In October 2020, Melissa Cuc was visiting friends in South Florida. They were excited to attend a party that weekend. It was not.
“I said I’d rather die than go out for Halloween in Miami,” Ms Cuc, 27, said.
She caved and ended up at the party, wearing a leopard print skirt. Early in the event, Ms. Cuc was separated from her friends. As he scanned the crowded venue for them, he locked eyes with Alexander Witkoff. He wore a cowboy hat and boots — and an engaging smile.
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The two struck up a conversation and immediately felt comfortable with each other.
“He had a lively personality and a positive attitude,” Mr. Witkoff, 31, said. “She radiated happiness.”
They made plans to meet the next day because Ms. Cuc, who works as a model, would soon be returning to New York for work. For their first date, they went to a barbecue hosted by Mr. Witkoff’s friends and spent the afternoon jet skiing.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, her modeling gig was postponed and the two ended up spending eight straight days together.
“Every night was the last night,” he recalls. “Luckily, or unfortunately, I was able to stay.”
When the time finally came for Ms. Cuc to leave Florida, she and Mr. Witkoff vowed to continue their budding romance. They made frequent trips to each other’s cities. Mr. Witkoff, who grew up in New York and has many relatives there, introduced Ms. Cuc to his family on Thanksgiving, just weeks after they first met. In April 2021, Ms. Cuc moved to Miami.
“It was going fast, but it didn’t seem strange to me,” he said. “It felt right.”
It wasn’t the first time she shook her life in such a way. Ms. Cuc, whose family is Romanian, grew up in Stuttgart, Germany, and moved to New York alone at the age of 18 to pursue a dream: to model and travel the world.
Mr. Witkoff earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a managing director at Witkoff, a real estate development and investment firm founded by his father, Steven Witkoff. Ms. Cuc, who still works as a model, recently obtained a real estate license.
“Leaving my friends and coming to Miami to be with Alex was an adjustment,” she said. “But it was exciting. We started making new friend groups together.”
Mrs. Cuc visits her family in Europe a few times each year. Shortly before their courtship, Mr. Vitkoff began accompanying her on those trips. “He took in my family and friends as if they were his own, which was very, very special to me,” Ms Cuc said.
In November 2022, the couple vacationed at a resort in Costa Rica. Ms. Cuc had meticulously planned her activities for each day, so she was shocked to discover that Mr. Witkoff had stolen enough time to decorate a terrace where they were to dine. He decorated it with flowers and candles and hired singers to serenade them.
That’s where Mr. Witkoff proposed.
Ms Cuc said she was so surprised she “kind of blacked out” at the moment.
“I had him redo everything after,” she said. “It was beautiful.”
The two tied the knot on February 3 at the Breakers Palm Beach Resort. Rabbi Paul Offenkrantz led the interfaith ceremony in front of 350 guests. (The groom is Jewish and the bride Greek Orthodox.)
Mr Witkoff said his relationship with Ms Cuc was vital to the balance in his life. “Her focus on family and friends and loved ones helps remind me of what’s important,” he said.
And Mr. Witkoff, she said, gave her something equally valuable: “He’s a big safe place in my life.”