Sneha Medappa Maruvanda, of Bala Cynwyd, grew up in India, while Dr. Mark Ross Edelstein, a Philadelphia resident, was raised by Jewish parents in Virginia, and they weren’t yet thinking of marriage, writes Kristen Bayrakdarian for The New York Times.

The pair met on Bumble in November 2019, and despite their difference in culture, they soon realized they had strikingly similar backgrounds.

“Our backgrounds are very similar in terms of sense of community and family, so I think that made it a lot easier to bridge that cultural gap,” said Edelstein.

The pair started officially dating in December, and by January 2020, Edelstein already knew she was the one. He proposed in January 2021, and the couple was united in marriage a year later, on January 22, by Rabbi Jake Rubin, the director of Hillel at the University of Virginia.

During the ceremony, Rubin read the ketubah in English and Hebrew, while Medappa Maruvanda’s mother read it in Kodava Thakk.

The bride’s sister and two cousins read the Seven Blessings, along with the groom’s brother, sister, and two uncles. The couple and their 160 vaccinated guests then enjoyed a cocktail hour with Indian hors d’oeuvres and music.

Read more about the Philadelphia-area couple’s marriage in The New York Times.