When Hannah Margaret Allen and Grant Joseph Schumacher met for drinks on June 7, 2019, it was the first time he went on a date with someone he had met online. Mrs. Allen had already done that 50 times, she estimates.
But it was Ms. Allen who sparked their first conversation on Tinder just two days after they matched up on the dating app. “I’d been through a lot of duds with no luck,” she said, adding that she “never contacted anyone, but I’d had a sad Fourth of July and was feeling a little wild.”
Mr. Schumacher was charmed. “I had a match with a few people on Tinder, but I didn’t feel sure of anyone,” he said.
“I just got out of a long-term relationship and didn’t know if I was ready to meet someone,” he added. “But I knew she was someone I wanted to have a drink with.”
From Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Ms. Allen, 31, is the editor-in-chief of Mindbodygreen, a health and wellness platform with offices in Dumbo, Brooklyn. She has a soft spot for Southern guys, she said, and gave Mr. Schumacher, a 32-year-old actor from Indianapolis, bonus points for making a bolo tie in one of his profile pictures on Tinder.
The day they met for drinks at Covenhoven, a beer garden in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, she gave him more points for wearing cowboy boots on their date.
When they greeted each other, Ms. Allen said the hug felt “like coming home.”
“It was warm and meaningful,” she added. “I knew he was different.”
Mr. Schumacher felt a similar connection when he held her hand a few hours after their date. “There was an excitement and intensity with her,” he said. “It was as if I had known her for years.” When he got home, he said to his roommate and brother, who was visiting from Washington, DC, “I’m going to marry that girl.”
More dates, than a relationship, were instant. In October 2019, the couple flew to Indianapolis for the movie premiere of “Whelm,” in which Mr. Schumacher appeared. While there, Mrs. Allen met his extended family. On Halloween, he met hers in Tennessee.
Within a few months of the arrival of the pandemic in March 2020, Mr. Schumacher’s housemates moved out of town. In July, Ms. Allen moved into his two-bedroom apartment in a townhouse in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
On February 13, 2021, Mr. Schumacher, who couldn’t wait for Valentine’s Day, walked into their kitchen, played Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” on his cellphone and asked her to dance. Then he got down on one knee and took out a diamond ring.
“I’ve thought about marrying her ever since I met her,” said Mr. Schumacher. “I love waking up next to her and feeling this playfulness, discovery and security. I didn’t want that feeling to stop.”
Mrs. Allen immediately said yes.
On May 7, the couple married at Woodfin Funeral Chapel in Murfreesboro, which is owned by the bride’s mother and has been in her family for five generations. Max Fagan, a Tennessee General Sessions Court judge, performed at the ceremony in front of 250 guests.
“This is a tribute to my family and grandfather who passed away in July 2020,” said the bride, adding that she leaned against “till death do us part”.
“I know it’s weird and unconventional,” she said of their wedding venue. “I don’t need everyone to understand.”
Mr. Schumacher was also not impressed with the location. “There is a lot of life and energy in funeral homes,” he said, adding that the location is “a great reminder to do our best with the amount of time we have together.”
Afterward, the newlyweds and their guests made their way to Belle Meadows Farm in nearby Lascassas, Tennessee, for a reception. It included a seated dinner where each of the 25 tables was named after a famous country singer, including Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams and Dolly Parton.
“I can be a lot and emotional; I didn’t know I could find someone who wasn’t afraid of that,” said the bride. “Grant has made those qualities in me a strength, not a weakness. That’s why I love him.”
The groom felt the same. “She lets me be vulnerable in a way that I still have to show her,” he said. “I come home and have someone to care for and protect, because she does the same for me.”
