Whereas scrolling by means of the courting app Hinge, a university good friend of Alexis Lane Brugger got here throughout Timothy Wang’s profile and immediately thought she had discovered the right match, not for herself, however for her good friend Ms. Brugger. So she despatched him a direct message.
On September 12, 2020, Mr. Wang, 27 obtained an surprising message by means of the courting app. “Hey, this would possibly sound bizarre, however I believe you may be an incredible match for my good friend,” Mr. Wang recalled.
Mrs. Brugger, 24, was then a senior on the College of Michigan, and Mr. Wang had returned to his hometown of Novi, Michigan, due to the pandemic, the place he was working remotely as an funding banking analyst for Goldman Sachs.
“I wished to be in my childhood bed room as an alternative of staying in a shoebox in New York,” Mr. Wang stated.
He responded and Ms. Brugger’s good friend gave him Ms. Brugger’s Instagram title. “I used to be working 100 hours every week glued to my pc. I wanted some pleasure,” Mr. Wang stated.
He adopted Mrs Brugger and he or she adopted him again.
Two days later, Mr. Wang despatched a direct message to Ms. Brugger, and the 2 agreed to satisfy for dinner. On September 18, 2020, they met in particular person at Palio Italian Restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“We stayed till the restaurant closed,” Ms Brugger stated.
Mr Wang added: “We talked about all the pieces. They need to have kicked us out.”
The following morning, Mr. Wang advised they get smoothies and go for a stroll on the Nichols Arboretum, affectionately known as “The Arb.” Earlier than the stroll was over, Mrs. Brugger invited him to her party that night.
On the time, Mrs. Brugger was dwelling in a home with 5 different ladies. “He met everybody directly,” Ms. Brugger stated. And when he got here to speak to her, she stated, “My pals weren’t refined.”
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The 2 continued to satisfy. However solely on weekends due to their busy schedule. “I seemed ahead to each weekend along with her,” Mr. Wang stated.
In April 2021, though she was additionally accepted to the College of Chicago Regulation Faculty, Ms. Brugger determined to attend the College of Pennsylvania Cary Faculty of Regulation. “There have been no downsides,” stated Mr. Wang, apparently rooting for the varsity nearer to New York, the place he had moved again into an condo in Hell’s Kitchen in July 2021.
Ms. Brugger moved into her new condo in Philadelphia in August 2021, and Mr. Wang took the primary of many Amtrak journeys to assist her transfer in.
The 2 spent her first yr of regulation college commuting by practice between the 2 cities. “We made certain to make each second collectively treasured,” stated Mr. Wang. However in June 2022, they acquired much more moments when Ms. Brugger moved into Mr. Wang’s condo for her summer time internship on the regulation agency Barasch & McGarry.
She returned to regulation college within the fall, and Mr. Wang proposed just some months later.
Ms. Brugger and her grandmother have organized a “double date” on the Westin Lodge in Washington for Nov. 11, 2022, Mr. Wang stated. “Lex thought she was the masks to take his grandmother to her shock party on the Westin.” After they entered the foyer, Ms. Brugger’s grandmother stated she had forgotten one thing within the automobile.
Mr. Wang and Ms. Brugger continued up. “When the elevators opened, the room was revealed and the large phrases ‘Marry Me’ lit up,” Mr Wang stated. He led Mrs Brugger to the signal and knelt down. Each their households then rushed off to rejoice.
After finishing her second yr of regulation college, Ms. Brugger returned to New York in Could 2023 for a summer time internship at Kirkland & Ellis and lived with Mr. Wang in his condo in Hudson Yards, the place he had not too long ago moved .
On April 2, 2024, Mr. Wang moved into a brand new condo in midtown Manhattan, the place they reside to today.
Mr. Wang is a personal affiliate at TJC, an funding agency previously often called the Jordan Firm. Graduated from Columbia with a BA in Political Science.
Ms. Brugger will be part of the New York workplace of worldwide regulation agency Kirkland & Ellis as an affiliate in September. She graduated from the College of Michigan with a BA in Biopsychology, Cognitive and Neuroscience. She additionally obtained a regulation diploma from the College of Pennsylvania Carey Faculty of Regulation.
The couple had been married on August 17 on the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington by the Rev. Msgr. John Entzler, monsignor in residence at St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church in Bethesda, Maryland. The ceremony was adopted by a reception on the Mayflower Lodge with 180 company in attendance.
Mr. Wang’s dad and mom offered the couple with Qipao marriage ceremony apparel, or “crimson fortunate clothes,” Mr. Wang defined. The couple become them – the bride’s outfit was a phoenix design and the groom’s a dragon, as custom dictates – throughout the cake-cutting reception.
As a substitute of recent flowers, Heather Brugger, the mom of the bride, who’s an artist often called Heather Lynn, made 250 flower sculptures out of crystal and recycled glass.
“So many individuals equated our story to a fairy story,” Mr. Wang stated. “A fairy story wants a gathering with destiny, a collection of adventures and a fortunately ever after.”
