When Richard John Ferraro and David Lawrence Mansur matched on the dating app Chappy in November 2018, it wasn’t the first time they had been paired before. Another dating app, the League, had matched them two years earlier, but they never managed to connect.
“I was shocked when I realized later on in our relationship that I had screenshotted and saved David’s profile picture back then,” said Mr. Ferraro, who goes by Rich. “It was as if I knew something would happen in the future.”
Both were receptive to dating but weren’t necessarily looking for lifetime love. “I was open to something serious, but not actively seeking it,” Mr. Ferraro said. His work in L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy and communications at GLAAD had him involved in the effort to make marriage equality the law from 2008 to 2015, before it was enacted nationwide. Still, he wasn’t sure he would ever get married.
Mr. Mansur was in the thick of starting a political advising and fund-raising business, Culver Place Strategies, but pushed himself to have “a personal and romantic life again,” he said. Both men lived alone — Mr. Ferraro in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood and Mr. Mansur in Brooklyn Heights.
After messaging, they set up a date for the following week at Good Behavior, a rooftop bar at the Made Hotel in Manhattan. Mr. Mansur, 44, noticed Mr. Ferraro’s “adorable smile” right away, while Mr. Ferraro described Mr. Mansur as “hot.”
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The bar had no seats, so they wandered to another, which was also too crowded. As they walked through the cold, Mr. Ferraro, 41, kept Mr. Mansur laughing with a steady stream of jokes. They eventually landed at a now-closed Pan-Asian restaurant, Piggyback, where the conversation flowed easily — from politics to their jobs — and they shared a large chocolate-chip cookie for dessert.
They parted at the Penn Station subway stop, but Mr. Mansur texted Mr. Ferraro when he got home, saying that he had enjoyed their “semi-unorthodox” conversation. “Ditto,” he replied.
The pair texted nonstop for the few days following their date, and met again two days later for a cheese pie at the now-closed Hell’s Kitchen pizza spot, B Squared. Afterward, they went to Mr. Ferraro’s apartment, where, in the living room, Mr. Mansur lifted him off the ground and kissed him. “It was magical and felt like a movie,” Mr. Ferraro said.
Soon after, their texting picked up, even as each went home for the holidays and took separate trips with friends over New Year’s Eve. Once they were back in New York, they met up often. One evening, they went to see the “Drunk Shakespeare” play in Midtown Manhattan, and on another, they caught a dinner theater performance of Medieval Times in Lyndhurst, N.J.
On Valentine’s Day, after a night of bowling and Mexican food at the now-shuttered Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila in Brooklyn Heights, they agreed to be boyfriends and took themselves off their dating apps. The two became intertwined in each other’s lives. Mr. Mansur joined Mr. Ferraro as his plus one at L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy events, while Mr. Ferraro accompanied him to political gatherings.
They took their first vacation together in the summer of 2019 to Tulum, Mexico. Mr. Ferraro met Mr. Mansur’s family in the fall on a trip to Anaheim, Calif., and on Christmas Eve, Mr. Mansur joined Mr. Ferraro’s family at his mother’s house in Shelton, Conn., for a Feast of the Seven Fishes.
Mr. Ferraro grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn; Staten Island; and Shelton, Conn. He is the chief communications officer for the L.G.B.T.Q. media advocacy organization GLAAD in New York, and also serves as an executive producer for the GLAAD Media Awards. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and electronic media from the George Washington University.
Mr. Mansur is from Anaheim. He is the founder of Culver Place Strategies, a New York-based fund-raising and advising firm for federal, state and local political candidates and organizations. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Marquette University.
When Covid hit, Mr. Ferraro moved in with Mr. Mansur in his Brooklyn Heights apartment, which remains their home. They rode out the lockdown playing cards, watching movies and taking long walks. “I didn’t want to be anywhere else,” Mr. Ferraro said.
As a daily gesture of affection, Mr. Mansur drew a heart on the glass shower door for Mr. Ferraro each morning — something he still does. By then, Mr. Ferraro was sure that he had found “the one.”
Mr. Mansur’s moment was in May 2023 in the emergency room at NYU Langone Health, where they waited for nearly 24 hours for the results of Mr. Ferraro’s M.R.I. for leg pain and numbness. The diagnosis was multiple sclerosis.
“That was the first time I thought about how fragile life could be and how I wanted to live the rest of my life with him,” Mr. Mansur said.
He proposed in September 2024, when they returned to their apartment after a night out with friends. As they opened the door, their Boston terrier, Penny, ran toward them wearing a Tiffany collar hanging with a platinum Tiffany band. Mr. Mansur got down on one knee, removed the ring and asked Mr. Ferraro to marry him.
They wed Dec. 13 before 180 guests at Current, an event space in Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers. Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD’s president and chief executive, officiated, with Letitia James, the New York attorney general and a friend of the couple, participating in the ceremony.
At the reception, they shared their first dance to “I Knew I Loved You” by Savage Garden. The actress and singer Eden Espinosa serenaded guests with “Once Upon a Time” from the Broadway musical “Brooklyn” and Lady Gaga’s “Is That Alright?” For dessert, the newlyweds cut an Italian rainbow cake, honoring Mr. Ferraro’s Italian heritage and the L.G.B.T.Q. community.
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