When Kavi Mannan Packiam first laid eyes on Stephanie Soledad Rodriguez at a birthday party for his childhood friend, Gautham Jothi, Mr. Packiam told Mr. Jothi that he thought she was gorgeous.
Mr. Jothi told him to forget it. She was Mr. Jothi’s colleague and was afraid that she might be making things messy for him at work. However, when Ms Rodriguez expressed interest in Mr Packiam, Mr Jothi gave his blessing.
After the November 2019 birthday party at Le Bain, a nightclub in New York, Ms. Rodriguez made plans to go to Pho 87, a restaurant on Chrystie Street, with Mr. Jothi and his husband. When Mr. Packiam heard this, he called himself together. “Kavi didn’t even like pho,” Ms. Rodriguez said.
As soon as she got into a taxi after dinner, Ms. Rodriguez texted Mr. Jothi to ask if Mr. Pakyam was free. It was him.
A week later, Ms Rodriguez contacted Mr Packiam on Instagram. The couple’s first date was on December 6 at the Chefs Club on Mulberry Street. It went so well that Ms. Rodriguez invited Mr. Packiam to her Upper East Side apartment the next day for a holiday party. On February 1, 2020, they became friends.
Six weeks later, the pandemic prevailed. On March 15, Ms. Rodriguez headed to her mother’s home in Riverside, Ill. Five days later, Mr. Packiam retired to his brother’s home in Delmar, N.Y. In late spring, the two returned to New York. But by mid-August, Mr. Packiam was ready to move on, and Ms. Rodriguez was not. They decided to separate. But fate kept bringing them together.
First, in mid-September, they locked eyes outside Mitchell’s Wine and Liquor Store on the Upper West Side, but were unsure of each other’s identities because they were wearing masks. “We immediately texted each other that we met each other’s doppelgänger,” Ms. Rodriguez said. “We ended up hanging out later that weekend.”
A few weeks later, the universe intervened again. Mr. Packiam was going to the Breakneck Ridge Trail and Ms. Rodriguez was heading to the Wilkens Fruit & Fir Farm in Yorktown, N.Y. “We somehow ended up sitting in the exact same train car at the same time,” Ms. Rodriguez said. Both were with mutual friends. Aside from a brief hello and laugh, they mostly caught glimpses of each other’s faces in the window before continuing on with their respective days.
A month later, Ms. Rodriguez flew to her family’s home in Chiapas, Mexico, to work remotely from her family compound for the rest of the year.
She and Mr Packiam texted while he was away. Although they weren’t “officially together”, Mr Packiam said, he accepted her invitation to visit in late December. She met her entire extended family on her mother’s side. “They treated me like family,” Mr Packiam said.
Ms Rodriguez said she fell in love with Mr Packiam all over again during the visit. But, “we said we wouldn’t talk about getting back together until we flew back,” she said. On December 29, they both returned to New York. Two nights later, they celebrated the new year by getting back together.
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Ms. Rodriguez, 27, is a vice president in BlackRock’s strategic partner program. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Dayton in Ohio. He grew up in Riverside, Ill.
Mr Packiam, 35, is founder and managing director at Layer 7 Capital, a boutique investment bank. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stony Brook University. Mr. Packiam grew up in Southbury, Conn.
The couple married on January 27 at Bethesda Terrace in Central Park, the same place Mr Packiam proposed. Mr Packiam’s childhood friend Arjun Krishnamoorthy, who was ordained by Universal Life Church, officiated. A street performer below the porch happened to play one of the couple’s favorite songs, Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” throughout the ceremony.
Six people were present. “It was nice to have a little ceremony so we could just focus on being with each other,” Mr Packiam said, ahead of a bigger celebration the couple are hosting from February 1 to 4 in Mexico City, during which will honor their Mexican and Indian culture. Mr. Jothi will give the opening speech at the welcome party.
“A lot of my relationship with Kavi felt like I was living a rom-com set in New York,” Ms. Rodriguez said. “Only much better.”