WEDDINGS UDOLF SAMEROFF

WEDDINGS Sam and Evan Sameroff Embark on the Adventure of a Lifetime

It sits regally on the list of the Seven Wonders of Africa. The endless plains of the Serengeti stretch out for 12,000 square miles from north Tanzania to southwestern Kenya. A vast ecosystem rife with blue wildebeests, gazelles, zebras, buffalos, lions and spotted hyenas. A landscape dotted with rich grasslands and trees, granite vol-canic rock — and even an active volcano.

It is the embodiment of adventure; the very essence of new experiences.

And that, say Samantha and Evan Samer off, is what made it the perfect honeymoon. One adventure — an African safari — from which to begin the ultimate adventure — marriage. “We were looking for adventure and a new experience,” say Samantha (Udolf) and Evan Sameroff, who wed on July 13, 2019 in Sam’s hometown of West Hartford.

There are no words, they say.

“The safari was very romantic and serene. It was a unique and humbling experience to be in the middle of the Serengeti, feeling one with nature. We chose East Africa in particular because of the wildebeest migration. We were fortunate to see many river crossings of thousands of wildebeest — an experience that no picture or video does justice.”

Of course, there’s ‘romantic and serene’… and then there’s “romantic serene.” And so, the newly minted Sameroffs followed up their Serengeti safari with some rest and relaxation at a peaceful and alluring beach resort in Zanzibar.

One might say that the seed that led to the Sameroffs’ African safari was planted some two years earlier, when Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi of the Chabad Jewish cen ter at Harvard University introduced the two at a party celebrating the festive Jew ish holiday of Purim. Sam was then a senior at Harvard and Evan was finishing up his last year at Harvard Business School.

Two years later, Sam, the daughter of Danielle and Robert Udolf of West Hartford, and Evan, the son of Ellen Rinaldi and Jeffrey Sameroff of Wayne, Pennsylvania, and the late Marilyn Sameroff, found themselves standing under a chupah (a

Jewish wedding canopy) at West Hart- ford’s Congregation Beth Israel, where Sam had celebrated her bat mitzvah sev- eral years earlier. There, in a ceremony officiated by Beth Israel’s Rabbi MIchael Pincus, the couple shared their own writ- ten vows, lit candles for their departed loved ones — Sam’s grandfather, Leonard Udolf, and Evan’s mother, Marilyn Samer- off, and Evan slipped his late mother’s wedding band on Sam’s finger.

Guests then headed off to The Delamar Hotel, where they enjoyed a resplendent outdoor cocktail reception under a glitter- ing tent, followed by a dazzling evening of dinner and dancing in the hotel ballroom, with toasts by Sam’s dad and sister, Maid of Honor Claudia Udolf, as well as Evan’s brother and Best Man, Scott Sameroff.

Speaking of dancing…everyone was on their feet for a special “live concert” featuring the groom on electric guitar, sitting in with the band, Night Shift Enter - tainment. Evan was also joined by Sam’s uncle Ted, on bass, and Evan’s uncle Terry, on drums, performing Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and Ed Sheer- an’s “Thinking Out Loud.”

In addition to the Maid of Honor, Sam was attended by bridesmaids Alexandra Lobel, Ava Nasro, Mia Tsusaka, Ashley Notzon, Jessica Morgan, Alina Ranjbaran, her sister-in-law Janice Wong, and Aliya Itzkowitz; and, in addition to his Best Man, Evan was attended by groomsmen: Sam’s brother Dylan Udolf, Claudia’s fiancee Mack Johnston, Bryan Chesen, Spencer Clements-Green, Noah Bachow, Stephen Bachow, and Paul Knepley. Flower girls were Olivia Lazar, Caroline Tucker and Mikaela Sameroff; and Leo Lazar served as Ring Bearer.

A year later, the Sameroffs are happily ensconced at their home in New York City, where Sam will soon begin her final year at Columbia Business School, and Evan is vice president at the private equity firm Lovell Minnick Partners.

Hope Moustakakis is attending the highly-competitive Rice University in Houston, Texas.