siobhan + hendrick // Canalside Downtown Buffalo

Siobhan and Hendrik met the old fashioned way… a blind date! They were freshman at Yale University and both had decided to attend the annual Freshman dance, where it was customary for suite-mates to set you up. A few very smart mutual friends went out on a limb that night and decided that Siobhan and Hendrik might have just enough things in common to make a good match. Little did they know that their matchmaking skills that night would eventually lead to a proposal!

Siobhan: “In the beginning, with our busy school and extracurricular schedules, we would often just meet up for meals in the dining halls. So the first ‘official’ date was when Hendrik took me to the movies see ‘The King’s Speech’ on February 25, 2011 – it turned out to be a fitting choice given that it features a stirring rendition of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony’s Allegretto, a piece we both love!

In general, we tried to keep date night a fairly regular occurrence throughout college: one of our favorite things to do was to go to Yorkside Pizza every Friday and split a large pepperoni pizza. It was something that we both always looked forward to during the week.“

Hendrik: “I knew how much Siobhan loves Disney and Harry Potter – she had been to Disney World many times, but never to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios. Under the guise of a 25th birthday trip, I took Siobhan down to Orlando to visit both parks. On December 2, 2016, after a wonderful day in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, and a romantic Italian dinner in the Portofino Bay Hotel, I surprised Siobhan with a proposal. The next few days were spent in Disney and culminated with dinner in Cinderella’s castle during the fireworks show on her birthday!“

Siobhan: “We love anything having to do with music and movies. The intersection of music and movies (film music) originally drew us together in college. Hendrik was Head Arranger/Music Director and I was the president of Yale’s Davenport Pops Orchestra at school which played many film scores, Broadway hits, and popular classical pieces (think Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Rhapsody in Blue, West Side Story, Disney music, etc.).

Hendrik and I also love any type of puzzles – from jigsaw puzzles to logic games. During one break in college, after realizing that we both had been obsessed with ‘Puzz3D’ puzzles as kids, we put together a 3D puzzle of the Chrysler Building in one sitting (although it took the entire night).“

Siobhan: “We both are very close to our families, so maintaining strong relationships and being a part of each other’s family will be very important to us. Likewise, we both have great and long-standing friendships that we value tremendously.“

Hendrik: “We really value learning and sharing knowledge with each other, whether it be ancient Roman history, Music Theory or the latest political op-ed from the Wall Street Journal.“

Siobhan: “A perfect cozy evening would be ordering in and binge-watching the latest HBO/Netflix show. Or, more likely, it would involve Hendrik trying to convince me to watch a Colorado Rockies game with him, while I insisted on watching the Great British Baking Show.”

Siobhan: “A great casual night out would involve a nice Italian dinner and then heading to a movie. But a perfect night out would be a steak dinner followed by a classical concert at the symphony featuring one of our favorite classical composers (Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Ravel). We both know how strange this is, but hey, we’re old souls at heart…”