Their parents met online. Then they matched in real life.

When Dr. Sunpreet Singh Tandon and Dr. Shalini Moningi first spoke, they had already got the approval of their family.

Their parents first connected in 2022 with Shaadi.com, an Indian matchmaking website where relatives can create accounts on behalf of a single family. After talking on the phone a year later, Dr. Moningi and Dr. Tandon's parents became confident in their matchmaking skills and exchanged their children's phone numbers. Then it was up to the kids to what to do next.

“I was set up before and went to these first dates, so I was tired and full that night so I looked at the text as an item on my to-do list,” Dr. Moningi said.

After Dr. Tandon responded, they began texting regularly, then moved to the phone, and soon the connection occurred. However, there was one challenge that was not so minor. They were flying for two hours with Dr. Moningi from Boston and Dr. Tandon from Cleveland.

Dr. Moningi, 36, is an assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School, particularly the Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She was born in Kattak, India and grew up in Al Boukhailya, then Philadelphia, and finally, Charleston, West Virginia. In April, Dr. Moningi will begin his new role as an assistant professor at the Department of Radiation Oncology at Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Tandon, 37, was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and spent his childhood in Grand Falls Windsor, Canada before moving with his family to Mankato, Minnesota, then to Andalusia, Alabama, and then to Kent, Ohio. He received his bachelor's degree in integrated life sciences from Kent State University and a medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical College. He is a staff radiologist at Fairview Hospital at Cleveland Clinic System.

In January 2024, Dr. Tandon flew from Cleveland to Boston for his first date with Dr. Moningi.

“I was expecting it, but I didn't want to be crushed,” Dr. Tandon said.

They had a brunch with buttermilk and bourbon. There, Dr. Moningi discovered that Dr. Tandon did not drink coffee or alcohol.

“My grandma would have loved him,” she said. “What a good girl.”

They then walked to the Massachusetts House of Representatives – one of Dr. Tandon's goals was to visit all the state capitols in the United States – and then visited the museums.

At the end of the 24-hour trip, Dr. Tandon invited Dr. Moningi to visit him in Cleveland. She thought he was polite until he called her as soon as the plane landed. From that point on, the two spoke on the phone every day.

“We have led to Midwest values, love for friends, family, home and community,” Dr. Moningi said.

“My use of cell phones has skyrocketed,” Dr. Tandon said.

In September, Dr. Tandon proposed during a hike at the Rocky River Reservation in Cleveland.

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“She didn't say yes at first,” Dr. Tandon said. “I was holding her hand and I gave her my spill and she just looked at me. She was waiting until I got to the ground.”

They then met both their families in Litchfield, Ohio, visited the Gurnanak Foundation in Gurudwara, a place of worship for Sikhs, and then visited the Sri Venkateswara Temple, a Hindu temple, to receive blessings for their union. Dr. Tandon's family practices that Sikh religion and Dr. Moningi's family are Hindu.

Dr. Moningi and Dr. Tandon were married on February 22 at a Hindu ceremony led by Srina San Kadanbi, a priest of the Hindu Northeast Florida Association, in front of 230 guests at Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Pontevedra Beach, Florida.

On the morning of their wedding, the couple also participated in the Sikh wedding in Jacksonville Gurdwara, led by Ghani, or congregation leader Amandeep Singh.

“In Gurdwara, it's all equal, so whether you're king or poor, everyone is sitting on the floor,” Dr. Tandon said.

Dr. Moningi and Dr. Tandon chose a wedding location as they were close to Dr. Moningi's parents' home in Jacksonville, Florida. Dr. Moningi's younger brother, Sanato Moningi, passed away in San Francisco in 2018 at the age of 24. After several years of mourning, Dr. Moningi's parents moved from Charleston, where Sanaton grew up, to Jacksonville.

New city, Dr. Moningi said: It's about having a sanat with us but moving forward. ”

They praised Sanat at the reception at a monument, during which Dr. Moningi and Sanat's friends spoke about his life and achievements.

“There were a lot of people who supported me and my family throughout the really bad times we were with us,” Dr. Moningi said. “Everyone from different stages of my life was in the same place. This was very cool and meant so much.”