "Oh man! like one of the worst headaches I have ever had.&nbsp;I think&nbsp;need to pull over somewhere cause I can't go back to her house or the headache will just get worse. Thus we sit and wait until I get the ok from Ted. A few minutes later Ted says ok and I start to feel better and head home!&nbsp;

As I am driving up her street I see a small american flag waiving which was my signal from Bekah to park there and walk across the road to the path. I stop the car and direct Rachel's attention to the path which was quite steep and icy at the time but it was doable. Katie got there an hour before us and set it all up with the help of Bekah and Rachel's mom. It was this beautiful path with Christmas ornaments, lit by small candles, and blocks of wood that had 1 Corinthians 13 the love chapter written on them leading up to the tree which had two smaller Christmas trees beside them and just the hint of my boy Ed Sheeran's perfect playing in the background. As we got to the tree I told Rachel how much she meant to me and how she was&nbsp;the girl of my dreams. Then I got down on one knee and said, "Rachel Mary Tanas will you do me the honor and be my wife?" She said yes and my brother and sister in law and her sister and Katie all came out of the bushes do join us. Afterwards we had a dinner with my family and her family and friends. Now that we had the perfect proposal&nbsp;I just can't wait till that day to see her walk down that isle and have the perfect wedding where we both say, "I do."

The Story of our proposal 

Our Story

Details

Ted Raad

Rebekah Tanas

Groom's childhood friend and college roommate at Baylor. Sic 'em big bear!

Alex Hanania

Sandra Kamel

Groom's childhood friend and dedicated summer workout partner through the depths of Coach Kahl's&nbsp;summer boot camp.&nbsp;

 Shaadi Abughazaleh

Dede

Nayla

Groom's childhood friend and workout partner who helped Sammy&nbsp;get to&nbsp;near 500lbs on squat!

 Joseph Alkhoury

Katie

Groom's medical school friend and&nbsp;workout partner who helped Sammy get through medical school in one piece

Daniel Lee

Groom's medical school friend who was there to give advise on everything and be there in times of need.&nbsp;

Jon Steiner

Christina

Groom's childhood church friend and loyal friend who will get up and help&nbsp;Sammy&nbsp;move anywhere in the USA&nbsp;if needed.&nbsp;

Ryan Francis

Necol

Groom's brother in-law and&nbsp;rap studio mix master

Nady Benyamine

Mariam

Groom's cousin who is like a little brother&nbsp;

Jonathan Lahoud

Groom's childhood friend from middle school and hunting partner. Helped the groom get his biggest buck yet.

Robert Hassell 

Carol

Groom's cousin who is like a little brother

Samir Lahoud

Catherine

The groom's nephew who was named after him and his uncle Sami (Khalo Sami)

Sammy Benyamine

Wedding Party

Photos

Registry

Q + A

Group Rate is included when using the link below. The dates are defaulted from Thursday-Sunday. Make sure to change the dates if you do not plan on coming in earlier.&nbsp;

The rooms are based upon availability. I would suggest you try to&nbsp;book sooner than later since June is a very busy season on Long Island.&nbsp;5 min away from Fox Hollow (reception)

Comfort Inn

Make sure to either book your flights through JFK or LGA (LaGuardia)&nbsp;not EWR (Newark Liberty). EWR is in New Jersey and may be&nbsp;too far for some&nbsp;from where we are on Long Island&nbsp;

John F. Kennedy International Airport

Make sure to either book your flights through JFK or LGA (LaGuardia)&nbsp;not&nbsp;EWR (Newark Liberty). EWR is in New Jersey and may be&nbsp;too far for some&nbsp;from where we are on Long Island&nbsp;

LaGuardia Airport

No group rate. 9 min from Fox Hollow (reception).&nbsp;

Melville Marriott Long Island

No group rate. This is where the reception will be held.&nbsp;

The Inn at Fox Hollow

Travel

Our favorite bagel spot on Long Island!

Village Bagels

The infamous pastry shop that will be making the wedding cake. Amazing Italian pastries, espresso and gelato!

Leonetti Pastry Shop

Right next door to the pastry shop and a real Italian pizza place. Sammy's favorite pizza place on Long Island hands down.

Abeetza Pizza

Amazing heros! Their breakfast heros are great!&nbsp;An old Syosset classic deli/hero shop. Try their&nbsp;meatball&nbsp;parm heros, philly cheese steak heros and tuna salad heros or just make your own.

Village Heros

Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park

A nice beach only 20 min away&nbsp;

Jones Beach State Park

Can take the train to the city from the Syossett station. Syossett to Penn Station will be about an hour.

Rachel & Sammy

Rachel & Sammy

Wedding Party