The food was divine at Ben Sidell's Wine Country wedding to Garett Weinstein. After all, restaurants run in the family.

Boston Globe

a day ago

It was a meet-cute made for (West) Hollywood.
In May 2016, Ben Sidell, an alum of the
at Harvard University, was an actor living in Los Angeles. Then 28, the Brookline native had joined
Ben's first match was a then-27-year-old Bravo production manager originally from Larchmont, N.Y., Garett Weinstein. He had liked a photo of Garett's blue hair. ('He had just been to Coachella,' Ben explains.) They'd exchanged a few messages when Ben spotted a familiar aquamarine mane while on an afternoon walk with his dog.
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Garett was walking and talking on the phone, but he noticed Ben, too. 'My heart skipped a beat,' he remembers.
They both quickly opened the League to corroborate the close encounter.
'It turned out we lived two blocks away from each other,' says Ben.
The couple both asked their siblings to do readings at the ceremony, but "we didn't know what the readings were until they happened — it was just so special," says Garett.
Brandi Crockett
Their first date was at
'All of my first dates had to be [for] coffee, so if it was a disaster, I could bail within 20 minutes,' says Ben. 'And we stayed for two hours.'
Garett described the date as 'cozy, warm, and familiar.' Ben remembers his first impression of Garett being 'effervescent — I was taken by his energy." Garett was likewise refreshed by Ben's forwardness and ability to communicate: 'This [connection] felt really secure. Everything was on the table.'
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They walked home together and shared a first kiss outside Ben's apartment building.
A week later, they met to see the live-action rendition of 'The Jungle Book," then have dinner at Tart, a now-closed restaurant in the Farmer's Daughter Hotel, where they tried alligator.
The couple used Ben's late grandmother Renee's Kiddush cup during the ceremony, and Ben wore a brooch owned by his grandmother Barbara, who was unable to attend, on his lapel. "There was something really powerful about having these two incredibly strong women who were so fortifying and meaningful to me in my life be present on this day," he says.
Brandi Crockett
'I come from a very intensely foodie family,' explains Ben.
Ahead of Labor Day, Garett joined Ben's boisterous family for their annual trip to Nantucket. A week of passion fruit cosmos, beach barbecues, dinner at
Their Rabbi asked guests if they vowed to support and honor the relationship forever. (They replied, "We do.") "There was a feeling of 'our love is important and our love needs to be seen and we've done a good job of collecting people that support us and will hold us up,'" says Ben.
Brandi Crockett
'It takes me a while to warm up,' he adds.
But Ben saw Garett's pensive nature as intentional thoughtfulness within a sometimes crowded spotlight.
'We're very loud and opinionated and not the easiest group to dive into,' Ben explains of his family, 'but Garett's calm, observing demeanor was helpful. He's able to take it all in without having the need or want to battle for airtime.'
Garett had realized he loved Ben before the trip, while at an LCD Soundsystem concert: 'I'm very connected to music and sometimes that's how I process a lot of my feelings... Ben wasn't there, but I remember just having a moment with the music and missing him ... and being like, 'Oh, okay, I love this person.''
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"Everybody kept saying like, 'Well, you're going to make your wedding cake?', Ben remembers. "And I was like, "F—, no." ("I mean, I made a couple of things for the dessert table," he admits.)
Brandi Crockett
On the flight home from Nantucket, clasping hands across aisle seats,
Garett told Ben that he loved him.
'Well, obviously, I love you, too,' Ben replied.
The years that followed featured the 'highest of highs and lowest of lows,' with major losses of loved ones, and life changes for both partners. They became 'dog dads' to their cavapoo, Juniper. Garett traded reality television for mental health; returning for a master's degree from Antioch University. He's now a practicing psychotherapist.
Ben masked up to deliver his sweet treats throughout L.A. during the Covid-19 pandemic. His homemade creations became an Instagram sensation after actress
Garett suspected there might be a proposal on the trip to St. Barts but wasn't fully confident — and he did not anticipate a turtle would be involved. "I saw somebody taking photos of the vista with a nice camera and that person was then going to take photos of the engagement but like none of that crossed my mind until it was happening," he remembers.
Provided
In December 2023, the couple escaped to
After a morning workout, Garett joined Ben in an open-air buggy, heading to a beach lunch with Ben's family. When the driver stopped to point out something crossing their path, he asked Garett: 'Do you want to go touch the turtle?'
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At first, Garett was aghast. ('
No!
They could have
diseases."
) But when he noticed a small piece of paper stuck to its shell, he got out to remove it.
The paper featured a 'B&G' and a heart. Then, Ben got on one knee.
'I didn't want the turtle to ask the question for me,' explains Ben. 'It was absurd and wonderful and very silly. And no turtles were harmed, thank God.'
To plan a Wine Country wedding weekend that would satisfy
guests from both coasts,
they worked with Rebecca Stone of
Both grooms danced with their mothers during the reception — "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (Garett) and "You're All I Need to Get By" (Ben). Their own first dance was to "Two Most Wanted" by Beyonce and Miley Cyrus.
Brandi Crockett
On May 31, Ben and Garett wed at
Ben and his family did not step into the kitchen, though 'there were moments where it felt like we did,' Ben
says. Boston
chef
Dinner — featuring brightly crisp French salads, grilled branzino, and Australian Wagyu with smoked salt — had been inspired by
SweetBoy treats were part of the elaborate dessert spread, which featured Ben's signature chocolate chip cookies alongside three wedding cakes made by
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Guests of this entirely destination wedding were gifted favors to last the weekend, and then some — including custom tote bags featuring illustrations of the pair's pups, personalized Papier journals, rose quartz towers, and SweetBoy cookie tins.
Brandi Crockett
After the ceremony, the sky broke and rain sent guests indoors. When they emerged for the seated dinner, a double rainbow lit up the sky. Then came the party — followed by the
afterparty.
'Our goal for the day was to start 'incredibly civilized in the English Garden,'' explains Ben, 'and to end in this Bacchanal-inspired dance party.'
At 11 p.m., the lighting shifted in the courtyard. There were espresso martini shots,
Saltie Girl caviar, and a surprise performance by
'My favorite moment was watching Garett dance,' says Ben. 'The joy in Garett's demeanor when he is alive on the dance floor is pretty magical.'
Read more from
, The Boston Globe's new weddings column.
Rachel Kim Raczka is a writer and editor in Boston. She can be reached at