On their second date, a neighborhood stroll toward Red Hook, Mr. Miner took Mr. Bittar’s hand. “I know it sounds crazy, but I felt like, ‘Wow, that really fit,’” Mr. Bittar said.
A relationship ensued, and in February 2019, it came time for Mr. Miner to meet Mr. Bittar’s twins. He arrived with a gift: bear-shaped cookies he’d noticed at the counter of the coffee house where the couple had their first date.
“I used to think to myself, ‘If and when I meet Sophie and Ivan, I’m going to bring them these little cookie bears,’” Mr. Miner said.
About a year later, with Covid in full swing, the couple and the twins left Brooklyn, first on a planned vacation to the Dominican Republic, then to a house in North Monmouth, Maine, where Mr. Bittar spent his childhood summers. During that period, Mr. Miner founded a clothing line, Interior, with Lily Miesmer, a close friend since eighth grade. In May 2021, they returned to Brooklyn, and Mr. Miner moved into the family home.
On the evening of June 1, 2021, as the children watched cartoons on television, Mr. Bittar presented Mr. Miner with a set of rings he designed, one for each of them. The sleek 18-carat matte gold bands, created to serve as both engagement and wedding rings, were made by Lori McLean, a fine jeweler and friend of Mr. Bittar’s. With the bands in his hands, Mr. Bittar whispered in Mr. Miner’s ear, “Will you marry me?”
