Taylor Rae Almonte, an actor, trainer at FITURE, and Masters Student at Columbia University, and Richard Roman Jr., who works in logistics, met on Tinder and had their first date in Midtown Manhattan on Halloween. After four years together, he proposed to Taylor with a picnic on their annual trip to Lake Minnewaska.
Once engaged, the Brooklyn-based couple wanted to highlight New York at their August wedding and chose to say, “I do,” at Gotham Hall. The bride impressively and masterfully took on all of the planning duties with lots of Google spreadsheets and PDFs. Taylor also made sure to source diverse and inclusive wedding vendors.
To walk down the aisle, Taylor chose a Michelle Roth gown from Kleinfeld, paired with pearl Jimmy Choos. “My wedding dress shopping process was pretty stress-free because I realized I would ALWAYS think there was a better dress out there, so I really just had to trust my gut and not think about this being the best dress of my life, but one of the best things I will ever wear, which took some of the pressure off,” the bride shares.
Since the groom always loved Taylor’s hair slicked back, the bride decided to put her hair in a ponytail their wedding day. Nicole Palladini of Palla Beauty pulled back Taylor’s tresses and applied pearls in her hair. “I slept in it and wore it the next day because I needed to keep it longer!” the bride exclaims.
To complete her ensemble, Taylor restored the pearl and diamond earrings that her mother had worn on her own wedding day and paired them with a ring that her father originally gave to her mother with three intertwined bands, symbolizing Taylor’s mom and her two grandmothers.
On August 26, 2022, Taylor walked down the aisle with her father and met Richard, who had a couple of tears streaming down his face, at the altar. The couple’s pastor, Filmore Boudes, gave a short sermon, and then Taylor and Richard exchanged their vows in front of a floral arch by Carmen & Co.
Their best friends, Thalia and Clarissa, read a special Pablo Neruda poem, “Epithelium,” in English and Spanish, and the ceremony concluded with the exchanging of the rings. “We were both so present and engaged the whole time, and there honestly wasn’t a dry eye in the room,” Taylor recalls. “During the ceremony I felt changed—I think saying your vows, proclaiming your love to this person in front of everyone important in your lives, is transformative.”
Once announced as husband and wife, the newlyweds retreated to a private room for 10 minutes, ate hors d’oeuvres, and took a moment “to freak out about being married!,” Taylor shares. The happy couple rejoined their guests on the mezzanine for cocktail hour.
Taylor and Richard made their grand entrance into the reception ballroom to “Crazy in Love” by Beyonce, followed by a choreographed waltz to “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Throughout the night, DJ Reach of PMAM Agency kept things lively with a mix of Latin, throwback, EDM, and pop tracks.
Taylor’s favorite part of the reception was when she and her guests would spontaneously get up and start dancing if they loved a song. “I loved when ‘Bills, Bills, Bills’ came on by Destiny’s Child, as entrees were being served,” the bride shares. “We just got up and danced alone all over the dance floor, and everyone cheered and laughed.”
After the reception had hit its high note around midnight, the love birds headed to The Mark Hotel in Manhattan. Taylor concludes, “Overall we truly feel so thankful to be able to say we had the perfect wedding.”
