Over coffee, Mr. Thorn asked to see Mr. Kaplan again, suggesting a Valentine’s Day date. They met up the next month at Cookshop, a Chelsea restaurant serving American fare. “He had flowers, and he was very romantic given the fact that we met only once before,” Mr. Kaplan said. “I knew he was a keeper at that point.”
Late-night phone calls, weekend hangouts and romantic getaways shaped the next six months, as the relationship became more serious and exclusive. Four years after their random first encounter, Mr. Thorn proposed in Paris on the Champ de Mars in September 2014. On Aug. 27, 2016, in front of 150 guests, they married at Bedell Cellars on the North Fork of Long Island.
“I certainly did not regret that our relationship started out that way. Some people are very hesitant to get into a ‘hooking up’ relationship,” Mr. Thorn said. “Sometimes that creates barriers for getting into relationships at all.”
Ms. MacLynn, the matchmaking service owner, has witnessed these instances, exclusive of her business. “A very good friend of mine met her husband at a birthday party. They had an amazing physical relationship. The feelings and the emotions and the attachment came after, which was a surprise, really, to both of them.”
Despite the initial shock for couples, and their inner circles, it’s evident that long-term bonds can evolve from spontaneous beginnings.
One evening in November 2015, Lindsay Walus, then a part-time bartender, decided to go out drinking with her friends at McSwiggan’s Pub in Hoboken, N.J., where she lived. “I had no intentions of meeting anybody,” said Ms. Walus, who was recently single.
