Media Star Segall Marries in Telluride

Alpacas greeted guests at the Oct. 2 wedding of Laurie Segall and Jon Jones, in Telluride, Co. As Mother Nature cooperated, the couple married at their cabin below the San Juan Mountains.

One hundred guests looked on with parents, Toni and Dave Jones, of Scranton, Pa., Susanne Segall and Dr. Nathan Segall. Guests received invitations from a local stationary shop, Bespoke, where the cabin was featured as a watercolor in an envelope with a map of Telluride.

The weather opened into a lovely sky just in time aligned with snowcapped mountains // Photos by Abie Livesay

Jones proposed on Segall’s birthday, Aug. 18, at Seaside, Fla., as the Segalls spent vacays. Jones said, “Then it was the first place we traveled together as a couple, so it was incredibly special.”

Get The AJT Newsletter by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

New York Rabbi Andy Bachman, who serves as the senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, officiated the event. Segall said, “One of the reasons we loved working with him is his openness and political activism.”

Wedding planner Wendy Hampton helped navigate the event, which was catered by Telluride local favorite, 221 South Oak, run by award-winning chef and Top Chef contestant, Eliza Gavin. The menu included canapés and mains from elk and gooseberry, squash, and filet a la Béarnaise.

Kelly Walker designed the multi-tiered Kentucky butter cake, glazed in a brown butter sauce in brown sugar buttercream.

Jones touchingly smiles back at Segall.

For gown selection, Segall declared, “I needed a dress that could compete with the mountains, so the bigger the better! I wore an Oscar de la Renta ball gown with a fitted bodice and layered tulle with a removable overlay for dancing. I paired the gown with white lace Manolo Blahnik shoes. Jon wore a black Armani tuxedo, patent leather Santoni shoes, and a pocket square embroidered with the phrase we love, “It’s Us.”

Flowers were by New Leaf Design. The aspens surrounding the cabin were at peak fall foliage as the floral arrangements were a brilliant complement to the golden and blush colors. Music was a hybrid of a DJ and two live musicians, including a drummer and saxophonist.

Segall and Jones danced to Florence and the Machine’s version of the classic, “Stand By Me,” with genres from classic 1950s swooners to contemporary pop. The band got everyone jiving on the dance floor with a rendition of “Turn On Your Love Light” by Bobby “Blue” Bland.

Segall’s bouquet was in gold and blush to complement autumn hues in Colorado.

The ceremony and outdoor cocktail hour featured music by the cellist “Eyeglasses,” who gained notoriety for playing arrangements of both classic and contemporary music for New York City subway commuters. Friend Benj Pasek, one of the composers behind the Broadway hit, “Dear Evan Hansen,” sang “Still I Will Love” by Shaina Taub during the ceremony, a song about couples during life’s evolution and the imperfect moments.

Why Colorado? Laurie answered, “We have a cabin there and wanted the wedding to feel intimate. It’s a trek to get to, but it’s absolutely beautiful, so we asked 100 of our favorite people to join us. On the night before the wedding, our guests rode the gondola up to Allreds, a beautiful restaurant overlooking the mountains. We brought New York to the mix by bringing in a piano player who played showtunes as an homage to one of my favorite places there: Marie’s Crisis.

The bride had a charm sewn into her dress that belonged to her late aunt, Sharon. When dad, Nathan, walked Laurie down the aisle, they felt her presence. Jones’s surprise wedding gift to Segall was a locket that belonged to Sharon with both her and his pictures to represent two people in her life who brought peace during tough moments.

Father of the bride, local physician Nathan Segall, (right) posed with father of the groom, Dave Jones.

The two were fixed up in 2012, but ended up staying friends until 2020, when the pandemic allowed them to slow down and see what was in front of them. Segall and Jones took a “mini-moon” to Moab, Utah, and are planning an official honeymoon soon.

Segall concluded, “Our guests described the wedding as ‘Camelot’ or ‘Seasons of Love,’ given all the weather we experienced during the weekend: rain, sleet, snow. On the morning of the wedding, it rained and snowed, but just as our guests arrived, the sky cleared up and a double rainbow framed the cabin. We also had two alpacas greet guests!”

Later that evening, as guests danced under a large tent, they had a hailstorm – five inches of hail in 15 minutes, followed by “thunder snow.” Guests were evacuated and ended the evening in the cabin, where they turned up the music, adorned cowboy hats, cut the cake, finished toasts, and left before they were informed the mudslides were beginning.

Segall and Jones pumped up the spirit with a lively dance.

“We had every season, but it was filled with love,” Segall said.
Segall is the founder of Dot Dot Dot Media, a media company focusing on the intersection of technology and humanity. She is the author of “Special Characters: My Adventures with Tech’s Titans and Misfits.” Previously, she was CNN’s senior technology correspondent and a correspondent for “60 Minutes.”

Jones began his career in politics working as digital director for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s 2006 campaign and then moved on as former President Barack Obama’s first digital strategist in his historic 2008 presidential campaign. After several years in advertising and consulting high profile clients, Jones started a social impact media and creative shop, Relation Agency.