Found Each Other on Christmas Day
After growing up only 10 blocks from each other in Manhattan, Francesca Holland Crane and Noah Raimi Drapacz “had countless close encounters over the years,” Ms. Crane wrote, before “they finally found each other on Christmas Day 2015,” thanks to the dating and social networking app Bumble.
“With their shared appreciation of family and friends, sushi, goldendoodles, sunshine, and never wanting to leave Manhattan, they knew it was meant to be,” she continued. “Shortly after dating, Noah received the unanimous approval of the family doodle, Paddington, as well as Francesca’s two nephews, Teddy and Oliver. Noah proposed at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif., in August 2017.”
Ms. Crane and Mr. Drapacz were married on Saturday at Tappan Hill Mansion in Tarrytown, N.Y. Cantor Nancy Bach of the Metropolitan Synagogue in Manhattan officiated.
The bride is a daughter of Claudia and Richard Crane of East Hampton of Manhattan. The groom’s parents are Nina Drapacz of Manhattan and Daniel Drapacz of Lake Hopatcong, N.J.
A graduate of Hamilton College, with a master’s degree in early childhood education from the Bank Street College of Education, Ms. Crane is a head nursery school teacher at Merricat’s Castle School, an inclusive private preschool in Manhattan. She is also a private swim instructor, having been a member of the Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics Swim Team from 1995 to 2006 and serving as captain her senior year of high school. She was also the captain of the Dalton School’s varsity swim team from 2005 to 2006 and a member of the varsity swim team at Hamilton College all four years.
Her husband is an associate in the capital strategy group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in history. While there, he was a member of the R.O.T.C. program, and upon graduating commissioned as an infantry officer in the Army. He served in the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division and in 2013 deployed to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, where he served as a heavy-weapons platoon leader. He also served as the executive officer of the 2nd Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company in 2014.
On Saturday, the bride wore a whimsical beaded and fishnet wedding dress designed by Theia and carried a bouquet of dahlias, garden roses, ranunculus, lisianthus, sweet pea, and astilbe accented with seasonal greens and wrapped in ribbon.
Her sister, Angelica Crane Dosik of New York City, was her maid of honor, and wore a navy beaded chiffon dress with floral appliqués by the same designer. Her bridesmaids were Katie Dilyard of New Jersey, Lindsay Sable of New York City, Kriti Dave of Boston, and her cousin, Sally Rinehart of New York City. They wore navy ML by Monique Lhuillier dresses and carried smaller versions of the bride’s bouquet.
Mr. Drapacz’s best man was Zach Finkelstein of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. His groomsmen were Daniel Osborn of Tacoma, Wash., Marcus Broeder of Tampa, Fla., and Kevin Woodcheke and Ben Kind, his cousin, of New York City.
The couple live in New York, but spend summers and weekends in East Hampton with Ms. Crane’s family.