Tina Liu is not afraid to admit that she chased Michael Ghory.<\/p>\n
The couple first met on the dating app Happn in 2014. A self-described \u201csneakerhead,\u201d Mr. Ghory posted photos of his outfits \u2014 some taken by street-style photographers like Tommy Ton \u2014 on his dating profile. He hoped that the right woman would appreciate his sense of style. Enter Ms. Liu.<\/p>\n
They began with a three-hour phone call that went smoothly, and then planned their first in-person date. But Mr. Ghory, who is from Lexington, Mass., and Milwaukee, canceled at the last minute, saying his brother was in town.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t entirely honest,\u201d Mr. Ghory, 39, said. \u201cMy brother lived in town. It was hard to say to him, \u2018No, we\u2019re not going to hang out because I\u2019m going to go on this date with a stranger.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was furious, like, screw this guy,\u201d said Ms. Liu, who moved to Federal Way, Wash., from Hunan, China, with her family in 1992. \u201cI was just on to the next.\u201d<\/p>\n
That winter, they matched again on Tinder. Ms. Liu, 33, decided to give him another chance. \u201cDating in New York is really hard,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I was like, OK, nothing better has emerged, so I\u2019m going to swipe right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Ghory planned a date at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. But to test the waters, they first met for coffee at Via Quadronno, an Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side. Excited but nervous, Ms. Liu borrowed her friend\u2019s Acne Studios sneakers because she didn\u2019t think she owned anything \u201cworthy of the shoe guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Ghory noticed the sneakers and, to equally impress her, he surprised her with a spaceship figurine, as Ms. Liu had once mentioned that she was interested in space.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think, probably subconsciously, it was a little forgiveness gift \u2014 please forgive me for flaking last time,\u201d Mr. Ghory said. <\/p>\n
Six dates followed, but work became too demanding for both of them, and things fizzled.<\/p>\n
Then, in March 2016, they ran into each other at Bed Bath & Beyond on a Friday night. Mr. Ghory was preparing to leave for a new job with Adidas in Portland, Ore., but he asked Ms. Liu if they could catch up over dinner. She said no.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so horrified that I did not look the way I was hoping I would when I ran into him,\u201d said Ms. Liu, who had just emerged from a workout class. Instead, she suggested that they go out the next day.<\/p>\n
They went to the Trailer Park Lounge and realized that their connection was still strong. Even though he was moving across the country, Ms. Liu didn\u2019t want to let him go.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ghory messaged her every time he returned to New York, and she visited him once in Portland in September 2016. After that trip, Ms. Liu knew she loved him. She told him a week after her trip, but Mr. Ghory didn\u2019t say it back.<\/p>\n
[Click here to binge read this week\u2019s featured couples.]<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my last Hail Mary,\u201d Ms. Liu said. \u201cI know I did everything I could to make something that I really believed in happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, they stopped talking.<\/p>\n
In May 2017, Ms. Liu noticed on Facebook that it was Mr. Ghory\u2019s birthday and sent him a \u201cthirst trap\u201d selfie of her wearing a formal dress, hoping it would spark something again. They rekindled their relationship through text messages, and soon attended weddings together as each other\u2019s dates.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ghory decided to move to Cambridge, Mass., to be closer to his father, who had prostate cancer, and secured a job there as the director for North America merchandising for Converse. In November 2017, he saw Ms. Liu before moving and gave her a notecard that read, \u201cWill you be my girlfriend?\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that they were on the same coast \u2014 Ms. Liu in New York, and Mr. Ghory in Cambridge \u2014 they took the bus to visit each other every weekend. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, Ms. Liu moved into Mr. Ghory\u2019s apartment for two weeks, which turned into two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s the first person in my entire life who I can just spend every hour of every day with and not get annoyed or need separation,\u201d said Mr. Ghory.<\/p>\n
On March 12, 2022, Mr. Ghory enlisted Ms. Liu\u2019s brother, Kevin, to photograph the proposal at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, underneath an arch leading to the courtyard. Afterward, they celebrated in a suite at the Kimpton Marlowe Hotel.<\/p>\n
The couple married Aug. 12 at Peirce Farm at Witch Hill in Topsfield, Mass., by Mr. Ghory\u2019s brother Joseph, who was ordained by the Universal Life Church. Their 133 guests included Ms. Liu\u2019s parents, who moved back to Hunan in 2004 and have lived there since. The couple celebrated with both Jewish and Chinese traditions. They plan to host a traditional tea ceremony in China in a few months.<\/p>\n
Ms. Liu, who holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in philosophy and psychology from New York University, works as the director for global social content at Supergoop, a sunscreen company. Mr. Ghory, who has a master\u2019s in business administration from Columbia and a bachelor\u2019s in English from Tufts University, recently left the sneaker world to become the vice president for apparel and lifestyle at Yuga Labs, a web3 company.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told Tina in my vows, \u2018I promise to love you more than shoes,\u2019\u201d Mr. Ghory said. \u201cI\u2019ve always made these decisions for a shoe career. And now, I\u2019m making decisions for a family.\u201d Next month, he plans to move to New York to be with Ms. Liu.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had a thousand lives to live,\u201d Ms. Liu said, \u201cI would make the same choice to pursue him every time.\u201d<\/p>\n