Mini-Vows

Stephanie Fleischman expected to become engaged when Zach Kuperman planned a trip to Italy, but there were several other surprises along the way.

Lucie Lott and Lalo Fabregas did a triple take the first time they saw each other. He almost canceled their first date for fear of falling in love.

Eric Rothman had a funny way of asking Courtney DiGia to prom. Ultimately, it worked out for them.

When Jim Dolce and Ashley Tyrner met in 2019, they talked business over tacos. It would take several more meet-ups for things to turn romantic.

Elise Nikolaisen was seeking professional advice when she reached out to Bailey Carlin on social media. She got it, along with a relationship.

Marc Rofsky surprised and delighted Jon Kay on their first date with two sweet treats in a crumpled bag that he had brought back from Portugal.

When Kana Abe and Jack Seemer got a second chance in the cafe car on St. Patrick’s Day, 2012, they recognized their good luck.

Dianna Mateos and Edgar Angel met over 10 years ago at a quinceañera. The two have grown together ever since.

Tyler Eyre and Yasmin Khorram, whose family fled Iran four decades ago, describe the connection on their first date as “like lightning.”

Their families have been close for years, but Katie Brownlie and Brian Nagy didn’t truly connect until after college.

Ally Moreo and Matthew Gutierrez met as student reporters. It was on a cross-country road trip that she knew she wanted to marry him.

Newly elected Mayor Phillip Jones of Newport News, Va., proposed to Dr. Jamila Wynter on the balcony of second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s office on her birthday.

Once Timothy Murray landed a date with Michael Bullard, the two were inseparable — except when they were separated by their work as actors.

Dolly Meckler said that she and Jordan Cohen got along right away because they “speak the same language.” Both work in social media and connected nearly four years ago on a dating app.

Jen Tullock and Marie Ronn met through a dating app, but didn’t start dating until months later when they saw each other at a film premiere.

Mitchell Karr met Veronica McCracken on her first day of work at an architectural firm, but it was at an interior design fashion show a year and a half later when sparks began to fly.

Nora O’Neill and Gabriel Grand began dating in 2014. Ms. O’Neill’s twin had an inkling then that the relationship was going to get serious.

Bryan Braswell knew crab curry could get a little messy on his first date with Caroline White at a Sri Lankan restaurant. So he came prepared.

Matthew Burroughs and Diana McDermott married on May 4, which the bride referenced in her vows by saying, “May the force be with us.”

Alexandra Voyatzakis was initially reluctant to connect with Pontus Henriksson, but a few months later, when she had the opportunity again, she took it.

Rober Lawrence and Shawna Rodrigues, high school crushes, waited until the third act to make their love story official.

Megan Lerchenmuller and Glenn Josey, who worked together on a construction project, had drinks and dinner as colleagues. They soon began dating.

Sabrina Marzaro took a break from dating apps after relocating to Paris in 2020. When she returned to them, at the start of 2022, her first, and final, match was with Jorge Ruivinho.

Andrew Matt met Kayla Dye six years ago at an indoor cycling studio in Dallas after signing up for a class she was teaching. Both instructor and student were immediately smitten.

Wiktor Freifeld lived in Tusia Dabrowska’s apartment when she left Warsaw for New York. A deep friendship soon followed.

Maddie Whittle and Charles Bramesco met through the New York film scene, connecting over a shared sensibility (and an affinity for the horror genre).

Asiah James and Gerald Cannon II initially went with the flow, but after years of balancing professional ambitions and quality time together, decided to join forces forever.

Elaiza Ramos and Marc Reyes, high school sweethearts in the Philippines, broke up after graduating, but reunited several years later at a reunion with some classmates.

Ben Krauss flew to Athens to propose to Shana Mansbach, with the help of her State Department colleagues, on the last stop of a European tour.

As Deborah Yarchun and Benjamin Parr traveled across the country during the pandemic, their bond became stronger at each stop.

Alex Zhou and Eddie Kay met on a plane heading to Boston from Los Angeles. After going their separate ways, the two reconnected on social media.

Caroline Franklin, a teacher, and Kevin Wilkes, an architect, dated in high school, and then again 49 years later.

Sarah Wood was not interested in a long-distance relationship with Gustavo González. That changed after they met at a cafe in Spain.

Elena Bauer and Joshua Fagel weren’t looking for anything serious when they first met at a fraternity party at Stanford. A month after meeting, they had a change of heart.

Ten years after meeting at a party at Harvard, Svetlana Dotsenko and Fabián Poliak reconnected while both were traveling in Europe.

When they met at the wedding of two good friends, Alexandra Dale and Patrick Kohout discovered they had been born at the same hospital.

Tanya Sareen met Joel Adolphson, a former squadron mate of her brother Taj, who had been killed while serving six years earlier.

Krystle-Jayne Ng said she was a “serial dater.” Hanna Rinderknecht-Mahaffy was new to online dating. They hit it off instantly.

After seeing Joelle Gamble’s “Lord of the Rings” tattoo on her dating profile, Zachary Copeland believed he had found his soul mate. But he would have to wait more than a year to find out.

Arnim Kaiser and Pamela Grace were both out-of-towners dining alone in Arles, France. Their waitress was watching in the wings.