When Brandon Cornelius Manning first spotted Krystal Anne Miller at his brother’s wedding in July 2021, he asked a fellow groomsman for support when approaching her.

“I like your shoes,” was all he was able to come up with.

“That was it,” Ms. Miller said. “That was the entire conversation.”

She had already noticed him during the wedding ceremony as the cute groomsman who had let a few tears fall. “My first impression was, Wow, he’s hot — and emotionally connected, too,” she said.

After the wedding, Ms. Miller tracked him down on Instagram and sent a DM, but the conversation didn’t get properly rolling until Mr. Manning realized they were watching the same Netflix show and asked her about it.

They were living about three hours apart at the time, with Ms. Miller in Queens and Mr. Manning in Binghamton, N.Y., for graduate school, so their first date didn’t come until September 2021. He suggested they see the “Candyman” remake.

As they walked to grab a drink after the film, Mr. Manning asked if he could kiss Ms. Miller. “It was just the energy,” he said of what struck him. They carried that energy over to two more bars, where they spoke about their professional aspirations and families. “I was just so fascinated by her mind,” he said. “We did not want the night to end.”