Sydney Dana Reade was drawn to Samuel Bennett Zweighaft’s Hinge profile in mid-January 2021 after seeing the initials TCM, which she immediately recognized as Turner Classic Movies, the classic film TV channel.
“He said his perfect date night was watching TCM,” Ms. Reade said. “80-year-olds watch that channel, not 30-year-olds. But I watch it.”
After matching on the app, the two had a first date on a video calling platform on Jan. 31. The conversation flowed and went deep. Mr. Zweighaft, 31, asked Ms. Reade, also 31, if she wanted children. They also discussed how religious they were (both are Jewish) and their shared desire to continue living close to their families in New York. Before they knew it, four hours had passed.
The video date was followed by other virtual meetings over the next few days until their first in-person meet-up on Feb. 15. Part of the plan was to hang out at Ms. Reade’s apartment in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan and, yes, watch a classic movie: “An American in Paris.”
Neither loved the film and Ms. Reade dozed off with her head on Mr. Zweighaft’s lap. “It was a good sign that she was comfortable enough to fall asleep on me,” he said.
More good signs and good dates followed and, in September 2022, Ms. Reade moved into Mr. Zweighaft’s apartment in Sunnyside, Queens. By that point, they had already talked about marriage. “We were dating with the intention of finding people to marry,” he said.
Ms. Reade, who grew up in Jericho, N.Y., has a bachelor’s degree in communication from Cornell and a law degree from Georgetown. She is an associate attorney in the business litigation department at the law firm Morrison Cohen in Midtown East.
Mr. Zweighaft is from Forest Hills, Queens. He studied software engineering at DeVry University at the Midtown South campus but left before graduating. He works as an associate at Stantec, a Canadian engineering services company based in Edmonton, Alberta.
In June 2022, Mr. Zweighaft began designing an engagement ring for Ms. Reade. They had looked at rings in stores the month before to gain inspiration and Mr. Zweighaft got to work on his computer-aided design software. He had two three-dimensional models of his designs printed. Then, he sent the designs to a company called 12Fifteen, which fabricated the ring with the princess-cut diamond that Ms. Reade liked.
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That October, the couple walked to one of Ms. Reade’s favorite spots along the Hudson River called South Cove, in the financial district. But another couple was already there.
“He asked them very nicely, like ‘Would you mind just moving for a quick sec, we just want to take a photo,” Ms. Reade said. But Mr. Zweighaft received some pushback. The other couple used an expletive to tell them they weren’t leaving, so they went to a different location nearby. Mr. Zweighaft proposed and Ms. Reade accepted.
Films had brought them together and a particular one was in mind as they planned their wedding. Ms. Reade’s mother, Mindy Reade, who helped plan their wedding, asked her daughter what she wanted her wedding music to sound like. The answer: the wedding scene in the 2003 film “Mona Lisa Smile.”
Then, shortly after, she and her mother had a meeting with Lori Roth of Hank Lane Music, a production company that coordinates live bands. Ms. Roth asked Ms. Reade the same question but, this time, Ms. Reade did not mention “Mona Lisa Smile” — she just described a big band with horns.
Ms. Roth suggested the Kevin Osborne Band. The band’s lead singer, Ms. Roth explained, was the very person who sang in the wedding scene in “Mona Lisa Smile.”
“My mom and I were shocked,” Ms. Reade said. The decision was made.
On Nov. 9, the couple were married at the Old Westbury Golf and Country Club in Old Westbury, N.Y. Rabbi Mark Kaiserman of the Reform Temple of Forest Hills officiated.
During the reception, they enjoyed the kinds of sounds that colored “Mona Lisa Smile” but then, as a surprise coordinated by Ms. Reade’s father, Mr. Osborne began to play the very song he sang in the film, appropriately titled “Mona Lisa.”
“I turned to Sam, and I was just crying. I can’t even describe what that felt like,” Ms. Reade said. “I was like, ‘My life is a movie.’”
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