The Tamesis
Professional track and field star, Olympian and reigning heptathlon world champion Anna Hall and New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton exchanged vows on April 11 at the Oheka Castle on Long Island. “I saw her running on TV, and when she came on the screen, I thought she was pretty, so I followed her on Instagram,” Darius recalled, as many people do these days.
Anna “had no idea” about their mutual relationship on Instagram: “I just thought it was an athlete respecting an athlete,” she said. Although they don’t interact much, they are still acquaintances on social media. Until 2024 when Darius heads to New Jersey for physical therapy. Anna was nearby, competing in a track meet in New York. On a day off, Darius suddenly appears without Anna’s knowledge. He sent her a video of her jumping and said “Great job!” before he approached her, introduced himself properly, and invited her out to dinner. The two hit it off immediately.
They got engaged in November 2025 after more than a year of dating. “I took her back to the same stadium in New York where we met and proposed on the track,” Darius recalled.
“He told me we were going on a date in the city, which we often do,” Anna said. “So I didn’t think much of it until he told me he was dressing up. And then I was a little skeptical because he never dresses up! That’s when the car pulled up to Icahn Stadium and not the restaurant, that’s when I knew for sure.”
Five months later, their wedding took place at Oheka Castle, a historic gem in a mansion on Long Island’s Gold Coast. “The planning process was fun,” Darius noted. “As the groom, I just wanted to help Anna’s dream come true, and Oheka provided the perfect canvas to make that dream come true.”
“Our schedule is so Anna admitted that she was in the middle of competition season at the time, but they decided to get married in 2026. Thankfully, the couple’s planner, Courtney Leeder of Courtney Elizabeth Events and Anna’s mom, provided some relief and quick decision-making during the busy time.
For Anna, finding a wedding dress was easy. “Just a week after we got engaged, I was in Los Angeles celebrating Thanksgiving with my sister, her family and my parents,” she recalled. She made an appointment for three dresses and found her dress on the second one. “I didn’t know what I wanted, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stretch out my muscular arms,” Anna said candidly. “At first, I was attracted by the delicate lace details and embellishments sewn into the pearls, but when I tried the dress on, I felt like myself. Like I was wearing the dress, not the other way around.” Her dress was by Edena Haron, paired with Manolo Blahnik heels: “I feel confident in my body,” she said. “It still has beautiful embroidery and structure, but it’s not too distracting.”
