Kaitlyn Elizabeth Barclay and Ingrid Sheila Parl are both known in their social circles to be that friend you can call about relationship drama or a first date.
“We love to talk about love,” Ms. Barclay, 35, said. They have even officiated several of their friends’ weddings, which is what they bonded over when they connected on Hinge in November 2023.
Ms. Parl, 36, responded to a prompt on Ms. Barclay’s profile that read: “What if I told you that … I’ve officiated three weddings.”
“Her profile is just one of those 10 out of 10 profiles,” Ms. Parl said. “She’s stunning. She’s at business school at Columbia. She’s a C.E.O. of her company.” She took her time thinking of how to respond and went with: “I have my third next year! Any hot tips?”
“You’re clearly the expert! LMK when you want to compare notes,” Ms. Barclay replied, along with her phone number.
They met eight days later at LaLou, a wine bar in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
Ms. Barclay is a certified sommelier, which is one of her “flexes,” she said. She thought the cool, if-you-know-you-know spot would impress Ms. Parl. To her chagrin, she said, Ms. Parl ordered a beer.
They still had a great conversation, and what was meant to be a two-hour date became a five-hour date. They shared their officiant best practices, traded coming out stories and talked about their families — Ms. Parl grew up in Boston, and Ms. Barclay in Portland, Ore.
The date, which was on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, ended with an “epic first kiss,” Ms. Parl said. They had to wait until after the holiday to see each other again, “which was just like torture,” Ms. Parl said.
But throughout the holiday weekend, they were texting and planning their second date. Ms. Parl saved a slice of her family’s Bulgarian apple pie, a Thanksgiving tradition, and brought it to Ms. Barclay on their second date, which was at Bemelmans Bar on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Though a friend of Ms. Barclay’s crashed the date dressed as Santa’s elf, the two continued to discover how they saw eye to eye when it came to their core values. Their dating mantras were “partner over path,” Ms. Barclay said.
They felt that many of the people they had dated were rigid about certain life decisions, like having children, but they were both willing to discuss those decisions to find the right outcome for their partnership.
“I know I’m ready for a multitude of life paths that would make me equally happy,” Ms. Barclay said. “I want to first find the right partner and then create that together.”
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They ultimately found that in each other. They spent their days strolling through Brooklyn’s Prospect Park with one earbud in each person’s ear. They also sent love songs to each other. After their third date, Ms. Parl referred to Ms. Barclay as her “future wife.” (She has text evidence.)
Four weeks after they met, Ms. Parl went on a two-and-a-half-week trip to Australia. Ms. Barclay sneaked a letter into her suitcase, which she said she ended by writing: “I didn’t know how much joy there could be in falling in love.”
Ms. Parl returned from the trip early because of the sudden death of a close friend, and on the night she returned, they said “I love you” for the first time. Ms. Barclay accompanied Ms. Parl to Dallas, where the funeral was held.
In April, Ms. Barclay moved into Ms. Parl’s apartment in Prospect Heights. In June, while on a trip to Portland, Ore., Ms. Barclay proposed in Furioso Vineyards in Dundee, Ore.
Ms. Barclay is the chief executive and a founder of Scout Lab, a branding and communications agency. She received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Portland State University.
Ms. Parl is an investment director at Capital Group. She graduated from Wesleyan University with bachelor’s degrees in political science and psychology.
On the anniversary of their first date, Nov. 19, the couple were married at Brooklyn Borough Hall. Waldo Ramirez, a staff member of the City Clerk’s Office, officiated. Ms. Parl’s twin brother, Sam Parl, and Ms. Barclay’s sister, Ally Barclay, were present, and several family members and friends were outside city hall cheering.
As three-time officiants, one of the highlights of their day was exchanging their vows privately. They stayed at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge the night before the wedding. When they woke up, they ordered room service and read their vows over coffee with a sweeping view of the Brooklyn Bridge.
After the ceremony, they strolled in their wedding attire (Solace London for Ms. Barclay; Dries Van Noten for Ms. Parl) through the streets of Brooklyn holding hands, as drivers, store owners and pedestrians cheered them on.
“Everything felt perfect,” Ms. Parl said. “It felt like I was with a supermodel that I got to start calling my wife.”
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