Just Married: Sara Sardelli and Kenny Rachon

Sara Sardelli and Kenny Rachon met in 2004, while attending school in Indiana. They never dated, but they had mutual friends, and they always had a great time together. Their lives after college took them to different cities, but 10 years later, in November 2014, Kenny was visiting his parents in Fort Myers, and the two met up for dinner in Sarasota the night before Thanksgiving. The rest is history.

The proposal

Sara’s sister, Lisa O’Donovan, and her best friend, Mike Marracinni, had an idea of their own for how Kenny should propose to Sara. The two were trying to persuade him to propose on Oct. 3, 2015 — it was the day of a big event Sara had been planning for the

Sarasota Ballet called “Tea and Tutus.” That just wasn’t Kenny’s style. “He really doesn’t like to be the center of attention, so he chickened out and the day before the event, he came home after work and proposed with a bottle of champagne in the kitchen. It was perfect,” says Sara. After the intimate proposal, the newly engaged couple, along with their friends Kate and Dex Honea and Mike Marracinni, went to dinner at Sara’s favorite restaurant, Shore Diner. The date was Oct. 2, 2015. 

The wedding

The couple married Friday, May 6, at St. Martha’s Catholic Church, and the reception was held at Michael’s On East. The bride planned every aspect of the evening with Michael’s On East co-proprietor Phil Mancini, and every detail was exactly as she dreamed. 

Unbeknownst to Sara, her friends, Anais Blake and Kate Honea, planned a flash mob that cut into the couple’s first dance, along with dancers from the Sarasota Ballet. The surprise was one of her favorite parts of the night. 

“I normally don’t like surprises,” she says. “But it was one of the best moments of my entire life. I still keep watching the video over and over.” 

A few other standout moments and details of the wedding: The couple’s two dogs were the topper on the cake; guests took a trolley tour through Sarasota, narrated by Bernard Walsh before the reception; during the wedding, caricatures were offered to guests; and during the three-course dinner, Jonathan Cortez serenaded the guests.