When Carolyn Wood Holtzman, a New Orleans native living in New York, matched with Nikhil Ram Jyothinagaram, who grew up in Charlotte, N.C., on Bumble in September 2022, she thought she already knew who he was: Weeks earlier, she had spotted him on the Instagram story of a mutual friend.
Before even responding to the match, Ms. Holtzman texted that friend to ask about him. Mr. Jyothinagaram had done the same. Their mutual friend vouched for both and insisted they meet.
A week later, they met at Wallsé Next Door, a Viennese-inspired cocktail bar in Manhattan’s West Village. The evening turned into a six-hour stretch, with stops at the Otheroom, Barrow’s Pub and Bleecker Street Pizza. They talked about their upbringings and careers and quickly realized they had many mutual friends. “We noticed that many New Orleans girls and Charlotte boys kept ending up together,” Ms. Holtzman said.
They would soon learn that they were no exception.
Ms. Holtzman, 31, grew up in New Orleans and is the senior director of luxury, wines and spirits at Shadow, a public relations firm based in New York. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and Spanish from Washington and Lee University in Virginia.
Mr. Jyothinagaram, 32, whose parents are from Karnataka, India, was born in Cambridge, Mass. He is the head of product at Passage Health, a health care tech start-up based in New York, and has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Coincidentally, they both had upcoming trips to London. He was traveling with friends, and she was going for a wedding and a family trip. “Since we were going to be in London at the same time, I was hoping he would ask me out again,” she said.
He had wanted to see her just as much, but “I didn’t want to disturb her family trip, and I didn’t want to come off too strong,” he said.
On his last day in London, they met for Aperol spritzes at Harry’s Dolce Vita in Knightsbridge before his flight. Back in New York, they began seeing each other regularly and became exclusive in January 2023 and moved in together that October.
Since becoming a couple, they have attended 26 weddings, and in November 2023, while attending one in which he was the best man, Ms. Holtzman received a phone call that a close friend had died suddenly.
“On top of the grief, I felt so guilty that he had to hear this on a day that should be purely celebratory,” she said. He took her outside, stayed with her while she processed the shock, and suggested they leave — but she insisted they stay. “It was just an incredibly selfless thing to do,” he said.
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On May 30, 2025, Mr. Jyothinagaram secretly coordinated with her boss to ensure she would be home early after work. When Ms. Holtzman thought they were heading out to dinner, he asked her to step into the backyard of their apartment in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, where they currently reside. He proposed with an oval diamond solitaire ring as their families walked out to surprise her. They all celebrated afterward at Rosticceria Evelina in the neighborhood.
In November, both families traveled to Bangalore, India. Ms. Holtzman and her parents and sister immersed themselves in his culture and celebrated the couple’s engagement with his extended family.
Ms. Holtzman and Mr. Jyothinagaram married on March 21, across two days of celebrations in New Orleans, with 325 guests in attendance. “It was really important to intentionally blend our faith and family traditions so both felt equally represented,” Ms. Holtzman said.
On March 20, a traditional Hindu ceremony and reception were held at the Josephine, where the evening opened with a Baraat, the groom’s wedding procession, in the street. Mr. Jyothinagaram arrived by a horse-drawn carriage, followed by a parade of their guests as they entered the venue. Then Muhurtham, the Hindu wedding ceremony, followed, which included 12 rituals led by Viswanathan Sivamoorthi, a Hindu priest.
On March 21, the legal ceremony took place at St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, officiated by the Rev. Dr. Thomas Christian Currie. Ms. Holtzman walked down the aisle with her father, Eric Holtzman. A black-tie reception followed at the New Orleans Country Club.
A surprise brass band led the couple and their guests into the street for a traditional New Orleans second line — ending the weekend, as it began: with a parade.
The post A Groom’s Procession and a New Orleans Second Line appeared first on New York Times.
