Bagels, lox and N.F.L. marathons — that’s how Elan David Cooperman grew up spending practically each Sunday at his childhood house in Roslyn, N.Y.
“There’s nothing informal about watching soccer at my household’s home,” Mr. Cooperman stated. And he knew when he met Sydney Marissa Berger in October 2018 that she would match proper in together with his football-crazed household.
Ms. Berger and Mr. Cooperman, each 30, grew up sharing not solely an nearly non secular fervor for sports activities, but additionally the religion they practiced. They attended Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn since they had been youngsters, although they went to totally different excessive colleges. However it wasn’t till 2015 that Ms. Berger, whereas house for Yom Kippur, first observed Mr. Cooperman and his “electrical smile” from throughout the temple.
It took one other three years for Ms. Berger to “muster up the braveness” to ask her greatest buddy’s mom, a buddy of the Cooperman household, to inquire if Mr. Cooperman was single. On the time, he was residing in West Hartford, Conn., and he or she was on the Higher East Aspect of Manhattan. Seems, he was up for a date — if she didn’t thoughts the gap.
In October 2018, the 2 met for a primary date on the now-closed Espresso Store in Union Sq.. They bonded over their shared historical past and comparable pursuits: Moreover each rising up in Roslyn and attending the identical temple, they had been avid sports activities followers and — crucially — liked the New York Giants soccer workforce.
“As quickly as we began speaking, it was as if we had recognized one another endlessly,” Ms. Berger stated.
However there was one discrepancy. Ms. Berger had grown up in a break up family: Her mom rooted for the Yankees, whereas her father was a Mets fan. Out of loyalty to each dad and mom, she had by no means picked a facet. On their first date, Mr. Cooperman, a die-hard Mets fan, instructed Ms. Berger that “if that is going to go deep, you’re going to need to take a facet.” She went all-in on the Mets.
It wasn’t the one workforce she fell for. In December 2018, Mr. Cooperman took Ms. Berger to her first New York Islanders sport. On the time, she wasn’t a giant ice hockey fan. However, after just one sport, “I used to be hooked,” she stated. “We now have a lot enjoyable experiencing our groups collectively.”
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Mr. Cooperman graduated with a bachelor’s diploma in journalism from the College of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His private ardour for sports activities is clear in his profession alternative at Sorare, a fantasy sports activities cryptocurrency-based gaming firm, the place he works as a content material program supervisor.
Ms. Berger graduated with a level in public coverage from the College of Michigan. She is a director of social media and communications at Thrive International, a behavioral change know-how firm.
Because the Covid-19 pandemic started in March 2020, the couple had been relationship long-distance between Connecticut and New York Metropolis for greater than a yr after they moved into Ms. Berger’s dad and mom’ basement in Roslyn. What they thought can be a three-week keep became a yr. The couple even added a brand new member to the family: Jerry Garcia Berger Cooperman, a mini-Bernedoodle.
In August 2021, the couple (and Jerry) moved into an condo on Manhattan’s Higher West Aspect, the place they nonetheless dwell. After a yr spent “bonding” with Ms. Berger and her household, Mr. Cooperman stated that he knew Ms. Berger was the one. So, he hatched a plan to suggest.
“I instructed Sydney I used to be having a shock birthday for my dad on the synagogue — the place she noticed me for the primary time,” Mr. Cooperman stated. When Ms. Berger arrived, the temple was stuffed with rose petals, 60 ft of string lights and footage from their previous few years collectively. On the stage was an indication that learn “Marry Me?”
“A buddy stated he’d by no means heard of an engagement in a home of worship,” Ms. Berger stated. For her, the engagement represented a “full circle.” They met and received engaged on the temple.
On June 18, the couple was married by Rabbi Alan Lucas, their childhood Rabbi, in entrance of 274 friends on the Liberty Warehouse, an occasion area in Brooklyn. “Being underneath the huppah with Elan is one thing I’ll always remember,” stated Ms. Berger, who’s taking her husband’s surname.
Towards the tip of the evening, the dad and mom of Ms. Berger and Mr. Cooperman stunned the couple with two particular friends becoming a member of the social gathering: Mr. and Mrs. Met, the official mascots of the New York baseball workforce, strutting into the celebration. “After they got here in our jaws dropped to the ground,” Mr. Cooperman stated.
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