Ryan William Smith and Andrea Marie Gallo met in early October 2022 at Weehawken Stadium in New Jersey.
Ms. Gallo, who had joined an intramural softball league that practiced there, loved how supportive Mr. Smith was of her and the rest of the team. “I assumed he’d be a macho sports guy who wouldn’t be my type — until he smiled and said hello,” Ms. Gallo said. “He was always cheering me on.”
Mr. Smith was charmed by Ms. Gallo’s openness and warmth. Seeing one another every week at the game quickly became something each looked forward to.
In late October, after the season had ended, the two made plans to stay in touch. Mr. Smith asked Ms. Gallo to join him and some friends at a Halloween party. “That evening, I met Tony, Andrea’s five-month-old cockapoo puppy, who quickly approved of me,” he said.
As they headed to the party together, Ms. Gallo learned that Mr. Smith was eight years her junior. “But he is an old soul,” she said.
Mr. Smith, 27, is an associate at Polise Consulting Engineers in New York City, where he specializes in mechanical engineering. He holds a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., with a concentration in sustainable energy.
Ms. Gallo, 36, is a pediatric occupational therapist for the New York City Department of Education, supporting students with developmental and physical challenges. She holds a bachelor’s in social and behavioral science with a minor in psychology and a master’s in occupational therapy, both from Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.
All through November, they found themselves spending more time together, but cautiously, since each had recently ended a relationship.
While attending separate holiday parties in early December, however, they couldn’t stop thinking about each other. Ms. Gallo decided to call Mr. Smith, and he invited her over to his apartment in Jersey City the next day to help him decorate his Christmas tree and get takeout from Los Tres Chilitos, a Mexican restaurant.
That night, she drew a rose on his arm after he mentioned he was considering a tattoo. (About a month later, he got a permanent version.)
Although that dinner had a romantic vibe, the two consider Dec. 14, 2022, to be their first official date. They went to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and had dinner at Blue Willow, a Hunan restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, followed by drinks at Darling, a rooftop bar at the Park Lane Hotel. “Sitting side-by-side in a booth overlooking Central Park, we realized this was unmistakably a date,” Mr. Smith said.
Two days later, they went to see the Christmas lights in the Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, which has since become an annual tradition. For their third date, on Dec. 28, they went ice-skating in Jersey City.
Numerous New York City dates soon followed: getting tacos at Chelsea Market, trying out the batting cages at Chelsea Piers, and wandering through the Museum of Illusions. Somewhere along their adventures, they first exchanged the words, “I love you.”
“Andrea let it slip first,” Mr. Smith said. “I immediately said it back.”
Mr. Smith moved into Ms. Gallo’s apartment in Hoboken in July 2024.
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On Nov. 6, 2025, just two days before they were planning to go away for the weekend to celebrate Ms. Gallo’s birthday, she suddenly felt sick. Mr. Smith joked that perhaps she was pregnant.
She took a test and realized it was not a joke at all — they are expecting a boy this July. “It was overwhelming in the best possible way,” Ms. Gallo said.
Two days later, they left for their getaway at Pendry Natirar, a hotel in Peapack, N.J., and Mr. Smith proposed.
The couple was married Feb. 1 at Battello, a restaurant and event space in Jersey City, by Kevin Cahn, a friend who was ordained by the Universal Life Church. Ninety-nine guests were in attendance.
“During the reception I took a walk up to the mezzanine,” Mr. Smith said. “I could see my bride laughing and taking photos with her friends, the band was playing ‘Harvest Moon.’ I’ll remember that moment forever.”
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