Justin Cole Baiardi was accustomed to keeping people out of locations. But when Mr. Baiardi, a bouncer at the Woods in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, saw Kiera Lynn Rommel on March 19, 2016, all he wanted to do was let her in.
Mr. Baiardi was working at the back entrance that night. “I held the door open for her,” he said. “She touched me on the shoulder and I said, ‘It’s $40 for touch.’”
Ms. Rommel said his comment made her laugh. “I was like, ‘I’m sorry.’ And we had like a nice back and forth,” she said. They continued to connect throughout the night.
“It was so magnetic,” Ms. Rommel said. “It was like this visceral feeling like I need to be around this person.
He introduced himself to her as J., so she asked him what that stood for. He said, Justin. “I was born and raised on Justin Avenue in Staten Island,” she said. It felt like a sign.
At 3 a.m., Mr. Baiardi asked Ms. Rommel for her number, and, when he was done for the night, she offered him a ride home. He accepted.
“One of my good qualities is that I can tell when people are genuine and authentic,” Mr. Baiardi said.
As the sun rose, the two were still deep in conversation parked in front of Mr. Baiardi’s apartment. After five hours, they finally parted ways, but not before he asked if he could give her a kiss.
“I was like, ‘What have you been waiting for?” Ms. Rommel said.
They had their first date a few days later at Sidecar, a Park Slope, Brooklyn, restaurant that has since closed. “Our connection was electric,” Ms. Rommel said. As the restaurant began to close, the two didn’t want the evening to end. So, they strolled the neighborhood’s streets.
Dates out for dumplings on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and to the Museum of Sex NYC followed. And on May 28, 2016, Mr. Baiardi’s parents’ wedding anniversary, the two became an official couple.
In January 2018, about a year and a half after they met, the two moved to Denver from New York, having first visited for a week to see if it was a good fit.
“We moved to Denver because we love to experience all four seasons, the change of pace and scenery, the quality of life, and to experience living in a cannabis-friendly state,” Mr. Baiardi said.
When the couple first visited Denver, Mr. Baiardi learned how to cook with cannabis with Chef Jarod Farina, a.k.a. Chef Roilty.
[Click here to binge read this week’s featured couples.]
In the fall of 2020, Mr. Baiardi got a job as an instructor and private chef for Colorado Cannabis Tours, where he conducted private medicated dinner parties in the greater Denver area and in areas surrounding Denver.
In addition to his culinary cannabis work, Mr. Baiardi, 38, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, is a line cook at Root Down in downtown Denver. He attended Northampton Community College and Borough of Manhattan Community College.
Ms. Rommel, 39, is a professional counselor in private practice. She holds a master’s degree in art therapy from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. She grew up on Staten Island, N.Y.
On May 28, 2023, while the couple was on a weekslong vacation to Paris, Barcelona, Rome, and Florence, Italy, Mr. Baiardi proposed. It was his first time traveling outside of the United States.
After a day trip to Milan, the two returned to their Airbnb rental in Florence. “We had this gorgeous penthouse, and we had a balcony,” Ms. Rommel said. “I was sitting there, and he starts saying all these beautiful things. And then takes out this ring. It really caught me off guard. We were both crying and so happy.”
The two were wed at Jane’s Carousel at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Fifteen people attended. Sage Sovereign, ordained by Universal Life Church, officiated. After the ceremony, Ms. Rommel said, “We got to ride Jane’s Carousel with our whole family.” Later that evening, the couple celebrated with 75 guests at Bacchus Bistro in the Cobble Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn.
“We took the subway to the restaurant,” Ms. Rommel said. “We had so many congratulations and well wishes. People were asking to take pictures of us. My heart feels full from the love and adoration we received from loved ones and strangers.”
The post It All Started With a Brief Touch on the Shoulder appeared first on New York Times.
