When Kristen Rita Grennan acquired into an Uber outdoors Nancy Whiskey Pub, in Manhattan’s TriBeCa neighborhood, within the wee hours of March 17, she locked eyes with the motive force, Guram Robakidze, within the rearview mirror. She instantly seen how good-looking he was.
“He stated good day, and I famous his accent and requested him the place he was from,” stated Ms. Grennan, 35, who had been out with buddies.
“I instructed her Georgia, however didn’t say that I used to be referring to the nation, and he or she replied how nice the snowboarding there’s,” Mr. Robakidze, who goes by Guga, stated. “Most individuals don’t find out about Georgia and assume I’m speaking concerning the state. I favored her from there.”
His English was restricted, in order that they chatted for the remainder of the trip to her house within the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Manhattan utilizing Google Translate. They mentioned his homeland’s lovely mountains, seashores and scrumptious wines.
Ms. Grennan knew when Mr. Robakidze pulled up in entrance of her constructing that she needed to see him once more, and inquired if he had a girlfriend. “When he stated ‘no,’ I requested him for his quantity and a kiss,” she stated.
Mr. Robakidze agreed to each requests.
The 2 had their first date hours later, that night. Mr. Robakidze took Ms. Grennan to considered one of his favourite Georgian eating places in New York, Chama Mama, in Chelsea. He picked her up in his burgundy Toyota, however this time, she sat within the entrance. They talked all the way in which downtown, once more with the assistance of Google Translate.
Ms. Grennan instructed Mr. Robakidze about her upbringing in Lengthy Island, her curiosity in public service and her ambitions to be a company lawyer. He shared his story about immigrating to america and instructed her that she was the primary American he had ever interacted with past an off-the-cuff dialog.
“Guga defined how he lived in a bubble of a tight-knit Georgian neighborhood in Kensington, Brooklyn,” Ms. Grennan stated.
On the restaurant, Mr. Robakidze ordered a diffusion of dishes, together with a pkhali vegetable dip, and khachapuri, a cheese-filled bread. Each found a shared ardour for journey and swapped tales about their most memorable journeys — Rwanda and China for Ms. Grennan; Russia and Ukraine for Mr. Robakidze. They held fingers throughout the desk.
Regardless of the language barrier, their dialog flowed simply, each stated. The date ended with drinks on the cocktail bar Apotheke Chinatown.
“It was love at first sight with Kristen, and we had been an merchandise from that date on,” stated Mr. Robakidze, with the assistance of Google Translate.
Mr. Robakidze, 31, is from Baghdati, Georgia, and moved to New York in August 2022. He had labored as an occasions supervisor for the occasion planning firm the Soko Occasion Group, within the capital metropolis Tbilisi, and is now an Uber driver in New York Metropolis. He has a bachelor’s diploma in enterprise administration from the College of Georgia, in Tbilisi.
Ms. Grennan-Robakidze, 35, grew up in Massapequa, N.Y., and is the senior director of communications for Mayor Eric Adams’s public engagement unit. She can also be a scholar at New York Legislation Faculty. She obtained bachelor’s levels in French and historical past from Binghamton College and a grasp’s diploma in public administration from Columbia’s Faculty of Worldwide and Public Affairs.
After their first date, Mr. Robakidze and Ms. Grennan rapidly fell right into a rhythm of texting and speaking by video. Mr. Robakidze started studying extra English, however stated he’s not but fluent.
Given their lengthy work schedules, they met solely as soon as per week. “Guga would decide me up at regulation faculty in TriBeCa once I completed class, take me out for dinner and drop me off earlier than going again to work,” Ms. Grennan stated.
By July 2024, they stated that they had been fed up with being “ships within the night time,” and Mr. Robakidze moved into Ms. Grennan’s Hamilton Heights house, the place they nonetheless stay.
“We had began speaking about getting married in April, and shifting in with Kristen acquired us nearer to that,” Mr. Robakidze stated.
“It was simple to stay collectively, and we joked about how we had been an previous married couple,” Ms. Grennan stated.
The couple made plans to marry in January, after Ms. Grennan completed her regulation faculty closing exams. “I didn’t assume or count on that there could be an official second we’d get engaged,” she stated.
However on Jan. 3, Mr. Robakidze stunned Ms. Grennan on a visit to the Pocono Mountains by getting down on one knee in the lounge of their Airbnb and asking her to marry him as 10 of his shut buddies stood watching.
“He proposed in Georgian, and his buddies translated for us,” Ms. Grennan stated. “After I stated sure, they broke out in conventional Georgina marriage ceremony dances. It was pure pleasure.”
Ten months to the day that they met, Mr. Robakidze and Ms. Grennan, who plans to go by Grennan-Robakidze, had been married Jan. 17 by Yanfang Chen, an officiant on the Manhattan Metropolis Clerk’s workplace, earlier than 4 visitors. After the ceremony, they hosted dinner for 12 members of the family and buddies at Fraunces Tavern, within the Monetary District.
“We had toasts in Georgian and toasts in English,” Mr. Robakidze stated. “Everybody toasted our love and the bringing of two cultures collectively. After which we danced.”