Even if students do not have plans for this Valentine’s Day, Cornell may still be the site of their future wedding vows.
The Sun spoke with five couples who said “I do” at Cornell to learn more about their decision to get married on the hill. From an interfaith ceremony to a traditional Indian wedding, each couple described their sentimental ties to Cornell's picturesque campus.
Celia and Peter
It was the second day of her first year at Cornell when Celia Rodee ’81 met Peter Cooper ’80, working at Cornell Dining in Balch Hall, a historic all-female residence on North Campus.
When they initially met, Rodee was still dating her high school sweetheart. Rodee and Cooper, however, soon began to develop a strong friendship when working together at Cornell Dining and socializing with their friends. After a year of being friends, Cooper and Rodee started dating, getting engaged only a year later.
“We met working jobs at Cornell Dining and fell in love at Cornell,” Rodee said. “ And Peter gave me his first valentine that spring in February 1978.”
When deciding where to get married, Rodee and Cooper chose Cornell due to both its sentimental significance as where they first met and as a location where they could celebrate and honor their two different faiths. Rodee being Protestant Christian and Cooper being Jewish, Sage Chapel, a non-denominational Christian chapel, stood out as a symbol of unity.
“Cornell was our connection — we met there [and] we fell in love there,” Rodee said. “But we thought that [since] Cornell would be a more neutral place being an interfaith couple, both families would compromise.”
Rodee and Cooper reflected on the multitude of special moments intricately woven into their big day by the campus setting. From the delight of enjoying Purity ice cream at the rehearsal dinner behind Peter’s fraternity, Sigma Phi, to visiting the suspension bridge and reliving the memory of kissing Cooper, Rodee enjoyed every moment commemorating their love in cherished spots.
“Ithaca and Cornell were the places to be,” Cooper said.
Rodee added: “No regrets and I still can't imagine anywhere else where I would have been married.”
Shweta and Neil
Shweta Modi ’19 and Neil Shah ’19 began dating in their junior year. From their first encounter through mutual friends to their snow day date, their bond grew stronger with each shared memory.
So, when the time came to tie the knot, they knew there was no better spot than the campus that had witnessed their love story unfold. Having their wedding at Cornell gave Modi and Shah a chance to relive some of their favorite moments from their time together at Cornell.
Modi and Shah both come from Indian backgrounds and ensuring their traditions were incorporated in the wedding ceremony was important to the couple. Modi explained that the Cornell and Statler Hotel staff were more than helpful in planning their Indian wedding.
“I was just surprised by the amount of effort the Cornell event staff put into the wedding,” Modi said. “Since Cornell didn’t do many Indian weddings they were so excited to learn about our traditions and make it unique to us. They were curious to learn more.”
From the ceremony at Sage Chapel to the reception at Statler, Modi and Shah were able to blend their heritage with classic Cornell traditions. Held at Willard Straight Hall, the garba — a traditional Indian dance form performed at pre-wedding celebrations — complete with Dairy Bar ice cream, transported them back to their college days.
During their time at Cornell, Modi and Shah shared a special love for the Boom Boom sauce served at The Terrace Restaurant. Inspired by their love for the sauce, the couple decided to host a Terrace-inspired lunch held at the restaurant.
“We requested a Mexican station with Boom Boom sauce and some other typical things they serve there [at Terrace],” Modi said. “Just to bring back memories for our friends too of going through the line. And at the garba, we served the Dairy Bar ice cream which was a must because we loved having it on campus. … All our guests were just raving over it.”
On the day of the ceremony, Modi shared how the organist serenaded the wedding party with Bollywood melodies, including some of the couple’s favorite songs. The presence of volunteer students, eager to be a part of their wedding, added an unexpected but heartwarming touch to the festivities.
Modi said that with the couple’s sentimental ties to Cornell, no other wedding venues compared.
“Looking at different venues, nothing [else] felt really personal to us. We wanted something unique,” Modi said. We had such a great time at Cornell that we thought ‘Why don’t we look to see if Cornell can actually hold our wedding?’ Which I’m really glad we did.”
Stella and Brad
Stella Xu ’98 and Brad Phinney ’99 met in 1997. Xu had just taken her LSAT and to celebrate she met up with a friend to go to a house party, where she met Phinney.
Their decision to have a campus wedding came from a special connection they felt with the campus. Additionally, with both families hailing from different parts of New York, Cornell served as the perfect middle ground — a place where loved ones could come together to celebrate their union.
“It's a beautiful campus and had special significance because we met there,” Xu said. “The third reason [we chose to get married at Cornell] is that all my family was in New York City and his family was all upstate so it just so happened that Cornell was kind of a great middle point for both the families to travel.”
The couple hosted their rehearsal dinner at a Chinese restaurant in the Commons. Xu remarked that the celebrations were made more special by her ability to incorporate some of her Chinese heritage into the wedding due to the diversity of Ithaca.
“Even though [Ithaca is] a small town, it's still a college town [that is] very diverse, so I was able to have my rehearsal dinner at a Chinese restaurant,” Xu said. “I was able to incorporate some parts of my culture and I was really happy to have that choice. It was nice to have that small town feel but at the same time just have us not be an oddity.”
Phinney emphasized that having the wedding at Cornell made it a relaxing and comfortable experience for the couple.
“Our experience at Cornell was a breeze,” Phinney said. “Everyone was really relaxed but professional.”
Kathryn and Michael
In their senior year, Kathryn Blackley ’12 and Michael Tomaine ’12 both lived in the Language House in the French program.
“Neither one of us was majoring in French or needed French for professional reasons,” Blackley said. “In that program, you end up speaking with people and we just made a positive connection.”
Years later, when the time came to embark on the next chapter of their lives as a married couple, the choice of venue was clear. Cornell held a special place in their hearts, not just as the place where their love story began, but also as a common place for their families to meet.
On their wedding day, the campus atmosphere enveloped them in a sense of nostalgia and warmth. From a quick Collegetown Bagels run to visiting West Campus, Blackley explained that she enjoyed sharing these small moments with Tomaine while attending to their guests.
“[Sage Chapel] was a beautiful and prominent place in my mind already and having had our wedding there just made it more memorable,” Blackley said. “Just being in an old, familiar place was really nice.”
Bob and Jacqueline
Meteorologist Bob Maxon ’87 met Jacqueline Maxon on a work trip to a local school where Maxon taught. Two years later they got married.
Although Jacqueline did not attend Cornell herself, when Maxon brought her to campus, she knew that Cornell was the place she wanted to get married.
“We didn’t have the draw to a traditional hometown, or parish, or even region,” Maxon said. “[Jacqueline] was [already] familiar with Cornell and we had visited many times, but when we walked through Sage Chapel she said, simply, ‘This is it, this is the spot to get married.’”
The couple had their ceremony on a late afternoon during Labor Day weekend ending with a cruise on Cayuga Lake.
“We had a late ceremony and it just happened that the sun set through the stained glass windows at the west end of Sage Chapel,” Maxon said. “And it was one of the magnificent settings you would imagine for a wedding. There was just something about that evening; it was just amazing.”
