Sammy & Tommy: From "Show-mance" to Romance
Photography by Matt Rodin
“On January 2, 2014, we met while traveling the country performing in "Seussical the Musical".
“One night while our tour was in St. Louis, we went to the City Museum and literally ran around like children. Aside from our engagement, it's still the best night of our lives.” Sammy had just purchased a new fancy camera and unexpectedly noticed that the whole night he was only taking photos of Tommy. “It turned out that the Cat in the Hat had a crush on the Mr. Mayor of Whoville. We still don't "officially" have a first date since our best-friendship turned into a boyfriend-ship pretty seamlessly while we were on the road, but since that night was documented, we like to say that it was the first night we realized how we felt about each other.”
“We never wanted to get into a show-mance, but somehow the universe had bigger plans than we imagined. We became fast best friends and we knew there was a deeper connection–-but since we were in a small company traveling the country, we didn't want to create an opportunity for reality TV-like drama. Every time we got to a new city, Tommy would Yelp the area to try and find the best restaurants wherever we were-–and that's when the friend-zone boundaries started to vanish. We love food. We love cocktails. We love good company with good food & cocktails… it quickly became our thing. Finding a nice place to eat while we were on a shoe-string budget and indulging in delicious food really brought us together.”
Sammy and Tommy continued to explore their relationship once they returned home. Over the years, they only grew closer, and the topic of marriage came center stage! Approaching the summer of 2019, Sammy made a plan to ask the burning question.
“When we started to talk marriage and who wanted to propose, Sammy quickly made the ask to do the proposing. After all, Sammy is the Aries! On June 15, 2019—we made it "official" in front of 1,350 screaming fans on stage at Betty Who's concert at the historic Fonda Theatre in Hollywood. I Love You Always Forever’ has been our jam for years. Sammy made a whole plan with our friend who had a hook-up to Betty Who and when he initially brought up the idea up to her, she got so excited that she immediately started to help finalizing the plan. It came together so fast, and we were lucky to have our parents and friends attend the concert to document and celebrate. Betty Who posted the video on her Instagram which we can now always look back to in disbelief! The moment was unbelievable.”
Soon after, the two started to think about what their wedding day will look like.
“Growing up in Catholic households, we never dreamed of getting married. We feel so grateful to have families who support us and celebrate the love we share. So, when we think about our wedding, we want it to be a true manifestation of that: a celebration of love. We're excited to share the joy with our families since, for many, this will be their first LGBTQIA+ bi-racial marriage. A new Irish & Mexican union will be made (that's why we combined our last names to create a new one: McLopez)! We get goosebumps as we type this, simply because to us, the act of getting married as two men and starting a life together is a dream come true.”
Originally, Sammy and Tommy planned their wedding for 2020, but due to COVID and social distancing restrictions, they opted to postpone until 2021. “Our wedding planning adventures have been interesting due to COVID. Our main goal was to have a true celebration with our best friends and family. We’re thrilled to have waited to find the perfect venue for us, an estate in Upstate New York with views of the Catskills and Berkshire Mountains.”
When asked about what they are keeping in mind as they plan their wedding, Sammy and Tommy had this to leave us with, “Don't feel bogged down by tradition and be willing to do your own thing. At the end of the day, we go back to our favorite relationship values: a balance of trust, communication, laughter, and love. As long as you continue to check in with those values, with a healthy dose of compromise—everything else will fall into place.”
We can’t wait to catch up with Sammy and Tommy again after their wedding day in 2021! To follow their adventures, check them out on Instagram at @shlopez21 and @tmckiernan.
