A Wedding in Charleston

In October of 2018, after a laundry list of terrible first dates and swiping left/right, I had almost given up on the dating world. I had resigned myself to focusing on my career and taking over the world some day instead, but lo and behold, one October morning I was doing my usual Hinge scroll while sipping my Starbucks latte when a message popped up that said, "You had me at cheese plate and good drinks." To provide some context for those who don't know, Hinge is a dating app where you post photos and share some interesting facts or things you like to do and anyone can like or comment on those things if they feel it's a good match (or at least that's the way it worked in 2018). For anyone who knows me, they know my love for cheese and a good cheese plate goes deep. I love creating charcuterie boards and sharing them with family and friends (and yes, eating them by myself, too!). I had shared this in my Hinge profile and Larry sent me that message in response. I smiled immediately and clicked on the message to respond right away. And that's where our story began.

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At the time, Larry was in his last year of medical school and doing rotations at various hospitals to gain experience and figure out where he wanted to match for his residency. Back then, I was working for Health Quest (now Nuvance Health) in the marketing department, had a passion for the medical field, and was involved in creating the recruitment and program materials for our new residency program that was just starting. We connected about that right away, talking at length and with ease. Before long, we both decided it was time to meet each other, but thanks to Larry's work schedule and traveling, and some illnesses on my part, we weren't able to make that happen until December 8, 2018.

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Our first date took place in Highland at one of my favorite places at the time, Underground Coffee & Ales. I spent most of my time at this cute little coffee and espresso bar that also served food and craft beer. Larry was coming back from a residency interview in Pennsylvania and met me at Underground on his way home. We connected as quickly in person as we did on Hinge, and our coffee date turned into eight hours without us realizing it. It was the longest and best first date I've ever had.

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As luck would have it, Larry matched with his top choice for an internal medicine residency program in Naples, Florida and moved there only six short months after we started dating. I swore I would never move to Florida, and yet, a year later that is exactly what I did. I had been traveling between New York and Florida every other month, and the back and forth was becoming challenging (and expensive!). Then the country shut down thanks to COVID-19 and we weren't able to see each other for months. As with many people, the chaos and craziness of a country wide shutdown and the panic of a pandemic made us reevaluate what was most important to us. We no longer wanted to be apart from one another, and decided to move in together in August of 2020. Shortly after, with most of my belongings loaded into a storage unit in New York, I packed my Jeep full of clothes and necessities, and made the very long road trip to Florida by myself.

 

When Larry matched for his endocrine fellowship at MUSC in Charleston, we were both excited and anxious to check out the area. I fell in love with both the city and Daniel Island, which is where we now live. After filling out the paperwork for our apartment, Larry proposed right there in our hotel room. A couple of months later we moved from Florida to Charleston, and have been here for more than a year now.

 

If it were up to only me, we'd never leave this magical place, although it's a little too far away from our friends and family for my liking. The city is alive with history, religion, art, cocktails and food. And let me tell you, the food here is out of this world. People are friendly and the weather is beautiful all year long (although in the summer it gets just a little too hot in my opinion). There is always something to do and see, from historical landmarks, to festivals, to plantations and farms, and the many beautiful beaches that are all less than thirty minutes away. It's a place that has stolen my heart and while New York will always be our true home, we couldn't think of a more perfect place to get married than Charleston.

 

A fun little full circle moment in our story — Larry recently signed a contract with Nuvance Health (where I used to work when we first met) for full time employment after he finishes his fellowship in July of 2025, so we'll be moving yet again (my 5th move in 9 years) to Norwalk, Connecticut next summer. While I'm sad to leave this beautiful place, we're both so excited to be returning closer to home, family and friends to begin married life together. Our wedding celebration will be somewhat of our loving farewell with some of our favorite people, and we are so incredibly excited to show you a little taste of Charleston in the hopes that you fall in love with it as well.

 

We can't wait to celebrate with each of you as we start off married life together to continue our own little love story.