Do you ever think that you might be too busy to meet that special someone?
Both Dominic and Nicole felt open-minded about online dating. Meeting someone online seemed the easiest way to find a spouse while holding down demanding jobs. Working in the healthcare field, they had little time for meeting others outside of work and their church.
On November 5, 2018, Dominic received a message from Nicole. Studying her profile photos, he felt taken by how lovely and genuine Nicole's smile looked.
"I was instantly infatuated," Dominic, 27, shares.
Dominic also noticed that he had many things in common with Nicole, including that they both worked in the medical profession. Nicole is a pediatric occupational therapist, and Dominic works as an operating room nurse (RN).
"Neither of us were, per se, looking for someone else who worked in the medical professions, but it definitely helped by giving a talking point to start conversations," Nicole, 28, explains. "It was something you knew you had in common, so it was a good starting spot."
Dominic adds, "We both found that our lifestyle working in medicine can be challenging to understand by outsiders. There's long hours, overtime, the emotional and physical exhaustion, and having to deal with difficult patients at times."
Taking it slow...
The pair messaged back and forth on CatholicMatch for three months. Beyond their jobs, they discussed family, faith, goals, dreams, politics, and hobbies. Dominic felt that Nicole's messages were thoughtful and intelligent. He liked that she showed a reserve when they first start talking. For him, it would have been a turn-off if Nicole had been too chatty at the beginning.
Eventually, they exchanged phone numbers and continued to text and video chat for another few months before deciding to meet in-person. The distance was one thing that still stood in the way of meeting in person earlier. Dominic lived in Missouri and Nicole in Indiana at the time.
Then, everything fell into place!
In March of 2019, the pair decided to meet-up on neutral ground for a weekend date in St. Louis, Missouri. On the date, Nicole thought that Dominic was confident and easy to talk to in person. She appreciated that he planned their entire first date weekend.
"Dominic made thoughtful plans based on things I had said I enjoyed doing," she says.
"I especially felt drawn to her smile and bubbly nature when holding a conversation," he shares.
They hit it off so well that soon after, they decided to date each other exclusively. Fast forward through a crazy year of traveling back and forth to each other's hometowns, meeting family members, trips to Florida and Montana, and a few extra stops in Missouri. Through all of this, Dominic and Nicole knew they had found each other's soulmate.
"Go, get your nails done!"
Nicole had a good idea that Dominic plans to propose when he hinted that she should get her nails done. On December 13, 2019, Dominic brought Nicole to her home parish intending to propose.
"I had planned it to a tee and was not overly nervous. I wanted to make the proposal meaningful and memorable. Since God remains a key part of our relationship, I intended to propose at church to invite Him in on the decision," he explains. "The fact that her parish had been recently renovated and I had not seen it done yet offered the perfect excuse together to show me around the church."
Dominic had coordinated with the parish decorator beforehand to have mood lighting set with all of the Christmas trees lit up.
The couple had visited a jeweler in her hometown a few months before to try on rings
"She is a very particular person and only liked one specific, unique ring set. Buying the ring was tricky because I was still living two states away at the time, but the jeweler was super understanding. I literally picked it up the day of the proposal!"
Dominic knelt on one knee in front of the altar and asked Nicole, "Will you be my wife?" Nicole had no hesitation in responding, "YES!"
Nicole shares, "How he proposed surprised me; I wasn't expecting him to ask at my home parish with all the Christmas trees lit up."
Planning the wedding!
Within the wedding planning craziness, Dominic also moved jobs and towns to relocate closer to Nicole in January 2020. They even met another couple in their town that had also met on CatholicMatch, and since then, they have become lifelong friends of Nicole and Dominic!
While planning for their October wedding, COVID-19 struck, making wedding planning a bit more challenging as many vendors did not want to meet in person. Also everyone was canceling and rescheduling, making venues challenging to find.
"However, in terms of our relationship, COVID made us closer. We spent a lot more of our off time together rather than going out and about, which strengthened our relationship," she says. "As healthcare workers, we faced COVID weekly at our jobs, which strengthened our resolve to have our wedding no matter what."
Dominic and Nicole didn't like the idea of two rents for another year, and not living together seemed worse than just going through with their October wedding as planned even if all of their wedding guests couldn't make it.
Tied the knot!
On October 3, 2020, Nicole and Dominic finally tied the knot on their original wedding date. They had a lovely ceremony at their home parish followed by a reception with just under 100 guests. Despite the challenges 2020 brought to the couple, nothing felt more joyful than the day they exchanged their vows—making a covenant before God to love each other for the rest of their lives.
Though the strain of both working in healthcare throughout the COVID-19 pandemic felt exhausting, both found peace and joy in each other, building their relationship with God, culminating in a stunning wedding day and the start of their lifelong marriage.
