When Dr. Hilary Gallin and Joshua Robert Brodie connected on Bumble in January 2023, they quickly realized their parents had been trying to set them up on a date for months.
Dr. Gallin’s mother, Dr. Pamela Gallin Yablon, is a surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian and has practiced out of her Columbia office in the eye institute for more than four decades. In September 2022, her longtime associate and friend, Dr. Scott Brodie, an attending ophthalmologist, moved his practice to the same office space. Almost immediately, the two began scheming to set up their children: her daughter, Hilary, and his son, Joshua. Shortly after, Joshua Brodie received an email from his father, which included a photo of Dr. Hilary Gallin and a brief biography.
Although interested, Mr. Brodie, now 40, was navigating a divorce and didn’t feel the time was right. Dr. Gallin, now 37, who was living in Boston and fresh out of a breakup, felt similarly. For the time being, their parents’ plan would not be realized.
Several months passed. In early 2023, Mr. Brodie was hanging out with his childhood friend, Michael Gruen, and his wife, Althea Webber. The trio had just returned from a boozy brunch when Mr. Gruen and Ms. Webber, who met on a dating site, suggested they make Mr. Brodie a profile on Bumble.
Within about an hour, Mr. Brodie saw a photo he thought he recognized. He swiped right, and shortly after, Dr. Gallin messaged him asking what he’d done for New Year’s Eve. He answered but couldn’t help adding, “By the way, is there any chance that your mother is an ophthalmologist and that our parents tried to set us up last year?”
Less than a week later, the pair had their first date at the Campbell in Grand Central Terminal. “It was a moment of ultimate comfort,” Dr. Gallin said. Their second date, a match on the squash court that Dr. Gallin dominated, sealed the deal. But it would be a while until their parents knew of their budding relationship.
Dr. Gallin is an attending anesthesiologist at the Weill-Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan. She is also a founder of FastLine, a medical device company. She grew up in Irvington, N.Y., and received a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering with honors from Yale, a medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Mr. Brodie is a senior investment associate and co-head of trading analytics at Bridgewater Associates, an asset management firm in Manhattan. He grew up in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, graduating with high honors with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Princeton.
The two told their parents they were dating someone, but didn’t reveal who. “If you’re not totally in love with the person you’re dating,” Dr. Gallin’s mother said, “please go out with Scott’s son.” When the couple finally revealed themselves to their families over FaceTime, everyone was ecstatic. They began celebrating Jewish holidays together and shared weekend trips to Dr. Gallin’s family home on Fisher Island, Fla.
In June, Mr. Brodie proposed to Dr. Gallin at sunset on Fisher Island with a bottle of wine. When it came time to pick a wedding venue, they both wrote their desired destination on a slip of paper: It was Fisher Island, the place where their relationship blossomed.
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On Nov. 16, the couple was married in an outdoor ceremony at the Vanderbilt Mansion at the Fisher Island Club, near the southern tip of Miami Beach. A bright white aisle led to an elevated altar, illuminated by glowing lanterns and light garlands. With the couple framed by a blooming altar of white roses and green hydrangeas, Rabbi Peter Weintraub of New York’s Temple Emanu-El officiated.
Directly in front of them, the branches of a massive tree stretched overhead like a canopy. As the couple turned to face the crowd, Dr. Gallin, wearing a strapless tulle gown with oversize rose appliqués, was struck by the realization that their 150 guests were there to witness their wedding.
“It was a really warm feeling,” she said.
Mr. Gruen, the friend who encouraged Mr. Brodie to join Bumble, who was a guest, said witnessing their union felt natural. The couple, he said, share a love of creating good experiences for their friends and family, and the wedding was no exception.
During their reception, the couple danced the hora with their guests. “You’re up in the chairs looking down at the new family you’re creating and they’re all smiling back at you,” Mr. Brodie said. “There’s nothing like that.”
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