Two Proposals, a Six-Foot Surprise Cake, & a New Year’s Eve Wedding at Clarks Landing Yacht Club

Matt and Matt’s love story began with a pre-Christmas match online in 2019. It continued through a pandemic and a long-distance stretch between New Jersey and Boston before their next chapter began with two separate proposals—one on the Hoboken waterfront with their families watching, and one in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. By the time December 31, 2025 arrived, their wedding at Clarks Landing Yacht Club in Point Pleasant felt like the celebration it had all been building toward. Guests rang in the New Year together with NYE props and a live-streamed ball drop, and were stunned when a six-foot cake—kept completely secret until the moment it appeared—rolled out just before midnight. It was, by every measure, a night to remember. Peach Photography captured the big day.

Their Story

“We matched online in December 2019 right before Christmas and immediately hit it off,” says Matt D. Matt T was living in NYC while Matt D was in Morristown.

“After a few weeks of non stop texting, we met right after the holidays and the connection was instant. Soon we were visiting each other every weekend.”

In March 2020, Covid-19 hit and Matt T moved back to Boston, where he’s from. “We decided to do long distance, spending our days Facetiming, texting and counting down to the next visit,” says Matt D.

“As restrictions lifted, Matt T began visiting Morristown often and our relationship really began to flourish,” says Matt D. During Matt D’s birthday Zoom, he surprised Matt T by introducing him to everyone as his boyfriend. From there things moved quickly—Matt D visited Boston to meet Matt T’s family and even joined a trip to their cabin in New Hampshire, where Matt D first said “I love you.”

“At the end of 2022, we moved to Hoboken together, fell in love with the town and bought our condo in 2023,” says Matt D.

The Proposal

Matt T proposed to Matt D on the Hoboken waterfront, where they had been living, knowing it was a place that would always hold a special place in their heart. Matt T invited both of their families to watch as he proposed, and the entire pier applauded after Matt D said yes. Afterwards, Matt T had rented out a private room at a local restaurant in Hoboken for both families to eat dinner. And then Matt T surprised Matt D with all of their friends in their condo for a huge party!

Since Matt T proposed using the rings, Matt D got custom cuff links to propose back to Matt T with on an upcoming trip they had planned to Paris. Matt D wanted to make sure the moment was captured so he reached out to a photographer in Paris and surprised Matt T with a photo shoot in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Choosing the Venue

Clarks Landing Yacht Club was the first venue they toured. Matt T said they were going to get married there, Matt D wanted to shop around.

“But we kept comparing everything back to Clarks Landing Yacht Club and nothing came close. We only had to visit a few venues before we wanted nothing more than to sign the contract with Clarks Landing.”

“Clarks, especially our wedding coordinator Kristin, truly made us feel like family! They thought of every single detail and we could picture our perfect day even from that first conversation.”

Details of the Day

“Our cake was six feet tall—insane!” says Matt D.

Matt T loves wedding cake so Matt D told him whatever he wanted he got, and a huge cake was it!

“It was more than we could have imagined, and Palermo’s Bakery was incredible to work with! It was a surprise that we did not tell anyone about, so every single person at our wedding was shocked when they saw the cake!”

“We came in around 11:30 pm dressed in our NYE outfits and light up shoes followed by our best men and dads who were wearing the same,” says Matt D. We had Clarks Landing servers pass out NYE decorations to our guests to get ready to celebrate the New Year and we live-streamed the ball drop.

More Clarks Landing Yacht Club Real Weddings: Sarah & Justin, Johnette & Lukeman, and Lindsay & Teresa.

Favorite Moment

“We were given advice by so many others to stay together and take in the night as much as we could, and we feel like we really did that which made the night so much more meaningful and memorable! Plus the entire dance floor was packed the whole night, which is exactly what we wanted!”

Advice For Other Couples

“Enjoy your engagement period! While there’s a lot going on, try not to let yourself get too stressed because it will all come together and be perfect. And make sure you find time to enjoy the day together because it goes by so fast!”

Honeymoon

The newlyweds went to Antigua right after the wedding and stayed at an all-inclusive resort. “We are currently planning a 2.5 week trip to Greece in June, traveling to five different islands!”