When Kyle Dixon Moore met Courtney Midge Seamon the week before Thanksgiving seven years ago, he knew he had to act quickly to make an impression on her before leaving town for the holiday.
The two connected through Kelly McFarland, Ms. Seamon’s cousin and current business partner and also a friend of Mr. Moore, on Nov. 21, 2015 at the bar at Union Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
“Kelly wasn’t setting us up,” Ms. Seamon said. “Kyle saw me and said, ‘I really want to meet your cousin.’”
Mr. Moore recalled, “Kelly basically said that I wasn’t Courtney’s type and honestly alluded to the fact that she might be out of my league.”
Although a setup was definitely not on Ms. McFarland’s mind when she invited them both out for drinks, Mr. Moore and Ms. Seamon ended up hitting it off. While discussing their respective parents’ divorces and subsequent remarriages, they realized they shared a lot of similarities. “It’s not the most common first conversation, but it felt natural,” Mr. Moore said.
Thanksgiving was the next Thursday. Mr. Moore wanted to see Ms. Seamon once more before he left town. “So, I got my roommates to throw a party the next night,” Mr. Moore said.
Mr. Moore worked in customer service — the 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift — for the New York-based fantasy sports company FanDuel. So, he was answering calls during the party while trying to spend time with Ms. Seamon.
Ms. Seamon happened to have a fantasy football team. “He asked to see my lineup. I gave him my phone, and he put in his number,” Ms. Seamon said. “I ran over and told all my girlfriends. We all giggled.”
Having just gotten a job as a product assistant with Macy’s corporate in Manhattan, Ms. Seamon couldn’t travel and had to spend Thanksgiving in Brooklyn with friends. She texted Mr. Moore the night before Thanksgiving. “Hey, what’s your Snapchat?”
Mr. Moore, who was visiting family in Norfolk, Va., had been busily crafting the “perfect” holiday text and was bummed she beat him to the punch. “I know you’re missing your family and you’re sad that you can’t be with them. Thinking of you and hopefully we can get together and celebrate when I’m back in Brooklyn,” Mr. Moore texted.
The next day, he texted her again and invited her to a basketball game. Ms. Seamon was delighted and accepted.
On Nov. 27, 2015, they went on a double date with friends of Mr. Moore to the Nebraska vs. Cincinnati N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament in Brooklyn.
“Kyle thought that would be a nice token of home since I wasn’t able to make it back for Thanksgiving,” Ms. Seamon said. “It was perfect because I’m from a small town outside of Cincinnati and the other couple were huge Nebraska fans.”
Despite her wanting to take things slowly, there was no stopping what was unfolding between them. “We started dating after that first date — it just flowed into a relationship after that,” Ms. Seamon said.
Mr. Moore, 32, from Norfolk, Va., is a Sportsbook product manager at BetMGM, based in Jersey City, N.J., with a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina in sports and entertainment management.
Ms. Seamon, 29, is a content creator and a founder of the New York-based lifestyle and fashion blog Mimosas & Manhattan. She has a bachelor’s from Indiana University in apparel merchandising and marketing.
In September 2018, they moved into an apartment in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. “Neither of us had ever lived with a significant other, but it proved to be the best decision,” Ms. Seamon said. At the same time, Ms. Seamon decided to work independently as a social media content creator because, she said, “I had started to make an income off of it.” Two years later, the couple moved back to an apartment in Williamsburg.
Then in 2020, the pandemic hit New York and tested their relationship — in a good way. “We spent 450 days with each other and never once got tired of the other person,” Ms. Seamon said.
Mr. Moore proposed Dec. 17, 2020 at the William Vale, a hotel in Williamsburg. “I thought I was going there to shoot a Nivea campaign,” Ms. Seamon said. This was a fib Mr. Moore had cooked up with her cousin Ms. McFarland.
“I had even signed a contract,” Ms. Seamon said. “So, it was a huge shock.” Mr. Moore proposed with an oval diamond ring set in rose gold.
On Nov. 26, the two were wed before 162 guests at the Monastery Event Center in Cincinnati. Stephen Story, Mr. Moore’s stepfather, who became ordained by American Marriage Ministries for the event, officiated.
Ms. Seamon wore an antique gold and ivory gown with beaded embroidery gifted to her by its designer Badgley Mischka and Lotus Bridal, a wedding salon with locations in Brooklyn, New York and Mineola, N.Y.
The couple honored their dating journey at their reception with a pop-a-shot basketball game, a late-night bar serving Cincinnati Skyline Chili, and, of course, Thanksgiving pies — pumpkin, pecan, and apple.
