Ryan Harris Boesky has wanted to marry Bevan Alexis Cohen since kindergarten.
“If I had more confidence that she would’ve said yes, I would’ve proposed in second grade,” Mr. Boeksy said jokingly. “I always had a crush on her.”
Both Mr. Boesky and Ms. Cohen grew up on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and attended the Dalton School. Their families also had neighboring second homes in the Water Mill section of Southampton, N.Y.
As children, Ms. Cohen and Mr. Boesky would have play dates together in Water Mill, where they would go kayaking, ride bikes and hang out at the beach. Their parents, she said, used to joke about installing a gate between the two houses to make it easier for them to go back and forth.
Though Mr. Boesky had a crush on Ms. Cohen, it took longer for her feelings to develop. Mr. Boesky was patient, particularly during middle school and early in high school, when the two were in different social circles.
One day during high school, Ms. Cohen’s friend overheard Mr. Boesky tell his friends, “I really want to date Bevan. I’m in love with her. She’ll never date me in high school. But we’re both going to end up at Penn together and we’ll start dating, and then we’re gonna get married.”
The crush became mutual in their junior year of high school. “I started thinking: he’s cute, he’s nice, he’s smart,” Ms. Cohen said. “Maybe I do like him.” They attended prom that spring, but still as friends.
In their senior year of high school, the two shared their first kiss at a friend’s birthday party, and Ms. Cohen accidentally spilled her glass of Champagne on Mr. Boesky. Despite the clumsy start, during the summer leading up to college — at the University of Pennsylvania — they spent almost every single day together.
They made their relationship official during the first week of college. Their parents were thrilled. Nobody was surprised.
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After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science, philosophy and economics, Mr. Boesky, now 27, moved to San Francisco to work as an investment banker for Bank of America. He is currently a senior associate at the Rhone Group, a private equity firm in New York.
Ms. Cohen, 28, earned a bachelor’s degree in communication and got a job at Sotheby’s Auction House in New York, managing galleries on Long Island and in Florida. She now works as a real estate broker at CBRE in New York City.
Mr. Boesky’s demanding work schedule made travel difficult, so for two years Ms. Cohen traveled across the country once a month to visit him. Because bars and restaurants were closed during the pandemic, he came up with day trip dates that included hikes and visiting remote beaches and vineyards.
“It was a big commitment for us to be separated, but still be together,” Ms. Cohen said. “We knew that we were going to ultimately end up together.”
In 2022, Mr. Boesky returned to New York for his job at the Rhone Group, and the couple moved in together into a Flatiron apartment.
They became engaged in 2024 in Water Mill, which is still their home away from home. They went to their favorite bakery, Tate’s Bake Shop, for coffee and a cinnamon roll before Mr. Boeksy proposed at Ms. Cohen’s home in front of their families.
The couple were married Jan. 17 at Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., by Rabbi Angela Buchdahl from Central Synagogue in Manhattan before 350 guests. Ms. Cohen wore a gown from Mark Ingram Atelier designed by Mira Zwillinger; Mr. Boesky wore a suit from Isaia.
But the real star of the wedding was Milkshake, the pet Harlequin rabbit rescued in 2022 by Ms. Cohen, who is taking her husband’s surname. An illustration of the rabbit was featured on the invitations, baseball hats, match boxes and cups for actual milkshakes. Bunny ears were handed out to guests on the dance floor.
In an homage to their favorite bands from their shared childhood, Mr. Boesky walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of “All The Small Things” by Blink 182, while Ms. Boesky walked to a rendition of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses.
And in a cheeky nod to their shared history as competitive athletes on the ice — through middle and high school, Ms. Cohen competed as a figure skater and Mr. Boesky played hockey — the wedding party walked to a version of Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi.”
“Ryan’s sense of humor is unmatched,” Ms. Cohen said. “He makes everyone laugh.”
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