When asked if there was a seminal moment when he knew he wanted to marry Claire Christine Galiette, Harold William Strunk, otherwise known as Billy, did not hesitate.
“Honestly, our second date sealed it for me,” he said. “You bring in playoff baseball, beer, all-you-can-eat hot dogs and great conversation, and you have me pretty much locked in.”
Mr. Strunk, 30, the senior vice president for revenue cycle management at US Acute Care Solutions in North Canton, Ohio, was referring to Game 2 of the American League division baseball series in October 2016, between the Cleveland Indians and the visiting Boston Red Sox.
He was the guest of Ms. Galiette, a lifelong Red Sox fan.
“When I met Billy, he just kind of completed me,” said Ms. Galiette, 31, a brand manager for Nestlé in Solon, Ohio.
“Billy’s presence in my life made me realize what I had been missing in previous relationships: a partner who not only completed me but complemented me,” she said. “Billy was easy to talk to, easy to get along with, and extremely supportive.”
They met in person in September 2016, three months after connecting on the dating app Hinge, at the Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland, a city each had chosen to begin their respective careers after graduating from business school.
Ms. Galiette, who graduated from Amherst College, received an M.B.A. from Dartmouth, and Mr. Strunk, who graduated from Dartmouth, received an M.B.A. from Harvard.
Mr. Strunk, who grew up rooting for the Cincinnati Reds, said that he and Ms. Galiette had many things in common, including a love of baseball, country music and family.
“But the one thing that stood out about Claire above everything else was her willingness to compromise,” Mr. Strunk said.
“I had been in my-way-or-the-highway relationships before,” he added, “but those never lasted too long.” (Indeed, Ms. Galiette compromised with Mr. Strunk when they purchased a mini Australian labradoodle named Shiner, after Mr. Strunk’s favorite beer.)
They were married Sept. 12 by the groom’s uncle, the Rev. Dr. James Bosse, a Lutheran minister, at the Country Club in Pepper Pike, Ohio, before 27 guests, including the bride’s parents, Carolyn and Mark Galiette of Avon, Conn., and the groom’s parents, Laurie and Harry Strunk of Sarasota, Fla. Shiner also made an appearance, walking down the aisle with members of the wedding party.
They had first planned to marry April 25 with 200 guests at the Ocean Club of Florida in Delray Beach, Fla., but the coronavirus forced them to change those plans, and thwarted yet another potential wedding date, Dec. 5, at the same venue.
