He Said (I Do), She Said (I Do)

When Nick Cugini received a Facebook friend request from Stacey Chen, he was intrigued, and a little amused. The two, who were then teenagers, had met for the first time at the Tournament of Champions, a top-tier debate competition for high school students at Northwestern University. Mr. Cugini, now 30, was a relative newcomer to…

United by a Deep Connection to Brooklyn

Michelle Lorenzutti and David Alperin began dating in 2019, but in some ways their love story started much earlier, when their great-grandparents arrived in Brooklyn in the first half of the 20th Century. That history turned out to be key to the connection the couple developed decades later. Ms. Lorenzutti’s forebears fled persecution in Russia…

His Song Got Her Attention

Mary Alexandra Kougeas Crowley perked up her ears when Justin Warren Douds sang “I’m just a bachelor. I’m looking for a partner” the winter of 2014 at a karaoke league competition at a Washington bar. Neither, though, was looking for a partner at the time. “I sang Magic Mike’s ‘Pony,’ but I didn’t do the…

Side by Side at Work, and Now in Life

Bria Schirripa can easily rattle off many of Michael Buccarelli’s admirable qualities. “He’s extremely loyal, very family-oriented and has a really fun side to him,” said Ms. Schirripa, 29, who met Mr. Buccarelli, 32, in March 2016, when they began working in side-by-side cubicles at First Data Corporation, a financial services firm in Jersey City,…

First a ‘Third Wheel,’ Then a Couple

When asked what they believed brought them together in December 2017, Dr. Christine Gruessner and Przemyslaw Grabowski each offered an explanation that could be summed up in a single word: magnetism. “We were instantly magnetized toward each other,” said Dr. Gruessner, 35, an internal medicine resident at the University of Minnesota. “He was on a…