When she chatted up Evan Chender at a Vassar College party in 2007, Claire Salinda was flying by the seat of her pants. Actually, it was his pants: She complimented his jeans, which got them talking. But Evan basically ignored Claire for the rest of the semester. "I didn't know how to interact with someone I thought was out of my league," he explains. Claire gave him a second chance a year later, inviting him to an event in New York City, a two-hour train ride from school, and they've been an item ever since.
Six years later, on a trip to the Big Apple to visit Evan's parents, Claire, an operations manager for Venture Asheville, a business development organization, and Evan, owner of the Culinary Gardener farm in Asheville, North Carolina, ducked into Claire's favorite jewelry shop. There, he bought a ring and set a rule. "He made me promise not to ask when he would propose," she recalls. "Every slightly romantic moment, I wondered if it might happen." That moment came just a few weeks later, when, back in Asheville, he convinced her to hike up Black Balsam Knob, where he popped the question that began their 10-month engagement.
With Claire hailing from the West Coast and Evan from the East, they opted for a Labor Day weekend celebration so loved ones would have an extra day to explore the area between Asheville and Hot Springs, North Carolina, where they wed before 109 guests at the Mountain Magnolia Inn. On a Saturday, August 30, 2014, the friend who had invited them to the pivotal party seven years earlier officiated the ceremony, and the entire evening was filled with personal touches. To honor Evan's Jewish heritage, the pair exchanged self-penned vows beneath a chuppah made with material crocheted by Claire's late great–grandmother. The alfresco cocktail hour served up a St. Germain-based drink dubbed "The Mazzy" after the newlyweds' cat, dinner began with salad sourced from Evan's farm, and everyone danced to the couple's favorite hits. At the after-party, guests watched fireworks and released wish lanterns. As for Claire and Evan? Their wishes had already come true.
