At a Russian Palace, a Storybook Beginning

In August 2018, Svetlana Dotsenko and Fabián Alejandro Poliak were visiting the Peterhof palace complex in St. Petersburg, Russia, when Mr. Poliak decided to make a move. “I’m not leaving these grounds without trying for a kiss,” Mr. Poliak recalled thinking to himself. A short while later, they were running through the palace gardens in…

Getting Married During the Solar Eclipse

When Zach Horrall, a social media specialist at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Corlan McCollum, a children’s librarian, got engaged two years ago, they wanted to connect their wedding to a larger event. At first, they considered Halloween, but when they realized Indianapolis was in the path of totality for the April 8, 2024, solar…

At the Singles Table, Sparks Flew

Like many single people attending friends’ weddings, Alexandra Telford Dale and Patrick John Kohout were each given a rundown of eligible guests attending the June 4, 2022, nuptials of John O’Malley and Samantha Pelcher in Manchester, Vt. For whatever reason, though, “They left us off each other’s lists,” said Mr. Kohout, an account executive at…

Her First and Last Dating App Date

In February 2020, when Krystle-Jayne Mei-Ying Ng first saw the dating app profile of Hanna Sophia Rinderknecht-Mahaffy, one crucial detail struck her: her listed height. Ms. Rinderknecht-Mahaffy’s profile on Her, a dating app for L.G.B.T.Q. women and nonbinary people, said that she was 6-foot-6. For Ms. Ng, who is 5-foot-2, the height difference was a…